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One side of potted fir tree has gone brown.

babstrong2babstrong2 Posts: 3
edited January 2022 in Problem solving
Last November I bought a nice potted Nordman fir intended to be our “forever” Christmas tree. I kept it outside until the week before Christmas and watered it as necessary while it was indoors. It was fine by the 5th January this year when I took it out and left it in a temporary resting area near the house so it could acclimatize again - and to keep an eye on it. 
What I didn’t realise was that the side of the tree facing away from the house was not looking as healthy as the side I could see from the door.
The back of the house is south facing and we have had a few days of sun recently. Could this be the reason or is something more serious happening? Photos attached.
Thanks
Barbara 

Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    edited January 2022
    It'll struggle to stay healthy in that wee pot, and will probably need some new soil too. Trees of any kind can't thrive in pots unless they have a good growing medium.
    It would be worth potting it into something bigger, and with a proper soil based medium.
    Just keep it somewhere with a bit of shade, and keep it well watered - making sure it's thoroughly soaked before you repot. If it's dry going into another pot, the water will tend to run through and out the bottom, and not be properly absorbed. It should hopefully come away in spring.

    Bear in mind that rain won't easily penetrate the canopy either, so make sure it doesn't go short of water in drier spells, and especially in summer.  :)

    I should have added that, if the foliage is really brown , it's dead and won't recover. It doesn't look too bad in the photo though, so you might be lucky.  
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • babstrong2babstrong2 Posts: 3
    Thanks for all the the advice, Fairygirl. Very helpful.  It seemed to me to be actually in quite a big pot - may not be visible on the photo. It’s 40 cm diameter. The tree is 5 feet tall. What size pot do you think is appropriate? ( I should have mentioned that I did repot it as soon as it arrived as the one it came in had split and the roots were coming through so I went much bigger with the new pot, but I guess that it may still not be big enough.) I’ll follow your advice.
    Fingers crossed it survives.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Ah - that's fair enough @babstrong2 - the pic must be a bit deceiving  :)

    It should be fine if the pot's big enough to accommodate the root system, and it has enough suitable soil. Just keep it out of the sun as much as you can - especially in spring and into summer  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • babstrong2babstrong2 Posts: 3
    Okey dokey . Thanks. ☺️
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