Juniperus chinensis 'Itoigawa' sick

[Yggdrasill]

Dear Everyone,

I would need help to identify what's killing my tree.
I purchased this tree roughly a year ago and left it untouched for the most part of that time to first observe it during a whole growing season. The tree was doing GREAT and had vibrant color.
When the tree start growing again this spring, I repotted it.
I then discovered that it was in a very compact organic soil which still had the shape of it's previous bonsai pot, and that this whole mass was transpoted in a larger bonsai pot with good quality/well draining soil.
I decided to remove as much of this soil as I could (I would say a bit more than 50% of it), but didn't pruned the roots at all and placed the tree in an oversized pot to let him recover.
(I'm not in a rush to place him in a nice bonsai pot, I simply wanted to place the tree in a pot which was large enough for him to keep growing, but heavy enough to prevent my tree from flying when the winds are strong, which is quite common where I live).

Few weeks later, the foliage of my Juniper started to become yellow/brown, dry and eventually fall and detach from the branch on is own or simply by touching it.

I looked carefully for pests in the foliage and found numerous "big fat" black aphids that I removed manually. (I found them mainly along the shari on the trunk, sucking directly from the life vein, but also in the foliage at the base of young shoot).
I noticed that on some spot, there was "honey dew" and sometimes even some kind of black fungus.
As a safety measure, I sprayed the tree with black soap diluted in water, which was always effective to get rid of aphid on my bonsai.

I kept monitoring the tree on a daily basis but the situation kept degrading.
While searching for an explanation, I came across articles speaking about Juniper twig blight, spiders mites and scales. I'm also aware that overwatering my Juniper could result in a yellowing of the foliage.
My first reflex was to reduce the water I give to the tree and ensure that the soil was slightly drier than usual before watering again.
After several weeks of careful watering of this bonsai, it didn't change anything and the foliage still keep yellowing.

I also tried the 'Spider mite' test that some people mentioned in this forum (using a piece of white paper, shaking the branch and check on the paper if anything start moving).
I got lot's of dead bark flakes, more or less dried branches falling, but nothing alive and moving.

While going to a nursery, I was recommended to apply a "fungus treatment" (Pokon Bio Schimmelgevoelige plantenspray), which one more time didn't had any visible effect on my plant (However I know have a very stinky bonsai due to the very strong smell of this product )

I start to be despair and would reapply appreciate if anyone had any tip or piece of advise to help me help my tree.
It's a terrible vision to see it dying and not reacting to any of my attempt to save him !

My tree and myself thank you in advance for the time spent reading my little novel and any help you could provide us !

Y.


EDIT : I forgot to mention that I have few others Juniperus (Sabina, Itoigawa, Shimpaku, Blaauw, Wiltonii, ....). I have a similar problem, to a lesser extend, with the Wiltonii, but all other trees are doing great, even those which where repoted at the same period, in the same soil mix. All trees are located at the same spot, same exposition to wind/sun/rain.
For now, I isolated the sick trees to prevent any contamination of the healthy Junipers !

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy!

It doesn't look all dead like some.

The bugs are certainly A problem.

I think your soil may remain too dry too, this happens quite often when switching to a loose bonsai soil, usually coupled with a fear of this myth, overwatering.

That may need water twice a day.

Sorce

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

As a safety measure, I sprayed the tree with black soap diluted in water, which was always effective to get rid of aphid on my bonsai.

This affects the cuticle in most conifers directly.
It's one of the reasons why people have trouble with neem oil and junipers; you need some kind of soap to emulsify the neem oil, if you use too much soap, the cuticle wax can wash out. When that happens, chlorosis or dieback can occur due to sun damage.

Some observations that worry me a lot:
- I see no growing tips.
- I see nearly no foliage tip without it missing a part; they all are missing their tips which is odd, this either means you pruned it too heavily or all tips all over the plant have died in the recent past.
- The overall color of the tree is unhealthy, only a few parts give me the OK vibe.
- I don't see black spots as with tip blight.

This, to me at least, indicates major root damage. So much that the foliage and roots can support each other. All the tips being gone is weird too. How long has this been going on?

I would personally stick to watering for now, and hoping it'll recover.

 

[Forsoothe!]

Welcome to Crazy!

It doesn't look all dead like some.

The bugs are certainly A problem.

I think your soil may remain too dry too, this happens quite often when switching to a loose bonsai soil, usually coupled with a fear of this myth, overwatering.

That may need water twice a day.

Sorce

The blind leading the blind? Get a new monitor.

 

[Yggdrasill]

This affects the cuticle in most conifers directly.
It's one of the reasons why people have trouble with neem oil and junipers; you need some kind of soap to emulsify the neem oil, if you use too much soap, the cuticle wax can wash out. When that happens, chlorosis or dieback can occur due to sun damage.

This is something I had not the smallest clue about !
I usually dilute 60ml of soap in 2L of water.
This is my first line of defense against aphid for all my trees, and so far I never experienced this issue with Junipers !
Is this concentration too high ?

Some observations that worry me a lot:
- I see no growing tips.
- I see nearly no foliage tip without it missing a part; they all are missing their tips which is odd, this either means you pruned it too heavily or all tips all over the plant have died in the recent past.
- The overall color of the tree is unhealthy, only a few parts give me the OK vibe.
- I don't see black spots as with tip blight.

This, to me at least, indicates major root damage. So much that the foliage and roots can support each other. All the tips being gone is weird too. How long has this been going on?

I would personally stick to watering for now, and hoping it'll recover.

There is growing tips which are lighter in color, the tree really start growing well at the beggining of the season.
At first, only old tips/branches turned yellow, but now almost the whole tree is turning yellow and the very end of the growing tips are turning brown as well.

As for pruning, I didn't cut a single branch nor a single root since I got the tree a year ago. If any root pruning was done, it was before my time.
To repot this plant, I spent more than 3hours (I was spraying the roots with water as soon as they start drying during the whole process) working very slowly with a chop-stick to remove the soil with a lot of care to do not damage the roots.
In all honestly, I never spent that much time and love to repot a plant in my whole life !
As it was the first time that I repot the tree, I really wanted to take it easy and do not go over the boundaries of what the tree can tolerate.

It started at the mid-to-end of April i would say.
At first, the cone became brown as expected after they released their pollen.
But instead of falling as they would do on my other junipers, cones stayed on and the browning started to extend from the pollen cone to the tip supporting it.
Then eventually to the whole branch.
At first, I tried to remove the yellow parts to prevent the spreading of whatever it could be. However, considering how fast the situation degrade and that yellow extend to almost the whole tree, I stopped removing the yellow part, I'm worried that it would be removing too much foliage !
When I say "removing" I simply mean "touch the branch with your finger and watch it fall".

On "dead" branches, I often see some scale (the juniper one, not the bug !) which are brownish/blackish.
This make me think of some kind of insect sucking the sap, but except the aphid that I removed more than a month ago, I couldn't see any bug.

I attach few pictures of the growing tip which started to extend before I repot. They where doing ok till recently, and since last week even those growing tip start to take a yellowish color and the tip aren't growing much anymore. What's on my fingers grew this year.
I also attach a picture of a yellow tip which felt simply by placing my hand in the foliage to take the pictures, see the little brown/black marks along the branche and especially at the base of it.
Finally, I attach a picture of this very tree made on the 1st of April, two weeks before I repot the tree, side by side with another Itoigawa who is still perfectly healthy.

Thanks a lot everyone, really appreciate your help !

Y.

 

[Yggdrasill]

Hi,

This morning I noticed than another of my juniper starts to have some tips yellowing and falling like on the itoigawa.
This one is a yamadori Juniperus sabina, which wasn't repoted this year and is kept few meters away from the itoigawa.

When looking closer the branches where tips start to turn yellow, I often found 'black spots' along the branch and at the base of the foliage.
I attach a picture where those dots are indicated by red arrows.
Anyone has an idea of what this could be ?

Thanks !

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

This is something I had not the smallest clue about !
I usually dilute 60ml of soap in 2L of water.
This is my first line of defense against aphid for all my trees, and so far I never experienced this issue with Junipers !
Is this concentration too high ?

It absolutely is. 60mL of soap is roughly 1/4th of a regular beer glass, to put things into perspective. I use 0.5 or 1mL of dishwashing soap (like dreft or cheaper brands) at most for 1.5L of spraying solution. It emulsifies roughly 5-10ml of neem oil.
I add the neem oil to hot water first, and then start adding dishwashing soap while shaking the bottle until the neem oil is emulsified. That way I never use too much soap.

Black spots could indicate tip blight - but that happens on the tips of the branches, usually not at the base. In my case it is usually a result of overwatering. When I don't over water my junipers, it doesn't happen to them.
I think a fungicide treatment could help, but if all your junipers seem to have the same problems, it might be good to re-check your watering habits too.