By Alextb
London,
England 
I recently bought 3 cypressus.
2 mini ones and one that is about 1.5m high.
I have noticed that one of the mini ones looks like the pictures below and the other has minor signs of the same problem.
The larger one seems in excellent condition.
Could someone tell me what could be wrong and can it be corrected?
20 Oct, 2011
Answers
On the one in the photo is is all the way round. The one not in the photo is on one side away from the window.
They were bought under shelter outisde after previously being out in the open on display. They had not long been under shelter.
They looked healthy when bought.
20 Oct, 2011
I was just wondering if this was sudden temperature fluctuation, which can cause whitening like this.
20 Oct, 2011
Have you had some of the local cats spraying them?.
20 Oct, 2011
Doctorbob, it won't have been any of the local cats, as there is nowhere for them to jump on to spray them and the windowsill itself is very thin, that most pots and small troughs overhang slightly.
Bamboo, when they were bought, it was during the nice weather we had, and as you know the temperatures in London dropped, and at the moment it is quite cold outside.
So that coud be why? Is there anything I can do, or do I need to wait until next year when it warms up again?
20 Oct, 2011
Yes, that could be why - its affected the less mature ones in this way. Not much you can do about it now, but if those whitened areas turn brown and die back, clip them off.
20 Oct, 2011
Bamboo: Thanks.
Bilbo: They have been transplanted from the cheap plastic pots to small teracotta ones, and they looked healthy when I bought them. I noticed that some others had shown signs, so maybe they were grown in large groups. The larger ones were all squashed together on display, but my larger one looks absolutely fine.
20 Oct, 2011
Just some added info from me! the conifer in question is Cupressus macrocarpa 'Wilma' which seem to be grown in massive quantities in recent years as decorative container plants ...god knows why! because in general they are not suited to container culture, they suffer badly with fungal problems, I have yet to see a healthy one grown in a pot for very long.
21 Oct, 2011
I think people just use them as part of a winter display in pots and then bin 'em, Bluespruce - that's certainly what I've done in the past.
21 Oct, 2011
I needed some winter colour. My bigger one will be staying, but the small ones may need binning if they contiue to worsen.
21 Oct, 2011
Alex, is the whitening effect restricted to this side of the plant, the one we can see, and the side against the window is unaffected? And where were they when you bought them - inside? Under shelter? Or standing out in the open?
20 Oct, 2011