Hi all,
TL,DR - I suspect Armillaria Root Rot because "this fungus has very distinctive and visible fruiting bodies that appear in the fall as honey-colored mushrooms that are located at or near the base of infected trees and shrubs." and "Infected Yews will begin to decline, growth will slow, and foliage will begin turning yellow then brown. The decline and eventual death my occur rapidly or persists for several years."
and a. Nitrogen Deficiency because"the growth lower down on the shrub beginning to yellow while the new growth remains green"
https://horticultureforhomegardeners.ca/2023/03/22/yew-pests-and-diseases/
Got an answer from a local business and nothing else:
One business has responded:
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Hello,
First you have to start applying Epsom salt to the root (50 g in 10 l of water), and from the 10 l of water, water the root, to regulate the acidity. Then a fungicide based on copper with an insecti-acaricide and some fertilizer based on amino acids
A beautiful and healthy day
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Does the above sound like good advice ?
My message to local businesses:
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Hello,
I planted 11 Irish yews (columnar) in the yard here in Bucharest about 10 years ago, with peat soil at the roots in the pits, with irrigation every two weeks of drought, with spraying with foliage fertilizer, even dressed them up while they were small with specially designed coats for them to be protected against winter damage. Planted at 90 cm to form a hedge, today they are 3 - 3.5 m high.
They all caught on and grew very nicely... until last year
2023:
- yews: I notice the disease at the end of May, apply two sprays with 10 liters of solution 3 insecticides + 3 fungicides + 1 fertilizer, the disease does not contain
- fir trees: I notice the disease in mid-June
2022:
- yews: I notice the disease at the end of April, I suspect the cause to be my mistake of applying topiary fertilizer twice as concentrated as in the instructions; I do not apply treatment
- fir trees: I notice the disease sometime in June - July; I apply a procedure similar to the one above in 3 cures; the disease is contained
I didn't notice insects at all in the yews. The stems look good too. I have attached pictures of both the yews and the two firs in the yard that I suspect of the same disease. Since I threw away the packaging of the used substances, I no longer know what they were. I went back to the phytosanitary with a tax receipt but it was of no use to me, not even the pharmacist knows what he gave me.
I am under the impression that I'm losing them... please, maybe you know the cure for them, it's a pity for them and all my attendance!
Thank you very much,
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Extra info:
I did actually notice mushrooms in my backyard since some... 3 years back maybe. The yard next to my backyard is semi-abandoned; it does have a few standing dead trees inside, one of which fallen to the ground 1.5 years ago.
The mushrooms I have seen in my backyard were 2-3 m away from the first yew in the hedge but, as that website mentions, this fungus can be actively chewing on roots 20+ m
One of the two fir trees is very close to the fist hedge yew, the second fir tree is at some distance from the last hedge yew, some 7-8 m away. All of my evergreens are affected, seemingly by the same thing. There has been new growth on all of them; yews are dying from inside out while fir trees are browning from lower outside branch tips inside and upwards.
Thanks!
