Juniper foliage turning white and brown

[Soup Dragon]

Over the past couple of weeks the foliage on this juniper has gone from being a healthy green to a combination of white and brown. This is all over the plant, and not just on a few branches. It gets sun for most of the day, and overnight temperatures have been just above freezing. It has rained very little. The soil it is mainly organic, but the plant has lived happily in it for years (although I have owned it for only a few months). I planned on repotting it this spring, but the only work done on it recently has been wiring.

Is it a goner?

 

[HankDio]

It does not look good. A repot in non-organic soil is one option, but it would probably stress this already stressed tree even more. If the soil has stayed too wet for too long then the roots themselves may be rotting away below the soil. If there is any root to save, you can try removing what is likely dead beneath the soil, but coniferous root work is a tightrope act.

Best of luck.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

You can clip off a part of the most affected foliage, take it indoors and drop it in some water.
If it turns green in a couple days at room temp, it's just the winter juniper glow you're experiencing.
If it stays brown, it's time for action, and then frost protection until spring.

I see some purple in there and the white could just be the cuticle wax in winter. So personally I'm 50/50 on whether it's damage or natural behavior. Some investigation might clear things up faster than our guesswork.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

After looking at it some more, I also see some scale and I'm 70/30 on winter color / damage.
Which is a good outlook.
I would still try the room temp water trick though.

 

[Soup Dragon]

After looking at it some more, I also see some scale and I'm 70/30 on winter color / damage.
Which is a good outlook.
I would still try the room temp water trick though.

This is encouraging. I'll do the water test and report back in a couple of days.

Thank you!

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

From the pix provided, it looks like winter color and a pest, like scale.

 

[Soup Dragon]

From the pix provided, it looks like winter color and a pest, like scale.

Thanks Brian. I'll go ahead and treat for scale.

I have some foliage in water also as Wires_Guy_wires suggested.

 

[Soup Dragon]

To bring this thread to a happy conclusion, the foliage has returned to being green!



The temperature is still the same as it was - it hasn't warmed up any - but the tree has sensed that it is almost spring it seems. I also sprayed for scale.

Thanks for your help and reassurance!

 

[roberthu]

To bring this thread to a happy conclusion, the foliage has returned to being green!

View attachment 422297

The temperature is still the same as it was - it hasn't warmed up any - but the tree has sensed that it is almost spring it seems. I also sprayed for scale.

Thanks for your help and reassurance!

Congratz! But don’t forget to still pay attention to scale