Southern Magnolia Experts -- Dieback?

wxman · Post by **wxman** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 3:23 pm

I'm wondering if one of my stems is dying back. While it previously looked fine, one of the buds appears to have shriveled up a bit. Also there is some discoloration appearing on the stem.

We've had temperatures in the 70s for the past week, so maybe now significant damage is first showing up? Take a look and let me know what you think.

Bud in question.

Discoloration on stem, especially around leaves.

Another angle.

Now the buds that look great. See the difference?

And here is a shot at the main stem.

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 5:06 pm

Hi Tim,

that first bud looks damaged and/or dead. Hopefully the Mag will flush out big time for you and it will get more established. My Mag has never seen a high temp in the low single digits. The coldest high was probably 10-12F or so. Lowest temp was -8F. BUT mine is against a south facing 6' tall fence which will tend to warm up if sunny (at least when it was small). It now towers over the fence.

There is no sign of new growth on my Mag yet. Trees don't typically leaf out here until last week of April to first week of May......but with all this warm weather they may leaf out a couple weeks early??

wxman · Post by **wxman** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 6:33 pm

TimMAz6 wrote:Hi Tim,

that first bud looks damaged and/or dead. Hopefully the Mag will flush out big time for you and it will get more established. My Mag has never seen a high temp in the low single digits. The coldest high was probably 10-12F or so. Lowest temp was -8F. BUT mine is against a south facing 6' tall fence which will tend to warm up if sunny (at least when it was small). It now towers over the fence.

There is no sign of new growth on my Mag yet. Trees don't typically leaf out here until last week of April to first week of May......but with all this warm weather they may leaf out a couple weeks early??

Thanks.

Should I prune that bud off? I don't want to lose the entire stem and want to encourage growth elsewhere on it if the bud is dead.

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 6:31 am

Did you get that localy or from down south? IT could just be that the old growth isnt used to your climate extremes. I planted an Azalea that was shipped in from bc. THe first eyar it does almost right to the ground, the next year it survived a bit more, and this year there is no die back at all.

It looks ok for the most part, itll flush out I think.

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 11:02 am

Hi Tim,

I don't do anything to my EB Mag so I don't know what you should do. Mine has been fully hardy here since day 1. I just took a photo of a branch end from my EB Mag.......so you can compare what it 'should' look like. Hope this helps. What was your source? PS, it's the hottest day of the year.....I left work early to enjoy!!

<img src=http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/ ... 474c97.jpg>

not very clear....took a couple more:

<img src=http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/ ... b42614.jpg>

<img src=http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/ ... 3328b6.jpg>

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 1:49 pm

If I didnt see the thread title, or original post, I would be asking " how did you manage to get a Ficus Elastica to survive?"

Nice mag Tim (s)

wxman · Post by **wxman** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 8:27 pm

Kinda looks the same as mine. I'm wondering if the Wilf pruf hurt it ?? Seems weird to have that much damage on mine and none on yours.

Wilt pruf suffocated the plant? Hmmm...

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Fri Mar 23, 2012 9:30 am

Hi Tim,

if you use wilt proof again......use it only on 1/2 the tree...............good experiment.

igor.glukhovtsev · Post by **igor.glukhovtsev** » Fri Mar 23, 2012 9:33 am

To be honest I've would cover your magnolia with some burlap for winter no matter if there would be mild winter or not. It should be done in any case until your tree would achieve a good size.

Laaz · Post by **Laaz** » Fri Mar 23, 2012 10:53 am

We call them foundations wreckers here.

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Sun Apr 15, 2012 1:05 am

Hi Tim,

I spotted this old photo of my mag after it's first winter (spring 2005 photo). This is what it looked like. Mine was in a 'greenhouse' with open sides......mostly used for moisture protection but I'm sure it heated up more during the sunny days. The low was -8F in the 'greenhouse' that winter.

<img src=http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/ ... 0003-2.jpg>

Here's the protection..........good thing it kept the moisture off my cactus/yuccas

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Sun Apr 15, 2012 7:34 am

Tim

I think the mild winter has kept it going.

first year hardiness though is not very......

I would leave it,don't clip anything and let it come back where it can,it
will be much hardier next year and will probably need to be.

wxman · Post by **wxman** » Tue Apr 17, 2012 9:58 am

Thanks for those pictures Tim. I see some of the same "black" bark that mine has. All the buds are still soft and pliable. If dead, they would be hard and break easy, no?

Jim, I agree. I am not cutting anything off until I see how growth will resume. I think I got blessed with the best possible winter for it to get established. If I start anymore, I will need to protect the first winter.

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Tue Apr 17, 2012 9:17 pm

Hi Tim

Not much more time until our Mags will start to grow. I bet we'll see some life in the next 2 weeks.

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Sun May 06, 2012 4:54 am

Hi Tim,

here's an update on how my EB buds look now. Any sign of life on your Mag?

<img src=http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/ ... ec130a.jpg>

<img src=http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/ ... a013a2.jpg>

<img src=http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/ ... 7d9234.jpg>

The EB should be leaf'n out soon.

wxman · Post by **wxman** » Sun May 06, 2012 6:45 pm

Tim, it looks dead.

I was out inspecting my magnolia edith bogue today and noticed it looked rotten in some areas. Well, most the "flexible" buds broke right off and everything was brown/mushy inside. I did some research on how to find live material on woody plants, and I guess if you scrape the bark and it's green underneath it's alive ... I did that and cut it back to live tissue. It now looks like this.

You can see some green underneath here.

However, even though you see green in the previous pic, there is bark/wood death below that on the main stem.

Closeup.

The bottom 18-24" of the tree looks fine without any of the black bark. However, if I cut it that far down, I don't know if it will even resprout?? I've never had this tree before so I don't know if you can hack it way back like some bushes. If it does need to be hacked back, I guess it should be done before it spends too much energy trying to leaf out on diseased parts ...

I'd have to make the cut at the red arrow. The wood below the red arrow is alive... above has a mixture of alive and those black dead marks ...

wxman · Post by **wxman** » Sun May 06, 2012 6:51 pm

Main stem looked fine in March ... what the heck???

Cameron_z6a_N.S. · Post by **Cameron_z6a_N.S.** » Sun May 06, 2012 8:17 pm

wxman, I saw these pics on the bigger board too. With the green colour under the bark, you should have a good shot. Hopefully once it's cut back, it can re-grow. If it does well through the summer, maybe you should give it a bit of a helping hand (more protection) during the first few winters!

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Mon May 07, 2012 3:25 am

Your Mag is not doing well. I'm not sure what to expect. You should see swelling buds in the next couple of weeks.

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Mon May 07, 2012 5:46 am

Wxman, if you want a magnolia, try Magnolia Tripitala, Magnolia Kobus (a few variaties), Magnolia Stelatta, or Magnolia Virginiana (sp). THey are hardy to roughly -30C (says literature), BUT they arent the evergreen souther types. You should have WAY better luck with them.

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Tue May 08, 2012 3:15 am

If I can propagate my EB I'll send you a cutting

Paul Ont · Post by **Paul Ont** » Tue May 08, 2012 4:53 am

My BBB looks like that Mag. now. It's supposed to be hardier to (according to the Magnolia group anyway). I'm going to try the evergreen forms of virginiana instead...

Can someone please cross the most northerly forms of virginiana with the hardiest selections of grandiflora?

wxman · Post by **wxman** » Tue May 08, 2012 10:14 am

Thanks all. I ordered another one and will put it under heavy winter protection like I do my trachy. Let it get some size and then turn it loose.

I will pot this one up and see what it does ...

canadianplant · Post by **canadianplant** » Tue May 08, 2012 1:57 pm

Paul Ont wrote:Can someone please cross the most northerly forms of virginiana with the hardiest selections of grandiflora?

I thought that was your job Paul?

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Wed May 16, 2012 4:29 pm

Tim,

my EB Mag is busting loose now. First leaves are coming fast. Any life on yours??

<img src=http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/ ... AM0189.jpg>

<img src=http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/ ... AM0185.jpg>

wxman · Post by **wxman** » Thu May 17, 2012 6:40 pm

Nope! I think it's toast! Dug it up tonight and put it in the greenhouse.

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Thu May 17, 2012 9:01 pm

That blows! I hope you get new growth!

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Sun Jul 01, 2012 8:39 am

spotted the first EB magnolia flower this morning.

<img src=http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/ ... ada49f.jpg>

hardyjim · Post by **hardyjim** » Sun Jul 01, 2012 8:44 am

I had a similar thing happen with one of the Sequoias,
the roots froze and this eventually killed the top although it looked
like it was still alive....once it's in 3 years it will be fine.

I protected mine the first 2 years.

seedscanada · Post by **seedscanada** » Sun Jul 01, 2012 7:23 pm

Mine about to flower, Edith Bogue

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/seedscanada/7483824342/" title="Lincoln-20120701-00866 by seedscanada, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8157/7483 ... 0575_z.jpg" width="477" height="640" alt="Lincoln-20120701-00866"></a>

TimMAz6 · Post by **TimMAz6** » Mon Jul 02, 2012 8:30 pm

Hi Adam,

nice blooms coming Adam!

cuja1 · Post by **cuja1** » Sun Sep 02, 2012 10:33 pm

I know there's some debate about which is hardier Edith Bogue or BBB. The only thing I know is I've seen about 30 BBBs here in Springfield as opposed to 2 Edith Bogues. You might have more luck with the BBBs. And if you have the time and money you might try the same thing a couple of times. I thing Southern Mags are like other plants - they all have varying degrees of hardiness. What works for one may not work for another.

cuja1 · Post by **cuja1** » Sun Sep 02, 2012 10:43 pm

Also, I'm not an expert but from everything I've read, the bigger Magnolia you get the better the chance it has for survival. And the first year we watered ours almost EVERY day in the summer.