Troubled Hemlocks???

[rahtreelimbs]

For some reason Hemlocks in my area have been turning brown and dying off. I heard of something called Spider Mites ( if I have this right ) could this be it or is there something else? This is all the info that I have so far. I am doing this for a fellow climber who has no access to the web. If more info is needed let me know. Thanx Rich.

 

[rahtreelimbs]

Originally posted by TreeCo
Have you looked into wooly adelgid?

Dan

I have to admit: what is wooly adelgid?

 

[Stumper]

Locally we have no Hemlocks but spider mites are sometimes a serious problem on spruce. To check for them shake a branch tip over a white sheet of paper. Stare at the specks of stuff on the paper. If some of them begin running around you have spider mites-or vision problems. Wooly adelgid is nasty but easy to check for per the web research I've done. Do a web search to learn a bunch about the whole subject.

 

[treeman82]

Checking for Hemlock Wooly Adelgid is pretty easy. All you have to do is look at the live branches for small white deposits. They are usually on the twigs. These are egg masses. You can treat them at any stage of the game with horticultural oil. You can also treat them with insecticidal soaps, a soil drench of Merit, and injections.

 

[Stumper]

Yeah, You can treat for them in a myriad of ways. Defeating them is a bit more difficult from what I've read.

 

[John Bearley]

Arnold Arboretum

The Arnold Arboretum in Boston has been hit HARD by the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA). Of the original population of 1,900 hemlock trees, all have been infected. 300 have died and been remove and 70 percent of the rest are in serious decline and will probably be dead in the next two to five years.

Here is some information from them on HWA:
"This relative of the aphid feeds with lethal effects on North American hemlocks (species of the genus Tsuga). Native to Eastern Asia, HWA was discovered in eastern North America in Virginia in the early 1950s and has since spread throughout the Mid-Atlantic and into southern New England. Researchers studying the insect have observed mortality rates of close to 100 percent among infested populations."

Note: "Preliminary research indicates that an Asian species of hemlock, Tsuga chinensis, is resistant to hemlock woolly adelgid."

 

[geofore]

Wooly Adelgid

Rich, north of us, up around Interstate 80 you can't ship hemlock logs out of county because of the wooley adelgid. You can ship once it is cut to lumber and kiln dried. Hemlock do not take well to city life, they are not a tree of choice if you live in town. They don't do well in all the dust and dirt kicked up in the cities IMO. While you are doing a search on the woolies do a search on bugs that get the spruce and douglas fir also, there are a lot of those browning out in this area also. The past winters were to warm to cause a decline in the bug populations.