Once False Cypresses and others are over 5 years old, they sustain little damage from this disease. This disease is more common in seedlings, nursery stock and 8 to 10 foot trees planted as ornamentals. Progressively the fungus spreads until entire branches, and possibly the tree, die. They land on False Cypress twigs and foliage, causing their tips to turn brown and die back. The fungus is harbored on older trees in the vicinity and its spores are carried by wind, rain, and contaminated gardening tools. Twig Blight - A fungus that often attacks red cedars, arborvitaes and junipers, also appears on False Cypresses occasionally. In the spring young mites feed on the foliage, causing it to turn yellow and look sickly. The female lays her eggs on twigs and among the needles where they pass the winter. Because they are only 1/64 inch long, their webs are more likely to be noticed than they are. They are green at first, turning greenish black as they mature. Spider Mite - A spider mite that favors spruces occasionally attacks False Cypresses. They curl at the base of cypress needles and suck the juice from plant cells. They are tiny crawling insects, white at first, changing to gray or black. Adult females winter over in the vicinity of the shrubs. Scale - A scale insect that is fond of juniper also likes False Cypress. It is a member of the cypress family, Cupressaceae, and similar species are grouped into the genus Chamaecyparis. Taxonomy The Alaskan cedar is a gymnosperm, or non-flowering plant that bears cones rather than flowers. Gently beat the branches of the infested tree and catch the startled insects when they fall onto a cloth spread beneath the shrub. It is also commonly called weeping Nootka, false cypress or weeping yellow cedar. These pests are hard to spot because they feed at night, living under tree bark and debris on the ground by day.īecause these weevils "play dead" when disturbed, folding their legs and dropping off plants to the ground, they can be trapped. Weevil larvae, white grubs with brown heads, feed on roots deep in the soil. They feed on leaves and bark, leaving characteristic notches along the edges of cypress needles. They have tear-shaped and hard-shelled bodies, averaging 3/8 inch long. Adults are brown beetles with long snouts. Weevil - Black vine weevils sometimes attack False Cypress. Check soil moisture under the mulch every two or three weeks if rainfall is sparse. Use drip irrigation or a hose turned on slightly to permit a slow drip. Soak the soil under the mulch with water to a depth of two feet by watering slowly. Lack of Moisture - Reduced moisture during hot summer months sometimes causes False Cypress foliage to turn brown. Trim them off and enjoy the handsome reddish-brown, peeling bark on the exposed lower trunk. The Sarawa False Cypress varieties have a tendency to lose their lower branches fairly early in life.
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