browning tips on green mound juniper

[spider wisdom]

medium-time lurker, first-time poster

after some searching, i've narrowed down the browning tips on my month-old, big-store juniperus procumbens nana as "totally natural and fine" to "will die from fungus."

last week i fertilized for the first time with (half-strength diluted) schultz all purpose 10-15-10. today i noticed some mild browning needles on new growth. i don't think it's been overwatered; i check soil daily and soak through for about 10s if it needs it. i put it in direct sunshine from morning until noon, then in moderate shade for the rest of the day, outside on a high deck in portland, or.

is it on the path to an early death already? or is this a normal thing? i know i'm in overprotective proud papa mode at the moment, but wouldn't mind a second look.

 

[leatherback]

Not sure what you gave it. But brown tips can mean problems with the roots. Did you overdose perhaps?

 

[HorseloverFat]

Greetings, wanderer. Glad you decided to step from the “Tiny”Tree-line and into the glow! Cast down the pots which bind thee’s feet and dance to the ballad of the Woody Dwarves.

Given the timeline... and what we know (and was stated right “above” me) about junipers, (Which, for me, isn’t that much at all ) ...

overdose

Was kind of what I was thinking too.

Hmmm...

Pleasure to make your acquaintance.

 

[spider wisdom]

Not sure what you gave it. But brown tips can mean problems with the roots. Did you overdose perhaps?

it's possible i did.

schultz calls for 4 dropperfuls of the fertilizer per gallon of water. i mixed for a quart and used less than one dropper (maybe half), and even then didn't use the entire quart on the bonsai. hopefully this will be the extent of the damage done, but i'm sure a week isn't enough time to determine that.

Greetings, wanderer.

well met, friend! *shares lembas*

 

[thomas22]

It doesn't sound like you over fertilized to me. Actually looks healthy. I few brown tips is pretty normal.

 

[spider wisdom]

It doesn't sound like you over fertilized to me. Actually looks healthy. I few brown tips is pretty normal.

that's good to hear. i worried i was acting/posting too early, but wanted to make sure it wasn't a bad omen. i'll keep a close eye on it for the next few weeks and maybe forgo the fertilizer until mid-late july.

 

[leatherback]

I few brown tips is pretty normal.

Hm.. Not on my trees

 

[thomas22]

Hm.. Not on my trees

Maybe not normal but not uncommon. I get them on my junipers from time to time. If you look at the second pic of spider's tree you see 99% or the tips look ok. There is the one branch that is a little bit discolored that has the brown tips. It could be a damaged branch. If he starts seeing more brown tips throughout the tree then I would start to get worried.

 

[sorce]

Looks like blight to me .

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce

 

[smilezzz]

Is it possible it's one of a multitude of things?

Are those fertilizer pellets? Maybe remove those? Personally, I hate those things.

Have you checked for bugs?

Over-watering maybe? What's under those stones, is that growing medium consistant all the way through, or is there mush under it?

I'm not the biggest fan of dunking trees, maybe once every couple of months. I hose my trees down until waters running out from the bottom rather than dunking religiously. Sorce mentioned blight, which is where branch tips die back, possibly due to over-watering coupled with high temps.

Good luck man.

 

[smilezzz]

Also, and maybe some more experienced members can jump in here, looking at you pics, it seems isolated on juvenile foliage, was this branch maybe trimmed with a scissor as opposed to being pinched? That leaves some brown drying tips, which isn't really of concern to the overall health of the tree unless you've removed all the growing tips.

 

[AJL]

Your photo shows 3 brown shoot tips on 1 branch and 1 small dead shoot nearby; the rest of the tree looks normal, so this could have been simply caused by crushing or abrasion of shoot tips on this section during transit, so I suggest you prune off the dead shoots and keep monitoring the tree in case further issues appear. Junipers like sunlight so keep it outside and dont over water.

 

[spider wisdom]

the green bits do appear to be fertilizer pellets. i'll go through and remove today. below the pebbles is a nice rich medium.

did the sheet of paper + trunk-shake test; no crawlies.

i did water daily for its first week outside, but i've been playing it by ear and checking soil daily since then. not letting it get bone dry, but just thirsty enough, which currently equates to about every other day. temps have increased a but during the day so i'm sure it's reaching dryness more frequently.

but yeah, does seem isolated at the new growth. any scissoring i've done has been at the base of the trunk and/or roots that'v popped up over the topsoil, never the growth — i've done a small amount of pinching in some areas, but haven't touched that new growth section at all.

in the meantime, i'm doing what AJL mentioned, and ensuring it's getting enough light outside.

thanks everyone for the help!