Please Help! Browning needles on juniper

Hotwheelz27

Seedling
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Yes it does! Both of those things, however it's had moss growing on trunk since i received him, someone told me that was normal and healthy?? Yes the browning is getting worse! It probably takes 3 or 4 days for the pot to feel noticeably lighter from last watering.. yes it does get lighter though. It seems to drain decent when watered, as i make sure to let it flow out the bottom and i overhead water too. Maybe im not watering enough?? and Ive Never repotted him!! had him for about a year, ive agitated the roots and soil with a chopstick a few times to get some oxygen down there but never changed pots or soil, just added some soil a long time ago. Idk when he was last repotted since ive gotten him.. he's supposedly like 16 years old.. his roots are comPACt too.
Thank youuuu!!
 

bonsaichile

Omono
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I wouldnt repot it now. But if you have it in the sun and it takes 4 days to dry, you are certainly keeping it too wet. Moss is a tell tale. Do not water more often. I would move it to a place with full sun ans good ventilation, putting the pot on top of a couple bricks to ensure air flow underneath. Sorry, that's all I can offer. Maybe someone else can give you better advice!
 

River's Edge

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Yes it does! Both of those things, however it's had moss growing on trunk since i received him, someone told me that was normal and healthy?? Yes the browning is getting worse! It probably takes 3 or 4 days for the pot to feel noticeably lighter from last watering.. yes it does get lighter though. It seems to drain decent when watered, as i make sure to let it flow out the bottom and i overhead water too. Maybe im not watering enough?? and Ive Never repotted him!! had him for about a year, ive agitated the roots and soil with a chopstick a few times to get some oxygen down there but never changed pots or soil, just added some soil a long time ago. Idk when he was last repotted since ive gotten him.. he's supposedly like 16 years old.. his roots are comPACt too.
Thank youuuu!!
I would remove the moss from the trunk, lichen is ok but moss is usually removed and kept away from the base of the trunk. It keeps the area too wet. Allow the soil to dry out between watering. because you feel that it is very compact and root bound the water may be holding to long and some areas may be actually dry in the center of the root ball. Try a different method for watering. Soak the pot in a bucket or tray of water for 10 minutes then remove and do not water until the soil has dried out mostly. Put the tree in mostly sun and provide air under the pot as suggested. I understand that the sun may be too hot at certain times of the day and for the condition of this this tree. However additional sun will improve its chances as long as it is not too much all at once!
 
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fore

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,Looks like classical phymopsis to me. Cut off dead tissue, and Hit it with Mancozeb. Repeat in 5dys. This yr. , incl. myself, have had a couple huge juniper setbacks due to me missing this diagnosis and not treating earlier. Tough yr I think throughout the entire US this yr.
 

Forsoothe!

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Misting is silly, especially in Florida where it's either too hot to last more than seconds, or 90% humidity, and double silly to Juniper foliage. The foliage of any plant is calibrated to whatever conditions it grew in and thereafter, a lot less sun or a lot more sun will be problematic. By now, after the plant has evidently been treated badly, it's too late to ask and answer what the exposure was when the plant was purchased. If it was on a bench in the middle of an acre of sun-up to sun-down exposure and you put it on the lanai where YOU might be comfortable, that would be nearly terminal. If it was in the shade house of a nursery and you put it on a bench in full sun you'd get the same outcome.

Nothing is forever, especially foliage. The eldest leaves will die after a few years, so inner-most leaves will be going brown on a continuous basis. The light green foliage in posts #10 & 17 is dead, it just hasn't fallen down yet. This is probably a dead horse, and over-fertilizing won't resuscitate the dead, but getting it into east only one half day full sun, watered with a hose once a day, and prayer, is about all you can do. Almost all plants need to cycle between wet-dry-wet-dry on a ~daily or so basis, especially plants with glossy, waxy, or otherwise non-porous leaves, like Spruce, Pine, Fir, and Junipers. Three days of soggy is no better than three days of drought. And stop the poking around in the roots. Repotting something that you can get a chopstick in is unnecessary. To this plant, that would be doing heart and brain surgery on the same day, -while you got him on the operating table.

Cut back the foliage that is dead leaf-by-leaf back to the base of the leaf, leaving the point of origin undamaged. Picture the sprays of leaves as your outstretched hand. Cut back to a knuckle/joint anything dead, leaving as much good or neutral or unsure leaf or wood. It can bud back, but this is getting to be pretty late in the 9th inning. You won't get a home-run. A string of singles is all you can hope for.

Next time you buy a plant, put your face where you want it. Look at the conditions from the plant's point of view, 24, 7. Go buy a plant you like the looks of in that condition.
 
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