Itoigowa Shimpaku Juniper foliage color change concern.

[Bonsai Buddy]

Hi all. Something strange is happening to my Itoigawa Shimpaku Juniper... The color of the foliage turned from a nice green to this lighter kind of olive green as you can see in the photos. This color change happened in less than 2 days and it has been this way for about a week. I don't really know what caused this, because I have not changed how I care for him. The weather has been mostly sunny and at about 75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit and he's always under a shade netting in my backyard where he get's some direct sun in the morning and filtered sun for the rest of the day. The soil I use is about 80 percent akadama, 10 percent lava rock, and 10 percent organic. Which he has been in since I repotted him in spring and was doing great until recently. With that soil composition I water him about every 2 days with the current weather. I have had this tree for a while and I have not seen him like this before. In the winter he gets a bronze cast here but greens up in spring. As you can see a lot of the tips are bright green and he has some back budding that's not really visible in the photos so that's a good sign, but the color is just odd. Has anyone had their Shimpaku Juniper look like this? And should I be alarmed? I appreciate your response, thank you for your time.

 

[Bonsai Buddy]

Just wanted to add that I fertilize him with Omakase organic fertilizer, which has done awesome for my other junipers. Thanks again.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

It looks like spider mites and scale. Check for spider mites by tapping a few branches over a white sheet of paper and see if anything lands on the paper and starts moving.

Manually remove the scale insects and swab the spot with rubbing alcohol. I circled a few on you photo so you know what they look like.


Then, treat with a miticide like Avid, Floramite, or Forbid following instructions and on a regular schedule to break the life cycle. Use PPE.

Current foliage won’t regain its color, but you’ll know it’s recovering when new growth emerges and stays the bright green color you expect. Your itoigawa needs good air circulation and mostly full sun, even in CA.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

I just moved mine one shelf back. Not a lot of paling, but enough to worry me. This unrelenting heat can't be good for anything!
The tree thrived where I moved it ...to....so I think it will be happier.
Gets full sun til 11 but not til 2 or 3.

 

[Bonsai Buddy]

Hi, thanks for the responses guys. @Brian Van Fleet Thanks for recommending the mite spray, I gave him a good spray yesterday with Bonide's Captain Jacks Dead Bug spray. I Picked it up from a local Armstrong's nursery. It says it kills spider mites among other things, and to reapply every week or so. I've had success with Bonide products before and the price was right. However upon closer inspection of the dark spots you circled they appear to just be the base where I had pinched/twisted dead or close to dead foliage off of the branch in the past. But yes in the picture I provided they do look more like scale. @Mike Corazzi Thanks, I have yet to experience quite the heat you're going through so far this year, but I'm sure I will soon. I appreciate the replies guys and I'll try to keep you updated on how things turn out.

 

[Nick121]

Hi, thanks for the responses guys. @Brian Van Fleet Thanks for recommending the mite spray, I gave him a good spray yesterday with Bonide's Captain Jacks Dead Bug spray. I Picked it up from a local Armstrong's nursery. It says it kills spider mites among other things, and to reapply every week or so. I've had success with Bonide products before and the price was right. However upon closer inspection of the dark spots you circled they appear to just be the base where I had pinched/twisted dead or close to dead foliage off of the branch in the past. But yes in the picture I provided they do look more like scale. @Mike Corazzi Thanks, I have yet to experience quite the heat you're going through so far this year, but I'm sure I will soon. I appreciate the replies guys and I'll try to keep you updated on how things turn out.

Yeah you might have a spider mite infestation. I see the tell tail sign of spider mite webbing on your first pic. I have a lot of not so good experience with those pest in my medicinal plants and they can turn the plant brown in just a matter of few days and you would hardly know they are there. By the time you see webbing, its an infestation.

I've used Captain Jack before since its organic and not harmful to human but IMO its not effective against spider mites, its good with thrips though. The consensus in another forum I frequent, C. Jack is ineffective against SM. Since this is bonsai and not something consumable you might as well go with the heavy stuff. Insecticides containing Spinosad.

I've tried a spray bottle of saline water with a few drops of dawn liquid soap, works too with my medicinal plants. I'm just not sure how a juniper would react to saline water.

As a side note: I always mist my Chinese juniper. Not only it freshen the foliage but SM hates moist environment.

 

[MMJNICE]

If it's spider mites I think the best approach is a to first turn the plant sideways and spray off the foliage with a decently strong jet of water.. that will remove a very large portion of the mites sucking the life out your plant.. I would likewise spray every plant in the area with the same treatment.. make sure you don't spray the water from one plant to the next.. and as they are so tiny once the hit the ground they would have to travel the distance of like fifty miles to reach your plants again.. then after a good wash off .. let the plant dry then spray with bug spray.. repeat the process daily.. until you can't see anything on your white paper after you do your Smear test

 

[bwaynef]

I'd think its mites. 2 days is pretty quick to see this kind of transition which would indicate that you might need to invest in some of the quick knockdown miticides that bvf mentioned. I have all three but loathe having to use them. I usually end up using the one that seems the least ominous w/ regard to PPE and time to re-entry. (I forget which one that is.) So far, I haven't gotten far enough into a mite infestation that I have to rotate to the second chemical.

It also looks like you've been pinching the foliage rather than pruning it. Get the spider mites under control, then look into managing the foliage w/ scissors rather than pinching it for density.

 

[Bonsai Buddy]

Hi everyone, sorry for the late reply. Here's some current photos on how my juniper is coming along. I think He's looking a bit better. I treated him with the Bonide again, and then with 100% cold pressed neem oil mixed with water and soap. @Nick121 Thanks for letting me know that spider mites don't like moist environments. In the past I almost never misted my juniper, but now I will regularly. Only reason being fungal infections on some of my other bonsai's, although it may have been related to misting them too late in the day. @bwaynef I can trim him with scissors I just like the clean disconnect instead of leaving a little stub. What would be the pros of trimming rather than pinching? Thanks much for your time everyone.

 

[bwaynef]

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