Help for a concerned newbie

gabh

Seed
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Hi everyone ! I have had a Japanese juniper bonsai since September 2022 (first one) …. I am in New Zealand (so it is autumn now and we have had an unprecedentedly wet summer) …. All was well until about January this year my bonsai has started to look sicker and sicker but I can’t figure out what is wrong …. I moved house at that time so new environment but I have tried to keep watering schedule the same and the tree is outside, getting both indirect and direct light (direct in the late afternoon only) …. I can’t see ANY bugs … the tree is looking more brown and dry each day …. I thought that maybe I was giving too much water (roots are always wet) so this week I have cut watering down to only once every 3x days. Any advice or observations very welcome - I really hope I can save it 😢😢😢😢33D10FB6-28BC-42C5-AABC-5228DC51820F.jpeg10C60771-7403-45AD-9813-EF8B13F2BEC1.jpeg821E55D1-46C0-4C3C-B072-97924B7951CD.jpeg1782CA73-34D5-4777-B21F-1EC1AAB8DA82.jpeg4E6E57EC-EF33-422E-84E2-0C155D5B2699.jpegB7532E34-3405-4F7A-A299-023FFF62EA3E.jpegAA24C9B1-2B3E-445F-AEA3-812C4DFEC5F0.jpeg
 

Doogliebop

Mame
Messages
100
Reaction score
72
Location
Saint Amant Louisiana
USDA Zone
9a
My experience is limited with junipers but I do know they like the soil on the dryer side and love full sun exposure. I would stop watering immediately and let it dry. Hopefully it's not too late to save it. I know it takes awhile for them to show stress and when they do it's usually too late but you may have a chance to revive it.
 

Wires_Guy_wires

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
6,408
Reaction score
10,629
Location
Netherlands
As far as I can tell, the plant is dead.
Some branches might make it, but I wouldn't have too much hope.

It seems like the roots stopped talking to the rest of the plant, resulting in what I call the grey death.
 

Shibui

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
7,545
Reaction score
15,207
Location
Yackandandah, Australia
USDA Zone
9?
Hi neighbour,
Unfortunately junipers often don't show signs until well after they are past the point of no return.
There is some greenish hue to some parts so there's a faint possibility as mentioned above so sort out the watering problem and cross fingers. Keep it until November just in case it decides to grow again in spring before consigning it to the green waste. Then get another tree for the pot and try again.

Junipers don't like being dry but they also hate wet feet. Unfortunately the symptoms of both are similar so hard to tell from the foliage. Need to know what the soil has been like to make an informed guess as to the real problem. Despite the wet summer this year most of my juniper problems seem to be from being too dry. The wet summer lulled me into a false sense of security and the trees suffered during a few dry spells we had.
 

Potawatomi13

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
6,168
Reaction score
4,403
Location
Eugene, OR
USDA Zone
8
My experience is limited with junipers but I do know they like the soil on the dryer side and love full sun exposure. I would stop watering immediately and let it dry. Hopefully it's not too late to save it. I know it takes awhile for them to show stress and when they do it's usually too late but you may have a chance to revive it.
WRONG! According to Ryan Neil Junipers love H2O. However must have well draining not retentive substrate. Also lots of Sunlight necessary☺️. One day DRY or several too wet can kill tree. Also was tree repotted/roots pruned during above period?
 

Doogliebop

Mame
Messages
100
Reaction score
72
Location
Saint Amant Louisiana
USDA Zone
9a
WRONG! According to Ryan Neil Junipers love H2O. However must have well draining not retentive substrate. Also lots of Sunlight necessary☺️. One day DRY or several too wet can kill tree. Also was tree repotted/roots pruned during above period?
How about you address the OP looking for help and miss me with your smartass correction I didn't ask for.
 
Top Bottom