Llamabro4

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Hey, I’m super new to bonsai and I need some help. I’ve tried to wire my bonsai for the first time and it turned out pretty bad but that’s not why I’m here haha. I was wondering if anyone knew why certain parts of my bonsai were browning. I also was wondering if anyone could give me clarification on the needs of my juniper pro. nana. The soil is crap but I was hoping to pick up some pumice from a store or amazon but I don’t know if I just need pure pumice and nothing else or not. Also, is it ok for it to be outside in Arkansas or not? It’s pretty hot and humid here. I also would like to know how often to water, fertilize, etc. Sorry if I’m being lazy, I’ve spent days looking up info online but I always get different results and I just want a straight answer. Thanks!
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Wires_Guy_wires

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Browning means death. This could either be time related; foliage dies off after a couple of years, these trees grow from the tips of their branches outwards, so naturally, the closer to the trunk the foliage is, the bigger the chance it'll be old. But it can also be related to the health of your plant. If the sap flow stops, it turns brown because it's not getting water in there and the part has died.

Brown parts are usually drained by the tree for nutrients. It's a more or less natural recovery process. The dullish grey-green described below means sudden death, more unnatural.

If it's a purple-ish shade, that indicates stress; sap flow is restricted AND/OR the nights are still cold.

Some junipers get a golden tone in winter, this doesn't mean anything except that they're not purple like the others. They perk right up in spring. Sometimes it can be hard to distinguish the golden tone from the brown one, but the crispyness of the foliage tells a lot. If it's dead, it's crispy. If it's alive, then it feels like regular foliage. If it's dying, it'll feel floppy like old lettuce.

A dull greyish green color indicates that it's dying and there's no connection to live tissue whatsoever. This happens when a plant just gives up (indoor junipers for instance) and stop living as a whole. Of when a branch has been twisted and turned until it lost all connection to living tissue (see the second picture of your post, it looks like there is a snap in the righthand loop but the connection to the trunk might also be damaged).
If you wait long enough though, the grey stuff will eventually brown up due to natural breakdown.

I've seen grey foliage perk up, but only once or twice out of a hundred times.
 

Llamabro4

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Browning means death. This could either be time related; foliage dies off after a couple of years, these trees grow from the tips of their branches outwards, so naturally, the closer to the trunk the foliage is, the bigger the chance it'll be old. But it can also be related to the health of your plant. If the sap flow stops, it turns brown because it's not getting water in there and the part has died.

Brown parts are usually drained by the tree for nutrients. It's a more or less natural recovery process. The dullish grey-green described below means sudden death, more unnatural.

If it's a purple-ish shade, that indicates stress; sap flow is restricted AND/OR the nights are still cold.

Some junipers get a golden tone in winter, this doesn't mean anything except that they're not purple like the others. They perk right up in spring. Sometimes it can be hard to distinguish the golden tone from the brown one, but the crispyness of the foliage tells a lot. If it's dead, it's crispy. If it's alive, then it feels like regular foliage. If it's dying, it'll feel floppy like old lettuce.

A dull greyish green color indicates that it's dying and there's no connection to live tissue whatsoever. This happens when a plant just gives up (indoor junipers for instance) and stop living as a whole. Of when a branch has been twisted and turned until it lost all connection to living tissue (see the second picture of your post, it looks like there is a snap in the righthand loop but the connection to the trunk might also be damaged).
If you wait long enough though, the grey stuff will eventually brown up due to natural breakdown.

I've seen grey foliage perk up, but only once or twice out of a hundred times.
What is your suggestion?
 

bluesky

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Put it outside. Plenty of sun. Water it when the surface gets dry.
Please tell me that pot has drainage holes in the bottom. (A sure way to kill a tree is to let it sit in damp soil with no way out for the water. The roots just rot.)

In late spring / June you might want to lift the whole root ball and soil out of the pot to see if it's potbound. If it is, you can repot it, and use bonsai soil that you can buy online. Much better for drainage and encouraging fine root growth wich you want for a healthy tree.

In the meantime, before then, spend some time watching Nigel Saunders videos on youtube. There are hundreds of others out there but he explains things like you're in a one-to-one tutorial with him.
 

Llamabro4

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Put it outside. Plenty of sun. Water it when the surface gets dry.
Please tell me that pot has drainage holes in the bottom. (A sure way to kill a tree is to let it sit in damp soil with no way out for the water. The roots just rot.)

In late spring / June you might want to lift the whole root ball and soil out of the pot to see if it's potbound. If it is, you can repot it, and use bonsai soil that you can buy online. Much better for drainage and encouraging fine root growth wich you want for a healthy tree.

In the meantime, before then, spend some time watching Nigel Saunders videos on youtube. There are hundreds of others out there but he explains things like you're in a one-to-one tutorial with him.
Alright I found some pumice from general pumice and I think it should work fine. Should I just have rocks in the bottom of the pot and then layer it on top with pure pumice. And yes, I do have drainage in the pot but the soil is crap haha. It is outside and it was in a rainstorm a few days ago but I’m afraid the soil is too bad to drain that much, resulting in the browning maybe?? It gets a lot of sunlight but do you think it could be too hot outside? It’s gets around 80-90 Fahrenheit
 

Mike Corazzi

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There's a difference between crap and crap ha ha.
We're all familiar with crap but ha ha isn't often available with crap.
 

Llamabro4

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Browning means death. This could either be time related; foliage dies off after a couple of years, these trees grow from the tips of their branches outwards, so naturally, the closer to the trunk the foliage is, the bigger the chance it'll be old. But it can also be related to the health of your plant. If the sap flow stops, it turns brown because it's not getting water in there and the part has died.

Brown parts are usually drained by the tree for nutrients. It's a more or less natural recovery process. The dullish grey-green described below means sudden death, more unnatural.

If it's a purple-ish shade, that indicates stress; sap flow is restricted AND/OR the nights are still cold.

Some junipers get a golden tone in winter, this doesn't mean anything except that they're not purple like the others. They perk right up in spring. Sometimes it can be hard to distinguish the golden tone from the brown one, but the crispyness of the foliage tells a lot. If it's dead, it's crispy. If it's alive, then it feels like regular foliage. If it's dying, it'll feel floppy like old lettuce.

A dull greyish green color indicates that it's dying and there's no connection to live tissue whatsoever. This happens when a plant just gives up (indoor junipers for instance) and stop living as a whole. Of when a branch has been twisted and turned until it lost all connection to living tissue (see the second picture of your post, it looks like there is a snap in the righthand loop but the connection to the trunk might also be damaged).
If you wait long enough though, the grey stuff will eventually brown up due to natural breakdown.

I've seen grey foliage perk up, but only once or twice out of a hundred times.
I looked again and some parts are brown and crispy while a few other parts kinda look purplely. What do I do to stop this?
 

Wires_Guy_wires

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I looked again and some parts are brown and crispy while a few other parts kinda look purplely. What do I do to stop this?
Best thing to do is to stop looking and start waiting.
The damage is done. If you would remove wire right now, you'd probably damage some more.
Some tissue might for callus and heal a bit, some will not. There's not much you can do apart from trying to keep the plant healthy.
Once you're sure that the dead parts are dead, and the live parts are alive, you can remove the dead parts. That'll be in a month or so.
 

bluesky

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80-90° F is indeed nice and warm, but it will be fine. As long as the roots don't cook, which they won't as long as they don't get dry, especially in a white pot.

Here in Madrid in summer the temperature is generally 90-100°F, with very dry air. And with constant watering none of my trees in light colored pots suffer. Just one juniper cascade in a tall dark brown pot was burning the roots on the sunny side (large surface area), so last year I repotted it into a light beige cascade pot, and, problem solved.

Having said that, at temperatures above 95° the trees tend not to extend any root growth, which is another good reason for not repotting in the heat of July/Aug here.
 

Shibui

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When some parts of a juniper start to die a few weeks after wiring it is almost certainly caused by damaged sap flow. In spring and summer when the tree is active the bark is not well attached. Bending, especially if you bend back and forth a few times or make really sharp bends, can loosen the bark and stop sap flow which leads to death of the upstream side of the break. Often there is no outward visible sign . You may not even feel the damage while wiring but it is still deadly to the branch.
Solutions: bend carefully. Try to place it once rather than backwards and forwards to check how it looks. Wire and bend junipers especially while they are dormant instead of while they are active.

Important to leave it alone now and just care for it. Nothing you can do to reverse this damage. Plenty still appears to be healthy. Looks like mostly smaller branches have did which is usual. Still lots to work with when it settles down and the living bits grow.
 

Llamabro4

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Alrighty thanks a lot for everything!
 

brentwood

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Thanks for this post - I think I was rough on a juniper a few weeks back, seeing some brown now. I assume I damaged by bending, lesson learned.
 
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