Help, my bonsai is drying up and dying!

[Noni]

We had to go out of town, so I arranged for someone to come on my back deck and water my juniper bonsai while we were gone. They forgot to do it, and it was very hot these past two weeks, and now my bonsai is very dry, and pieces of the green foliage are breaking off and the whole plant feels very brittle and is turning brownish in many places. Is there any way to save it?

 

[Kevster]

Sorry, it's taking a dirt nap. It's always a worry for me when I ask someone to water my plants because of this reason.

 

[Poink88]

There is no such thing as brown juniper other than a dead one. Sorry.

 

[mat]

2 weeks of no water in Utah heat? Unfortunately, that doesn't sound good. You're going to need more reliable friends (or some sort of automated watering system) if you intend to pursue this hobby and have to leave town for so long.

 

[Noni]

Let me clarify. It's not completely brown. It's mostly brittle green with some brown. Does that make any difference? Are there are remedies that I could try to save it?

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Let me clarify. It's not completely brown. It's mostly brittle green with some brown. Does that make any difference? Are there are remedies that I could try to save it?

Junipers are not brittle. They are soft green. They might be prickly or spiky, but they have soft foliage. If the foliage is dry and arid so that you can break it off by bending it slightly, the tree is dead.

 

[dick benbow]

Sorry for your lesson. Sometimes the best ones are the hardest learned. Don't get discouraged. There are ways to set up a watering system that can reliably do it's thing while your gone. To error is human, to forgive divine.

 

[Hoosteady]

To error is human, to forgive divine.

And to get revenge by going to their house and tilling up their garden in full bloom is heavenly. Jk

 

[Noni]

Thanks for the replies, but I just can't give it up yet. There must be something I can be doing. I have been reading about misting. So I'm spraying it, and plan to spray it several times a day. If there is even a small part of it that's alive, maybe it will come back? I just don't want this tree to have died. Maybe I'm misinterpreting how brittle it is. Maybe it's not as brittle as I think it is. Maybe some brown is normal. I read somewhere that trees take six months to die. (Is that right?) So maybe it can still be saved. If it were only dy-ING instead of dead, what efforts would I undertake to save it?

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Thanks for the replies, but I just can't give it up yet. There must be something I can be doing. I have been reading about misting. So I'm spraying it, and plan to spray it several times a day. If there is even a small part of it that's alive, maybe it will come back? I just don't want this tree to have died. Maybe I'm misinterpreting how brittle it is. Maybe it's not as brittle as I think it is. Maybe some brown is normal. I read somewhere that trees take six months to die. (Is that right?) So maybe it can still be saved. If it were only dy-ING instead of dead, what efforts would I undertake to save it?

Post a photo and we'll tell you if it's dead.

Once a juniper's roots dry up, the rest of the tree has no ability to take up water. How long does it take to dry your laundry if you hang it out on a warm summer day? A couple hours? A juniper will be dead and unrecoverable just as fast. A dead juniper will still show green foliage, in the same way that a very dead Christmas tree that has dried out will appear green - it will just be a very dull brittle green instead of a soft luxurious green. If it makes you feel better, you can always water it, remove it from direct sun (strong indirect lighting only), and place it in a plastic bag as a makeshift humidity tent. You will probably only being watering a piece of firewood, however - and I say this because we have ALL been there. By the time you THINK a juniper might be dead, it is long dead...

And there is no juniper that has healthy foliage that is brown...

 

[Noni]

I think I have attached the pics. Pic #2 is looking down on the tree from the top.

I do NOT want to hear that my tree is firewood. I want to save it. Do I use any large plastic bag for the humidity tent? How long do I leave it on?

 

[edprocoat]

Look at it this way, if there is a Bonsai heaven your juniper is certainly there.


ed

 

[Poink88]

Yep, that is dead. You can prolong the agony by nurturing it or toss it to the trash now. Your choice.

 

[Noni]

No, I don't want that to be true. You can see even in the pics that there are some branches that look better than others. If I keep the tree in the humidity tent, will it grow new roots? And maybe those branches that are healthier will survive? Maybe I'll need to prune off the dead branches, but maybe there is still some life in the tree itself? And if trees take many weeks or months to die, isn't this turning brown too fast? I was reading somewhere where someone kept a tree in a humidity tent for a month and the tree recovered. So do those healthier-looking branches mean that maybe it could happen in this case?

 

[plant_dr]

Bring it to the club meeting next Wednesday night. I'll take a look at it.

 

[rock]

Noni,
Take a breath...

Drought stress in junipers is very predictable. First stage discolored tips working back toward towards the core. the next step is large area of compartmentalizing. The tree will sacrifice a part to allow another part to live. You see this over and over in the desert, that is why there is copious dead branches on high desert trees.

You are allowed to water this tree until kingdom come if you want, and watch for signs of life.

My first teacher said no beginner tree is precious, and don't stake your whole bonsai career on this one,

You can try again, right

good luck

 

[Paradox]

Noni,

I'm very sorry you're friend was not reliable and trustworthy and your tree has suffered because of it. As rock said, relax and think.

The sad reality is whether you want to hear it or not, your tree may very well be dead and if so, there is nothing you can do to change that. Sorry if that sounds harsh but it is the truth.

However, I have a juniper mallsi that I bought last year that was labelled as an indoor plant and I mistakenly put it on my desk at work. About 2 months later I went on vacation for a week and asked a coworker to watch over it which she did dutifully. Despite that, when I returned from vacation, the tree had drying foliage all over it and just did not look well at all. I began searching the internet about bonsai and discovered that junipers are not indoor plants and need to be outside so I took it home and put it outside and watered it when it needed it. To my surprise and happiness, a couple of months later, it began to push out new green foliage and now is pretty much green all over again.

I was lucky. I caught the problem and acted in time. Something you couldn't do because you were away.

Junipers are pretty resiliant. Follow the suggestions mentioned here and give your tree 3-4 months to see what happens. If no new growth happens then, I'm sorry your tree is gone.

As painful as it is, take it as a lesson learned. Get another tree and find someone more trustworthy or come up with a better alternative.

 

[Noni]

Plant dr, I will bring it Wednesday so you can see it.

Thanks for all the kindness, everyone. And I know it is "just" a first bonsai tree...but we got it for our 30 year anniversary, since it is supposedly a 30-year-old tree...and I feel major guilt for owning it less than two months and letting it die. Not to mention that we love this little tree, and it was fairly pricey to buy, as well.

I'm glad to hear that junipers can be resilient. I've been doing the humidity tent, and I don't know if we're kidding ourselves or not, but while some branches seem browner than before, some tufts on some branches seem to have gotten a little GREENER. Is that possible? It almost seems too fast to be real...but we both see the same thing.

 

[rock]

The tree will sacrifice a part to allow another part to live.

remember that

 

[thumblessprimate]

There's a small chance that a part of it might be alive as it's hard for me to tell just from looking at the pictures.

If that plant doesn't make it, if it makes you feel any better, that juniper may not have been old as you thought. No offense but it doesn't appear to be beyond 3 years old.