I think it's a Juniper Bonsai

[Kolchek]

Wife bought this for me a couple of months go. I think its a juniper bonsai. No instructions, nothing. I think I may have over watered. Transplanted with a layer of Bonsai Jacks Gritty mix on the bottom and then filled w/Tinyroots Premium Bonsai Soil, trimmed the roots.
It lives in the window gets morning sun. I live in Houston, Texas and worried about it being outside in the Texas heat.

What did I do wrong.?

 

[Paradox]

Wife bought this for me a couple of months go. I think its a juniper bonsai. No instructions, nothing. I think I may have over watered. Transplanted with a layer of Bonsai Jacks Gritty mix on the bottom and then filled w/Tinyroots Premium Bonsai Soil, trimmed the roots.
It lives in the window gets morning sun. I live in Houston, Texas and worried about it being outside in the Texas heat.

What did I do wrong.?

It will not survive inside the house even next to the window. It has to be outside.
You will have to monitor it and see what its watering needs will be as your seasons and temperatures change.
What do others in Texas do with thier juniper bonsai
@markyscott is in Texas, perhaps he can give you local guidance

 

[bonsaichile]

You kept it outside. Junipers can take a lot of sun

 

[bonsaichile]

I mean, you kept it inside. That is usually a death sentence for most bonsai trees

 

[markyscott]

Hi Kolchek. I live in Houston as well and I keep my juniper bonsai outside all the time. I have many - some of them are quite old.

The tree you have looks like it‘s beyond saving. Please don’t be too disappointed - we’ve all lost trees. You can buy a replacement at one of our local bonsai nurseries (Quality Feed in the Heights or Timeless Trees in Rosenberg). You can also get good advice on caring for them by joining the Houston Bonsai Society. It is a great organization - by far the largest in the state.

 

[Kolchek]

Hi Kolchek. I live in Houston as well and I keep my juniper bonsai outside all the time. I have many - some of them are quite old.

The tree you have looks like it‘s beyond saving. Please don’t be too disappointed - we’ve all lost trees. You can buy a replacement at one of our local bonsai nurseries (Quality Feed in the Heights or Timeless Trees in Rosenberg). You can also get good advice on caring for them by joining the Houston Bonsai Society. It is a great organization - by far the largest in the state.

Thank you! Good resources. I did do the scratch test on the trunk and it was still green underneath.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

What did I do wrong.?

"I live in Houston, Texas and worried about it being outside in the Texas heat."

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Welcome to the site!

Junipers are very robust trees, as long as other conditions are being met (primarily dealing with health of roots). You should see some of the junipers growing out in the Mojave desert if you are concerned about heat However as others have pointed out, it is very difficult to grow most bonsai indoors, and for conifer bonsai, almost impossible. Even if you are able to keep them alive, you may lose the ability to maintain them as convincing bonsai. Because they aren't getting adequate lighting, the inner growth may die out, and you may get spindly, sparse new growth with long internodes.

It appears to me that your juniper may have moved on to the big bonsai garden in the sky. Junipers have the unique ability to stay "evergreen" even when "everdead". However I am not always right about junipers - I have in the past seen some junipers coming in from the field in the winter that look dead to me... but they recover miraculously once they wake up from dormancy. I don't think this is the case with your tree, but if you want to be certain you can always wait another month. If you don't see a bud of new growth anywhere on the tree after a month, it is ready for the burn pile.

However do not despair. I have lost track of the number of junipers I have killed. The key is to never kill the same tree species the same way twice! That means you are learning from your mistakes.