G/H
I have longleaf, slash and loblolly that are now 4 years old. I have lost some each year that begin turning brown in the early spring and die. Last year I had local State Forester come out and they couldnt really make a determination why the trees where randomly dieing. This year I had a representative from the Longleaf Alliance looking at a site for future longleaf planting and I had him look at the trees that where dying this year. He quickly decided it was annosus root rot. The location that the trees are dying is in old cutover sites. The root rot spreads from old stumps. In old fields right next to the dying trees I have not lost any. He emailed me some articles about it and they suggest cutting down the dead trees and putting borax on each of the cut stumps. I have done that and hope to stop the spread of the root rot. I also burned the dead trees because it spreads from spores in the air. You can look right at the ground level of the dying trees and if it is root rot you will have a canker or white looking fungus growing around the base of the tree. It might not be present on all the trees but on mine it was on most. I probably cut out 100-150 trees over a 10 acre area. Unfortunately it is found in sandy well drained soils and that is what I have in this location. Google annosus root rot and you can find pictures and more information. Also if any of you are planting longleaf or have longleaf I highly recommend contacting the longleaf alliance folks. They have been very helpful to me and will assist you with any questions you have.