 | Root and Crown Rots |
 | Rhizosphaera Needle Cast |
 | Cytospora Canker |
 | Spruce Needle Drop |
 | Gymnosporangium Rusts |
 | Phomopsis Tip Blight |
 | Diplodia Shoot Blight and Canker |
 | Dothistroma Needle Blight Hosts: Austrian pine, other pines Pathogen: Dothistroma pini Signs/Symptoms: Needle tip browning and death with a distinct break between live and dead tissue More about Dothistroma Needle Blight |
 | Drought Stress |
 | Winter Injury/Winter Burn Hosts: All conifers, particularly yew and juniper Cause: Insufficient water Signs/Symptoms: Needle browning/bleaching over winter or in spring as plants come out of dormancy More about winter injury/winter burn |
 | Herbicide Damage Hosts: All conifers Cause: Exposure to herbicides Signs/Symptoms: Twisted or otherwise distorted growth, needle yellowing or browning, plant death More about herbicide damage |
Authors: Brian Hudelson, UW-Madison Plant Pathology
Last Revised: 02/29/2024
D-number: D0033
Thanks to Ann Joy, Patti Nagai and Ann Wied for reviewing this document and to Bria Radtke for supplying the photo of spruce needle drop.
A complete inventory of UW Plant Disease Facts is available at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Plant Disease Diagnostics Clinic website: https://pddc.wisc.edu.
Send a Plant Sample for Analysis
Be cautious when self-diagnosing plant health issues. Very few diseases can accurately be diagnosed by eye.
Contact the UW Plant Disease Diagnostics Clinic (PDDC), and for a small fee, clinic staff can examine a plant, determine the cause of the disease/disorder, and provide advice on how to control or prevent the issue.
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