ANOTHER... Is my Juniperus chinensis 'Shimpaku' pre bonsai dying ?

[DLH]

6 Photos. Please help. Thanks. I appreciate it.

I am pretty sure it is still alive. I have been feeling it every day and it feels soft and pillowy.
However, whenever I touch it, the whole tree shakes all over.
I do not think I have it secured well enough. When I water it, I have to pick it up to dump water from underneath; I can tell it does not like it when I do this.

Anyhow. I have taken a bunch of photos i will upload. There are more and more yellowing tips. One small area, a branch segment is has turned totally brown and is dead. It is surrounded by green tissue with some yellowing tips.

This tree seemed to last the whole winter fine. It was in the original container that i bought it in. Small 2inch square pot. It is a cutting I'm sure, and it was not old. I consider it a pre-bonsai. I probably shouldn't have put it in the pot it is in. Since I transplanted it around 6 weeks ago it has been on a decline. I was trying to make a shohin tree with it. Anyhow. I made my own mix to transplant with it. It had a bit of compost, a bit of sphagnum moss, a bit of vermiculite, some hydroton (clay pellets) a bit of lava rock, and a bit of some store bought bonsai mix. I thought what I was putting it into would be ok.

I was not over watering over winter. Since I have transplanted it seems to have been bogged down and slower to absorb water. I see this happen in house plants on occasion after a transplant, so I figured it would just take a little time to adjust... I have not given the tree anything but water. I may have given it fertilizer a bit when I transplanted. I can not remember if I did or didn't. So my best estimate is that in 6 months I might have fertilized it twice.

Does it just need fertilizer.?? Over the winter, i had it in a room that was kept at around 55-40 degrees. I am not sure if it never got to dormancy, and now it is freaking out? Please look at the photos and give me any thoughts advice as to how to take action to save my pre-bonsai baby.

If I haven't said this, I really have no idea what I am doing. I have over 40 house plants including orchids, ficus, plumeria (in/outdoor new england) and they are all thriving. So I can keep a plant alive, I would like to think. Still, juniper and bonsai are completely foreign to me. What have I done wrong? Can I fix it? How?

 

[Dav4]

Not dead...yet.
Needs to be outside...year round.
Only water when soil dries.
Junipers are not house plants...need full sun in the summer...need cold in the winter...need regular feeding when growing well.

 

[edprocoat]

That really does not look that bad, the last picture shows buds at the ends ready to open (new growth) which is a good thing. Keeping it outside in the New England states area would be fine but it will need some winter protection in a pot. The yellow ends could be from lack of light. Your soil is real wet but looks like it drains well with the aggregate I can see in the picture. Do let it dry between waterings, check it daily. JudyB always recommends sticking a wooden chopstick down into the soil to see the depth the soil has dried down to. Allowing the water to run through on a good watering displaces the oxygen and nourishes the roots but when it can not drain the roots will start to rot. The pot looks like the type that the tray is built onto the pot so after watering it spill the water out of the tray so the air can get to the roots. Why your tree is loose is probably because there are not enough roots to balance out the top so you should tie the tree in the pot to stabilize it. For now you would not want to remove it from the pot so wrap a wire around the pot bottom to top then twist it around the base of your tree. Watch it in a few months it may need to be removed or loosened so it does not dig in. Good Luck !

ed

 

[DLH]

Thanks Dav4 . Outside right away. (once i get the trunk wired... so the wind doesn't mess with it) Full sun. Give it a feeding... next watering, once it dries out.

Thanks Ed. I have been using a chopstick. I know the soil looks soaked. I always wait till it is dry, it might not be getting bone dry, but dry. It would get bone dry in the original cutting container. When watering: I do exactly what you are saying, in regards to dumping out the extra water.

When I think back really hard; I think there may be a thin layer of lava rock at the bottom of the container to help for drainage. I was worried about stagnant water getting trapped along the bottom of that containers flat surface. I am not sure if that is a good idea or not, but I think that may have been what I did. I do not want to move it right now. Thanks to what you said I am sure now that I won't.

This last watering 2/3 days ago was heavy. I had tried to put a bit more soil around the base of the trunk. This breaks rules that I know about plants in general, but I was more worried about stability. Thank you so much for the wiring advice. I will get that done sat/sun and if I do it right I know it will help.

I am glad you guys think it is at least "ok"

Anyone else out there with advice I am sure there are still other things I am doing wrong. I want my 4 new pre-bonsai all to be happy as can be. I should post some pictures of "Grut", my poor little wisteria twig, is hanging on for dear life by a thin thread.

 

[Dav4]

Don't just place it in full sun...work up to it over a few weeks. Otherwise, the foliage will get sun burnt.

 

[DLH]

Should I trim it?? cut all the yellowing tips off??

 

[sorce]

Should I trim it?? cut all the yellowing tips off??

I'd leave it. Any jostling will be bad.
I'd place a few rocks around the trunk to keep it stable. This works for me.

Sorce

 

[DLH]

Photos of my wiring job. Hope I did "ok/decent"... I do not want to disturb it again if I don't have to.
It has only been outside a day and a half; it already looks much happier.

 

[Cypress187]

I like your creative wiring, looks similar to my tree's

 

[bonsaiBlake]

I think tying it to a bamboo stake stuck in the pot might have saved you some time. But hey it works.

 

[augustine]

Could you post another picture of the wiring?

 

[MidMichBonsai]

Be aware that now that you have it outside, you will likely need to water more frequently. Do to transpiration from drying winds and evaporation from the soil, you may need to water every day or 2 based on what I can tell of your substrate. Just keep checking the soil with the chopstick method and you should be fine. Try not to mess with the tree too much now that it is outside. Sit back and watch it put on lots of growth as it gets the light and circulation that it needs.

Best of luck!

 

[DLH]

@MidMichBonsai - Yes, you are quite right. It is drying out much quicker. That alone, in and of itself is much better for the root system. Seems like it will be every other day right now. I am sure it will be once a day at least in the summer.

@augustine - I will try to take more photos of the wiring soon. I have never done this before; I have no idea what I am doing. I did not even really read anything about trunk wiring before I did that. Just kinda used my instincts and went for it. What are you noticing? How did I do?

 

[whfarro]

There are some good wiring videos out on the net. Colin Lewis has a free tutorial on Craftsy. If I can find the link, I will post it later. If anyone else has it handy please post.....good luck.

Found it :
http://www.craftsy.com/class/bonsai-wiring-essentials/4616

 

[DLH]

some more photos of the wiring. I tried to show a couple different angles without moving it.

 

[Jaberwky17]

Could you post another picture of the wiring?

Oh be nice...

 

[LethalRx]

Could you post another picture of the wiring?

You are real cool. Wow. Super impressive. My first thread. I show pictures so people can see what I did. What do I know. Why else would I come here. Yes. It is for your sarcasm, because you are so cool. There. More pictures. Want to see my tree growing now. Anyone. Anyone who likes trees, little trees, bonsai trees... No. we come here for your quips and sarcasm. Right. Well... It is too bad. Now I will not post pictures of my thriving tree after a couple weeks outdoors. So there. Go post another silly thoughtless post. Then, don't think or care what repercussion it may or may not have.

 

[edprocoat]

You are real cool. Wow. Super impressive. My first thread. I show pictures so people can see what I did. What do I know. Why else would I come here. Yes. It is for your sarcasm, because you are so cool. There. More pictures. Want to see my tree growing now. Anyone. Anyone who likes trees, little trees, bonsai trees... No. we come here for your quips and sarcasm. Right. Well... It is too bad. Now I will not post pictures of my thriving tree after a couple weeks outdoors. So there. Go post another silly thoughtless post. Then, don't think or care what repercussion it may or may not have.

Well ya gotta admit it was funny ! The tree should be secure enough now to withstand gale force winds, hopefully you will never find out.

ed

 

[M. Frary]

Now how about some constructive criticism.
How you wired this tree will work. Not the most appealing thing on the eyes but it will work. After a while the roots will grow out and the wire can come off.
Don't let these people fool you Lethal. They are or were new at one time too. They weren't born knowing how to do this stuff either.
We learn ,we move on. Pay no attention to the peanut gallery.