Juniper issue

[Japonicus]

Thanks for the reply.
I have not fertilized since repotting. I did not want to fertilize a tree whose roots might be in distress. I have some cakes and a couple of other slow release fertilizers. Should I give it a shot?
The mix is akadama, lava and pumice. Equal parts of each.
it is possible that there was a day or so that they got real dry but what is happening now was happening before. I can water pretty much at will. I have repotted 30-40 trees/plants this spring. In some cases I was super aggressive with the roots (but not in this case) but I have been really careful with aftercare. So far zero losses.

Here is where I am in my thoughts - not enough sun late last summer so the tree weakened and became susceptible to a blight or overwatering and with the right conditions it will bounce back. I was a little encouraged when looking at it yesterday.

Awesome. Encouragement always a plus
Yes a dry day is always a bad day for new roots, hence Sorces Rain n Wane strategy,
but still needs to carry over to next moon at least ? sounds like you’re on track.
Those new feeder roots supply like 80 % of all the water and nutrients to foliage.

No, I wouldn’t use anything beyond a Tsp of Hollytone or 1/4 to 1/3 strength diluted fish emulsion yet.

I wish I hadn’t potted my Juniper in March now. It really slowed progress so far.

 

[Japonicus]

it is possible that there was a day or so that they got real dry but what is happening now was happening before.

Real dry... is a REAL bone crusher. You could have both stressors too dry and too wet simultaneously
with the drier being the worst case. You only removed 10 % of the old roots or soil

and with the right conditions it will bounce back...

Right on Coach. Is your time out area providing 6 hrs of Sun and good circulation?
Very nice that you can water at will. Very helpful here.

 

[coachspinks]

Time out area gets at least 6 hours of full sun and good circulation. It seems to be liking it.

 

[coachspinks]

Update: after 2 weeks of daily rain, but some sunny days as well, I am seeing some new growth. The brown is there but hasn't progressed. Fingers crossed.

 

[Bonsai toto]

i have the same issue too. but mainly on one part of the branch. i wonder why. they other main branch is healthy.

 

[Cable]

Update: after 2 weeks of daily rain, but some sunny days as well, I am seeing some new growth. The brown is there but hasn't progressed. Fingers crossed.

Good news! I know how you feel, I had two new pro nanas that were looking really rough this spring. Brown all over and off color where they weren’t brown. Thought for sure I was gonna lose them. Turned out to be partially my fault (too little water) and partially weather because as soon as it warmed up a bit they started growing like mad. Now I have too much new growth (my favorite “problem”).

 

[coachspinks]

Update - the browning still has not progressed and the tree is growing. Some of the growth is mature growth.

 

[sierrajuniper]

Update - the browning still has not progressed and the tree is growing. Some of the growth is mature growth.

Hi coachspinks,

What do you use to treat Cercospora Twig blight? Thanks

 

[just.wing.it]

Update - the browning still has not progressed and the tree is growing. Some of the growth is mature growth.

Did it continue to improve last year?

 

[coachspinks]

It is still around and kicking. I kept it in time out all summer. I would say a little more browning since my last post but not much. Much of the browned out twigs are still flexible. It did push some new growth late. Junipers here should start stirring in the next few weeks.

 

[coachspinks]

Hi coachspinks,

What do you use to treat Cercospora Twig blight? Thanks

I have been using Daconil on this juniper. Cercospora Twig blight or some other blight was just one possibility. Much of what I read wasn't really very optimistic once a tree had a juniper blight. I repotted the tree and found that there was an inner ball of very compact soil/roots. Once I did that it "seemed" to slow the browning almost completely. Once thing I didn't want to do is keep throwing things at it. If I did this I wouldn't know what helped and what I was doing might have killed it. Nothing would have been learned.
Here is what I did - checked for insects (spider mites) I found none but washed the foliage anyway and kept it in the anti pest rotation treatment , repotted and let it rest. Once an appropriate time had passed I gradually moved it to the sunniest spot I could find. I also treated with Daconil. After that, I just left it alone until putting it up for the winter when it got another Daconil treatment. I will look at it closely this morning and let you know what I see.

 

[coachspinks]

While all my junipers are starting to wake up, this one seems to be pushing more growth than the others. Looks like it will all be scale type as well. There is still no new growth on the dead areas even though they are still flexible and have some green under the bark.

 

[WesB]

While all my junipers are starting to wake up, this one seems to be pushing more growth than the others. Looks like it will all be scale type as well. There is still no new growth on the dead areas even though they are still flexible and have some green under the bark.

Ya just gotta take time with a wounded hand, it likes to heal

 

[coachspinks]

I looked at it closely yesterday. There IS new growth. One interesting thing is that there were whole limbs that had browned out except for the tips. These are the areas where new growth is pushing out. I have so far only given it topical fungicide but will be using systemic soon.

 

[coachspinks]

He/she is still alive. About 1/3 of the canopy is green. However, the green parts are showing a lot of growth. I set up an auto water system a month ago and it is getting a good deal more water than when I was watering by hand. The growth has coincided with that, hmm....

 

[Cable]

What is your watering schedule?

 

[coachspinks]

I use a rain bird set on "spray" for 90 minutes daily. It is elevated in the center of my garden. It isn't very fancy but it also waters my vegetables and some fruit bushes.

 

[Cable]

That seems high to me. Does that seem high to anyone else? You’re a lot further south than me so maybe it is fine. I generally water mine twice a day by hand.

 

[coachspinks]

I thought it high too. I set it up that way earlier in the summer and went away for a week. When I got back I saw a lot of growth and with not signs of overwatering. I have left it this way for the last month and the growth has been greater than I have seen the last 2 years. The water shuts off just before the sun hits my garden and I use a very well draining inorganic mix. I am keeping an eye on things for signs of overwatering but haven't seen any so far.