Juniper problems are everywhere

[october]

Well, my straight trunk bunjin now has mites. The second of my junipers to get mites.

This tree has been surrounded by other trees that had scale infestations and fungal disease for 5-6 years and never had one problem. It is getting worse and worse around here. There were no fungal problems here until 2 years ago. Also, in 15 years, I cannot recall ever having mites on my trees. A whole other problem now to continuously deal with. I really think that unless I happen to find an incredible specimen juniper, I am going to get away from them.

Also, found a new nursery today about 20 minutes from my house. About 60% plus of their junipers looked decimated. Bottoms and middles of them all dead and bare. With some growth on the tops. Even that was not healthy. On the junipers that did have fuller foliage, it was very pale and the trees looked on the verge of death. There is definitely a problem with junipers here in the northeast.

Rob

 

[Smoke]

Global warming*....


and that...my friend, is why I grow tridents by the hundreds now....







* just kidding about the global warming
Mites around here look like refugees from a nuclear reactor spill.

 

[october]

I beat the fungus which I thought might have been an unbeatable foe. Of course, now there is a brand new problem. For years I have been saying, well, at least they don't have mites.

I have to say, after seeing the junipers at that nursery I found today, my trees look pretty healthy. What makes it worse is this is the time that landscape and other nurseries' junipers are supposed to look their best. I can only image what these look like in the off season. These junipers probably won't be around long.

Rob

 

[mc4mc44]

I only have two junipers, and with all the trouble they've been I don't think i'll ever have more. I got a shohin RMJ last summer and it was one of the healthiest trees in the nursery. It got a fungus in the fall and now all that's left is the very tips of a few branches. Even if I never have trouble with it again (and i'm sure i will) it will never be a nice tree because of everything it lost. I also have a procumbens nana. It had cedar apple, but after i cut off the infected branch its been OK. I still don't like it though because it looks pale, but it doesn't look like there's anything really wrong with it.

It's sad to me because junipers are one of my favorite species. They make some of the nicest trees.

 

[Martin Sweeney]

Rob,

Spider Mites have always been an issue here. As I do not buy Shimpaku junipers (or much of anything else) anymore because I have 3 I am happy with and propagate from them via cuttings when I want more. So, when I get Spider Mites and it happens every year, it must be from the landscape. I began proactively spraying for them with Isotox/Orthene at the end of winter. I am due another spray (4th this year) as soon as it stops raining.

I wouldn't wait to find Spider Mites or damage before I started spraying if I was you. You have very nice junipers, need to keep working on them and hopefully new ones.

Regards,
Martin

 

[Beng]

I rotate fungal sprays bi weekly from late spring through early fall. It's the only thing that keeps things in control with the unpredictable east coast weather. Months like this June which is now the rainiest on record since they started keeping records has me rotating sprays weekly. My kishu had one issue late spring with fungus which is when I began rotating them. Since then all is growing well.

Copper, Daconil, Mancozeb repeat. I haven't had many insect problems this year, but I used safari and Merit several times this spring and last fall.

It would be nice if we didn't have to spray things on our trees but there's no way around it now a days.

I've been having more trouble with fruit trees and leaf spot fungus this year then with evergreens... Immunox has been a huge help keeping that in check.

 

[coh]

Sorry to hear about the mites. Please let us know how you treat them, and how well it works.

You know, I'm starting to wonder if, with the crazy weather and imported pests and diseases from all over the globe, we just need to start spraying regularly as a preventive measure. Seems like that's what they do in Japan, at least based on the apprentice blogs that I have read. I think Peter Tea talks about how they spray every month or so (can't remember the details). I like to avoid chemicals as much as possible, but not if it means the loss of these trees that I work so hard on!

Some members of the local club have the healthiest looking junipers I've seen anywhere. I'll try to remember to ask if they use any preventive sprays or have had any of the kinds of problems being talked about here.

Chris

 

[october]

Rob,

Spider Mites have always been an issue here. As I do not buy Shimpaku junipers (or much of anything else) anymore because I have 3 I am happy with and propagate from them via cuttings when I want more. So, when I get Spider Mites and it happens every year, it must be from the landscape. I began proactively spraying for them with Isotox/Orthene at the end of winter. I am due another spray (4th this year) as soon as it stops raining.

I wouldn't wait to find Spider Mites or damage before I started spraying if I was you. You have very nice junipers, need to keep working on them and hopefully new ones.

Regards,
Martin

Hi Martin, unfortunately about 2/3 of my junipers have taken hits from the fungal disease, scale and now mites. On some, it seems like there is nothing wrong, just pale foliage. Most of them have been put back at least 3-4 years.

Also, my shohin shimp original styled by Suthin Sukolsolvisit has been declining for a little while. It had scale, but that does not seem to be the problem. The tree was not repotted, the soil is draining, it gets enough fertilizer, watered when needed etc.. It looks like the main branch is weak and so is the other one. Not sure I can keep the current style. Actually, if I do lose those branches, not sure the tree will ever really be showable. It's such a shame because that tree was definitely a higher end exhibition tree.

Rob

 

[october]

Sorry to hear about the mites. Please let us know how you treat them, and how well it works.

You know, I'm starting to wonder if, with the crazy weather and imported pests and diseases from all over the globe, we just need to start spraying regularly as a preventive measure. Seems like that's what they do in Japan, at least based on the apprentice blogs that I have read. I think Peter Tea talks about how they spray every month or so (can't remember the details). I like to avoid chemicals as much as possible, but not if it means the loss of these trees that I work so hard on!

Some members of the local club have the healthiest looking junipers I've seen anywhere. I'll try to remember to ask if they use any preventive sprays or have had any of the kinds of problems being talked about here.

Chris

When it started, I sprayed the home made pesticide stuff. I sprayed it twice in the first week. It seemed to work pretty well. Then, as a precaution, I sprayed it with Bonide all seasons horticultural oil. It has seemingly worked very well. However, it has only been like 2-3 weeks.

With my straight trunk Bunjin, I am going to use the Bonide oil twice this week. I sprayed it today. It is said that fungicides should be sprayed as a preventative, not pesticides. However, now that I know that these junipers are prone to it. The ones that have had it probably should be sprayed monthly. Even if there are no pests present.

Rob

 

[Emrys]

I'm wondering how beneficial preditor insects can play into the manegment of harmfull bugs. with all the talk of spraying chemicals what to you all think of the alternative. Is it just not reliable enough??

http://www.naturescontrol.com/mite.html


http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/crops...sonlong+pest+of+strawberries+in+Louisiana.htm

 

[Smoke]

I'm wondering how beneficial preditor insects can play into the manegment of harmfull bugs. with all the talk of spraying chemicals what to you all think of the alternative. Is it just not reliable enough??

http://www.naturescontrol.com/mite.html


http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/crops...sonlong+pest+of+strawberries+in+Louisiana.htm

I think preditor bugs is nice approach but not very reliable. If they eat half of the bad bugs, which is admirable, the remaining half can do a lot of damage. Just not reliable enough for me.

You guys are going to think I'm crazy, but the best thing I have found for mites on junipers is Raid ant and roach killer. It is oil based and really sticks to the plant. It kills everything in 24 hours. The plant keeps its oil luster for about a week which is plenty of time to get the new hatches. Within a month the juniper is sending out new green growth all over the place.

problem is...it sends it out on top of crappy ole grey/green growth which is pretty much useless.

 

[fore]

Rob, you know how I feel ;( I'm in the exact same boat. But scale has decimated one Itoigawa, found a couple dead small branches on my RMJ, more interior leaf loss of my nursery yew, and another small bud died on my JBP. Strangely, no mites...knock on wood!

So, a 2 weeks ago, I started to spray every week antifungals, rotating as well, copper, daconil, and bonide Infuse. I also sprayed my collected yews which "I think" may have a fungus problem too.

It's just SO much work now to keep things healthy. My savings grace has been my 2 Pondy's totally unaffected, and one super healthy Itoigawa and another super healthy Kishu also unaffected.

I figure it's just going to be a long growing season!

 

[Beng]

One big reason is all this summer rain in June. They were saying on the news yesterday that the amount of rain we've had between late may and now was more then we typically have in half a year. Trees foliage almost never dries so any fungus present is going to thrive. Couple that with warm temps and its a recipe for disaster, I bet the junipers in dry California and the mid west are doing just fine.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Rob, you know how I feel ;( I'm in the exact same boat. But scale has decimated one Itoigawa, found a couple dead small branches on my RMJ, more interior leaf loss of my nursery yew, and another small bud died on my JBP. Strangely, no mites...knock on wood!

So, a 2 weeks ago, I started to spray every week antifungals, rotating as well, copper, daconil, and bonide Infuse. I also sprayed my collected yews which "I think" may have a fungus problem too.

It's just SO much work now to keep things healthy. My savings grace has been my 2 Pondy's totally unaffected, and one super healthy Itoigawa and another super healthy Kishu also unaffected.

I figure it's just going to be a long growing season!

Ever wonder if it's luck like this that brought about suiseki? Still get to play outside, put things in pots and on stands, even do shows and go collecting...just nothing to kill!

 

[coh]

I expect there's a stone fungus or stone borer out there, waiting for the best moment to strike...

 

[october]

Ever wonder if it's luck like this that brought about suiseki? Still get to play outside, put things in pots and on stands, even do shows and go collecting...just nothing to kill!

Great observation.. I am sure that nature could come up with some super organism to even do damage there. ..lol.. Introducing, the mutant rock spider mite.

Rob

 

[october]

Rob, you know how I feel ;( I'm in the exact same boat. But scale has decimated one Itoigawa, found a couple dead small branches on my RMJ, more interior leaf loss of my nursery yew, and another small bud died on my JBP. Strangely, no mites...knock on wood!

So, a 2 weeks ago, I started to spray every week antifungals, rotating as well, copper, daconil, and bonide Infuse. I also sprayed my collected yews which "I think" may have a fungus problem too.

It's just SO much work now to keep things healthy. My savings grace has been my 2 Pondy's totally unaffected, and one super healthy Itoigawa and another super healthy Kishu also unaffected.

I figure it's just going to be a long growing season!

I think that I am probably going to have to do like a 2 times a month spraying for pests from April to October. I use organic stuff like the Bonide horticultural oil and Bonide fungicide. So they are nto that toxic so I think the trees can handle spraying often.

2 of my junipers do not have mites, fungus or scale. Yet, there are some yellowing sections or sections that are just not as strong as the rest of the tree. I mean, this is to be expected. Junipers are notorious for branches dying for seemingly no reason. The bad part is that even if these sections do survive, their structure is really messed up. My tree that was originally styled by Suthin, The right side bottom and middle of the tree are weaker than the rest. It is not as green and the foliage is sparce. It makes it very difficult to style, it is long strangly growth in some spots and bare in other spots.

Although I have been leaving these trees alone to grow and get strong. I am thinking of maybe doing some energy direction pruning and styling. Of sourse, you should not work on unhealthy trees. However, these trees are not really unhealthy and have been recovering or trying to for like 1-2 years. Possibly getting in there and pruning the more vigourous areas and wiring the weaker parts in place will not only make the tree look better, but divert energy to those areas lacking vigor. I'll still need to contemplate this a bit more.

Rob

 

[JudyB]

I am glad that it is not just me. I have been in a funk bonsai wise this year because of pests and fungal. Didn't want to start spraying and sprinkling, but can not loose my trees. At least I seem to have a handle on it now.
good luck everyone.

 

[Nybonsai12]

So its not just me. I am slowly losing the left side of this tree, but the top flourishes and the right side maintains its current state. I thought by leaving it be maybe it would recover but the left side continues to weaken. It was never a show stopper but it looked so much better when it was fuller. Oh well, win some lose some.

 

[october]

So its not just me. I am slowly losing the left side of this tree, but the top flourishes and the right side maintains its current state. I thought by leaving it be maybe it would recover but the left side continues to weaken. It was never a show stopper but it looked so much better when it was fuller. Oh well, win some lose some.

Nope, it's happening all over, especially this part of the country. Also, in some cases, it seems that leaving them alone to grow and get strong is not working. If you can rule out mites, fungus, soil not draining and scale. It might be something with the roots and/or the juniper doing what they do. That is losing a branch for seemingly no reason.

Rob