By Chatbud
Singapore 
I bought a beautiful 2-ft-tall Cupressus macrocarpa about a month ago. It stayed in its beautiful self for 2 weeks b4 I repotted it to a bigger pot and more 'nutritious' soil.
As soon as I repotted it, some needles started to turn brown at the tips over the next few days. I was alarmed when a great deal of the needles at the bottom of the tree had gone brown when I checked yesterday. And also at this same time, it started emitting a woody scent (characteristic of the plant?). Before I repotted it it didn't set off any scent at all.
When I was repotting, I dipped the entire root system in water in a bid trying to lose as much of the old media it came in, which was a dry fine sandy husk mix. Could this have hurt the plant?
I am over here at East Asia where it's probably zone 10a. Daytime temp climbs to 33° C and humidity is high ranging 60-90%. This plant isn't placed at a direct sun spot but it gets some sunray during midday when the sun moves. I water it every 2 days and I don't dump water all over the soil, just a few splashes around so that the soil is moist.
Can the experts here see what have I done wrong or not done here? Is my watering adequate? Hope my goldcrest isn't dying...
3 May, 2013
Answers
I bought mine ten years ago, also planting in a pot but it didn't do at all well, so I planted it in the ground. It thrived and is now about 40ft tall and is lovely. Maybe they don't like being in a pot.
3 May, 2013
OMG. I'm underwatering it??? I better dash out now and give it a good soak!!! Pray it's not gone. :S
4 May, 2013
A large tub full of water that the whole pot can be dropped into for a couple of hours twice a day, will enable the liquid to penetrate through to the roots near the stem. If bubbles come up then thats a sign its completely dry. Good luck.
4 May, 2013
Hi guys
The pace of browning/yellowing of the goldcrest needles has slowed tremendously. But any idea why tips are still turning brown, albeit far far less so now?
Is this a fragile conifer? As in extremely sensitive to (less or excessive) water and heat?
I give it a big soak every 4 days now.
I really do hope this conifer lives :s
10 May, 2013
It seems to me that this plant has had nowhere near enough water for those sort of temperatures, I would probably expect to be having to water at least twice a day, if it ever got that warm in the uk, it is more than likely that the water is evaporating before it gets anywhere near the roots, try giving it a good soaking but slowly, so the water can percolate through to the roots, and see what happens from there, although it may already be too late, Derek.
3 May, 2013