I think Blue spruce might help with this Jonathan try sending him a pm.

Thanks for that. I'll get in touch in the morrow. He sounds like a conifer man.

He is that, look at his garden pics and you will understand!

Hard to say weather the manure was the problem, but as you realized your Abies koreana certainly doesn't need it. Can't quite make out from your pic if your plant is in some sort of container ? if it is, not a good idea long term. They prefer an open sunny situation in light acidic soils, healthy plants should not require any sort of fertilization, but for a poorly plant anything suitable for ericaceous plants should be fine. You might also want to spray all the foliage with an appropriate fungicide, two or three times during the growing season, as a precaution, as this has been an ever increasing problem with many firs in recent years, especially Koreanas. Two indications of this problem is growth check and intermittent individual needles along the branches turning brown and eventually dropping off.....Hope this helps.

Thank you Bluespruce. Yes, it is in a container, about a metre square wide and 40 cm high. It is growing mostly in John Innes. The ph is probably around neutral. I hadn't realise they like acidic conditions, if I had I'd have planted it with some ericacious. Might a top dressing of some ericacious compost help, do you think? It gets all morning sun, but the sun tends to cut off around 1 pm or 2 pm. Is there a special sort of fertilizer suitable for ericacious, acid-loving plants? It has indeed had very bad growth check last year. It was the only year I have ever known it not grow. I will do as you say and give it a few sprays with fungicide later this year. I'm assuming a systemic like Systhane/Myclobutanil.