Scots pine possible disease: help required

[rg257]

Hi all, I'm a newbie here looking for some help.

 

A couple of years ago I planted a young Scots pine in some nearby woodland. It was doing really well until a couple months ago when it started to shed lots of its needles. I am unsure whether this is a natural shedding that is occuring or whether there may be a fungal disease as the root cause, eg rhizosphaera needle cast or dothistroma needle blight.

 

Please see attached pictures. The healthiest, greenest needles remain at the top of the tree. 

 

Very grateful for any advice on what is going wrong here (if anything) and what can be done to address. Thank you

[hedge mong]

Might be blister rust....

 

But I'm guessing.see it around here a bit but not sure that's what it is called 

Edited August 18, 2023 by hedge mong

[Paul in the woods]

Have you picked off some of the white bits and looked to see if anything is inside? They might be wooly aphid.

[Excels1or]

From the picture it looks like the needles closest to the stem are casting, with the outer needles staying intact? I'd say its casting old needles.

[rg257]

17 hours ago, hedge mong said:

Might be blister rust....

 

But I'm guessing.see it around here a bit but not sure that's what it is called 

Thanks. I googled images of that and it doesn't look very similar to my tree - it doesn't have the blisters. It does have this white substance on the bark but I am not sure if that is related to the needles falling off.

[rg257]

5 hours ago, Excels1or said:

From the picture it looks like the needles closest to the stem are casting, with the outer needles staying intact? I'd say its casting old needles.

Certainly the needles at the top are in the best condition and those closer to the stem are in bad shape. But needles all across the tree, except from right at the top, have been affected.

[rg257]

17 hours ago, Paul in the woods said:

Have you picked off some of the white bits and looked to see if anything is inside? They might be wooly aphid.

I haven't tried picking it off but I will do. I'm not sure if it is wooly aphid because the white growths dont have the wooly or fluffy texture.