Need some help. Declining Tree

[Muddy]

Hello,

First thank you for any help you can give!!
I'm a new member but have been lurking these forums for a lot of the information I obtained over the years. This is an epic hobby!! However I am having a problem beyond my knowledge and research is getting me no further.
I love this tree and really want to be one of those folks with his first tree still alive. The damage is still localized and there is healthy growth, but this dieback keeps spreading everyday. I'm not sure what information will be helpful so here it goes.

Conditions:
Location - Canada, South Ontario
Sun - 5 - 6 hours of direct sunlight per day (Outside, away from window)
Watering - Done by feel when soil is dry to just over 1 inch below the surface. Never been completely dry. Watered about once a week at 30C.
Temperature - Recent heatwave brought high humidity and 35C temperatures. But normally it's 30C during the afternoon 20-25C at night.
Fertilizer - Once per month using 10-15-10
Pruning - Butchered it once with bad info when I first bought it with no experience, I took it back to almost nothing. Been recovering for the last two years but has grown strong, never declining until now
Soil - It's organic soil - Blend of cactus soil and perlite (Know it's not ideal and should be inorganic but I didn't want to remove it since it appeared happy up until now)
Pests - I don't have a microscope but used white paper and a branch shake. Nothing fell off, no webbing on the plant, and no physical sign of spider mites, scale, or mealybug
Environmental - Possible wind damage? We had a major wind storm that partially uprooted the right side of the plant about two weeks ago. The tree is not anchored but I do shelter best I can during these events. First time it happened.
I caught it before the roots dried out. But perhaps it tore away feeders?

Let me know if additional information will help you. I really don't want to loose this tree so I do appreciate your time!!

Cheers and thank you for helping me understand the scenario!!

 

[Esolin]

It sounds like you've been taking really good care of it! Since you haven't found any spider mites, I suspect what you're seeing is some dieback from the wind storm incident, possibly compounded by the heatwave. Junipers are generally slow to show damage, and certain roots tend to feed certain parts of the plant. If that's the cause, then the damage is already done and it's a waiting game to see the extent of it.

I do find it encouraging that the dieback so far is just interior stuff and not whole branches. Junipers will often jetison shaded growth to conserve energy, so it may be doing that in order to balance itself after the root damage. Cross your fingers and keep it moist. You might consider misting the foliage a lot. I understand that when yamadori junipers are collected and don't have many roots, misting is a vital tool to help them stay alive during root recovery, since they can't take in much water that way. And maybe just give it cooler morning sun and not hotter afternoon sun. I really hope it survives!

 

[sorce]

Watering once a week sounds like extremely too little water.

Welcome to Crazy!

There is a very regular phenomenon of any growth seeming to be good growth, when in fact there is a greater level of highly vigorous growth that is needed to maintain a proper bonsai. I believe this phenomenon is getting you.

If you follow the widespread "book" rules, without diving further into good branch structure creation, you end up with these clusters of foliage like you dug into, which not only tend to die, but also create an environment good for almost everything unwanted to hide in.

I believe there is a different structural wiring video that may be the one I was looking for, which explains good branch structure very well.

But these are a good start.

Sorce

 

[sorce]

Oh too.....

Nice freaking Walnut!

And, I believe a conversation with @Japonicus may be good, as he has many of these for a long time, very healthy, and I believe he recently came to a branch structure epiphany, so you'se could probably share oars.

Sorce

 

[Japonicus]

Nice freaking Walnut!

LOL

has many of these for a long time, very healthy, and I believe he recently came to a branch structure epiphany

Thanks sorce! , and thanks for posting those videos. I'm adding them to my watch later list for sure.
Not sure I'm remembering the same issue you bring up, there's so many issues
that evolve in due time (years) when you train a branch by pinching the foliage rather than precise
selective pruning.

Soil - It's organic soil

This is ...o k

The tree is not anchored

This is not

Watering - Done by feel when soil is dry to just over 1 inch below the surface

This is the worst offense I can see in this thread. Even at 30ºC/86ºF I'm watering twice a day in full Sun.
However you've recently reached 35º/95º which can in my case desiccate a tree very quickly.
If I were to not water one day with those temps, I would kill my junipers, definitely the hinoki.

What I would do today! in this case is 1st anchor the plant in, both sides, without slipping it out.
Whether you cut both ends of wire at a sharp angle and pass up through drainage holes
or add a piece of wood to the soil and wire each side down, passing wire across the top
and underneath on each side.

Water it more frequently, with 1/4" dry on top, if that.

Cut the dead out, and follow up with Mancozeb weekly, it may have a blight.
A blight will continue to do this, as will dying off from under watering as well.
Water with 1/2 Tsp of Superthrive to a gallon of water a couple times a week
and drop back to 1/4 Tsp after a couple weeks.

Fertilizer - Once per month

Weekly! Once it's showing gratitude, if it survives, fertilize weekly.
I get excellent response using Alaskan Fish emulsion 5-1-1, and it would not
hurt to use 2 Tbsp/g of water right now. Still use your regular feed alternate weeks is fine.
I get better response using that 5-1-1 than using MiracleGro!

 

[Wulfskaar]

This needs approval from more experienced people. I recently read that boxwoods that have dense clumps of foliage need to have that dense foliage thinned out/removed. The sun can't get to those areas and they end up being a good place for bugs and fungus to thrive. I'd consider cutting out those bad looking areas so the surrounding areas can get light and air. (Get more opinions first!)

 

[Muddy]

Thanks everyone for all your help and information!!!

With your help I think I've narrowed it down to a combination of factors going years back. Starting with the butchered pruning job and lack of knowledge about training three years ago.
Have a look at this photo from years ago. My poor little tree spent it's first year with no dormancy and under artificial lighting after I decimated it with pruning (Pinch pruning ). Survived thus far so it is a survivor!!


Back to that combination of factors that I think contributed to my problems in major ways:
1.) Bad pruning from the start, most likely twig blight as a result. After some reading and based on these black fruiting bodies in the image below, I'm sureish. High humidity probably hasn't helped


2.) No pruning has been done since I nearly killed my tree first time around. So because of vigorous growth the past two years, It caused lower/interior branches to become shaded and is probably why I see so much small dead stuff when I'm checking branches. Like what happens in a cedar forest; denser and more vigorous branches crowd out smaller interior branches.
3.) Recent wind storm - Tree was not anchored and as the tree rocked it tore feeders to the now dead branches I found.
4.) Drought and heat right after windstorm - Caused any possibility of root repair to go 'out the window' and the tree selected those branches for death along with further loss of roots because of how I was watering. Compounded my problem

Sure there are many more mistakes that have contributed over years since this is my beginner tree, but I think the above was the leading contributors. I've increased watering since and already see a difference, but the blight I think will be a problem at the top. May end up loosing the top, but at least the dieback has stopped spreading since I changed my watering practices!!!


Overall, the tree is much happier in appearance. Thanks for the videos Sorce!! The vids will be essential during this month when I attempt wiring for the first time!!! (So Nervous!! I like the practice idea from that video tho)

The information everyone provided gave me enough clues to determine and research the problems, also thank you for your solutions for present issues and how to prevent them in the future.
Have to order some items but the immediate plan is to continue with increased watering and fertilizing (After new growth appears), anchoring the tree so this never happens again, cut out any struggling branches, and begin applying Mancozeb weekly to hopefully stomp out any blight.

Thank you again!!
It looks healthier already! Just needs some TLC now

 

[Japonicus]

during this month when I attempt wiring for the first time!!!

No. It needs energy more than it needs wiring.
Wiring is an insult. Insults like potting up, thinning out and pruning are done on healthy trees
with the exception of emergency corrections like root rot for potting up out of season, or dead
or diseased foliage or branches whenever they are seen. This guy needs to recover, just the TLC you mentioned only this year.

The old picture is not decimated. It was pruned and thinned, though through pinching as you said,
this is something we need/have to do from time to time to keep interior growth healthy.
To keep growth you can cut back to another year, renewing the branch so to say.
Otherwise you have a thick healthy exterior frame with spindly branches and no interior growth to cut back to.

Here is a procumbens I'm working on this week that was getting too unruly...

Lots of under growth that needs taken off, lots of upwards growing foliage also.


Still working on it, the right side is still heavy and has more corrections to make from years of pinching mostly.


This is not decimated. It is thinned, though not completely. Notice the heavy left tertiary branch.
That may be cut back mid ways and or thinned more too.

This, one of your pictures, needs the under growth removed, from all the branches.

If you must wire something. Go to Walmart of big box store, buy a 10 - $20 nursery piece
and learn on it, not something you are trying to recuperate. Good chance you'll like
the nursery stock more in a couple years.