Juniper Advice

[Danny-e-]

Could anyone throw any light on what might be causing some of needles on this juniper to start turning a brownish colour. You can probably see better on the 2nd pic as to what i mean.

I initially thought it could be due to overwatering (due to the amount of rain we have had in the past 2 weeks). Either that or theres to much foliage scince its been potted an some of the roots were removed. Anyhow if anyone knows whats causing it or any ideas id appreciate it. I had another similar 1 that the same seemed to happen to an that was untouched ( as in i hadnt repotted it ) needless to say my daughter inlaw was looking after it whilst i was on holiday an that was dead by the time i got back

thanks again

 

[rockm]

Whatever it is, it's killed half of your tree...Needles that turn that color on a juniper are dead and won't green back up again. The other half of the tree is also in trouble, hence the yellowing new foliage.

It's hard to tell about overwatering or underwatering, as both can produce the same kind of die back. How much root was removed and when? I'd look at the roots and soil to see what's going on, dried out soil, mushy wet soil, etc...

 

[jk_lewis]

You also can easily overdo on root pruning. Juniper roots seem to be connected directly to discrete parts of the tree. If you removed a large root that was feeding that part of the tree . . . .

 

[Dwight]

Do you know about the pH of your water. I've been fighting a very similar problrm for a year now. My water is very hard and has a high pH ( 8.5 +/- ). Most of my shimps are showing needle die back much like what you'd expect from transplant shock or over feeding. Shimps like a pH aroung 7 to 7.5 so anything over 8 is stressing the tree enough that the roots can't take up food so the tree literally starves to death.

I'v taken to watering from a trash barrell that I fill with water. I then add pH Down ( pet shop stuff ) until the pH is 7.5 or less. I also add a 1/3 to 1/4 strength regular general purpose Miracle grow. I've got a small pump in the trash barrell to deliver water. I've been doing this only for a few days but already see new growth in the middle of a bunch of dead needles ( the branchlets were still green ).

It might be worth a try.

Also I see juvanile foilage on your tree which indicates growth is it is indeed a shimpacu so there is hope.

 

[Danny-e-]

Cheers for all the quick responses ppl, sorry its took me so long to check (turns out my little sister has given me a nephew this morning 7lb 9oz) .

To answer you first rockm it had alot of the yellowing new foliage when i was given it about 1-2 months back. I thought it was just new growth (not realising it could be from an issue) this is first time ive taken a look at the really there was some slight brownish patches on it then. The only reason i did anything with it was it was in one of these patio plastic containers but there was no soil whatsoever around one third of it.

Basically it looked as if someone had attempted to plant a pot-bound plant in a new container with only half the soil . Plus they hand done anythink with the roots they were just a mangled nest ( i think u get the pic).

i didnt really remove much of the roots and left the main rootball intact, i just untangled some of the nest and bottom to get it into its new pot. Its been in that for about 2-3 weeks and apart from that i hadnt touched it (just wanted to see if id killed it moving it). the reason i think it might be overwatered is that we have had horrendous rain for 2 weeks now.

 

[Danny-e-]

You also can easily overdo on root pruning. Juniper roots seem to be connected directly to discrete parts of the tree. If you removed a large root that was feeding that part of the tree . . . .

I'm not quiet sure on this im almost positive though i didnt remove anything that was large, it was more like the small / half dead stuff

 

[Danny-e-]

As to the ph again not really sure but i think we r in a hard water area more than soft. Ill be sure to get a kit this week an test though.

So it's safe to assume that all the brown foliage is either dead or dying off and would be worth removing from the tree. Then keep a close eye see if anymore starts to turn in the next few days?

I have moved it from where i think its been possibly getting to saturated of the rain, in a bid to dry the soil out a bit more.

ps thanks for all the quick responses