Procumbens nana looking dry and crispy - Help!

[SeanS]

Over the last few months my procumbens that I bought in December last year has been getting progressively lighter in colour and a lot of the foliage is drying out. It was a bright, vibrant healthy green when I got it. I repotted it a soon as I got it as the nursery soil was really bad and the plastic nursery bag it was in was riddled with woodlouse. I did a gentle HBR but the repot was in the middle of our summer.

Pics below. There are some backbubs along the trunk and in the crotches of some branches, but a few of the new buds have started to dry out while others still look ok. I've checked for spider mites using the white paper technique and didn't find anything.

Soil is a local bonsai mix: gravel with pine park and some other organics. It's well draining and other plants in the same mix are thriving. I believe watering is ok. At the moment it's only getting afternoon sun due to the position of my townhouse and it being winter here in South Africa.


Crispy foliage:




Backbuds:



The whole tree:

 

[Shibui]

The new buds from the trunk are a good sign that the tree wants to survive. I think that probably indicates a problem above ground rather than the roots.
Older needles dying is natural but the tips dying is not so good.
Terra cotta pots dry out really quick so I hope you are managing to keep it well watered. Junipers do not like to be too wet but also resent being dry. That could be one reason for the dead tips.
There is no mention of fertilizer in your care notes. Plants in pots need regular fert through the growing season. In our climate they do not actually shut down in winter so I also feed evergreens lightly in winter and get a good response.
Some parts of the tree look OK while other branches are affected more. Just looking at your site and wondering if the worse parts might be on one side or another? Junipers need good light and I often see trees with dying back branches because the trees have never been rotated and those back branches do not get enough sun.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

It may just be normal winter dormancy. My junipers would always go dormant in December/January in SoCal (Zone 10A), and they would become a dull green color instead of the normal vibrant green that they display when actively growing. It shows some minor damage that might be associated with handling and/or physical contact with the house wall. In a perfect world, you would pull your bonsai benches away from the wall a few inches to allow air to circulate all around the plant.

It doesn't appear all that unhealthy to me. In late spring make sure to clean up the ends of the branches while leaving all interior budding alone.

 

[SeanS]

The new buds from the trunk are a good sign that the tree wants to survive. I think that probably indicates a problem above ground rather than the roots.
Older needles dying is natural but the tips dying is not so good.
Terra cotta pots dry out really quick so I hope you are managing to keep it well watered. Junipers do not like to be too wet but also resent being dry. That could be one reason for the dead tips.
There is no mention of fertilizer in your care notes. Plants in pots need regular fert through the growing season. In our climate they do not actually shut down in winter so I also feed evergreens lightly in winter and get a good response.
Some parts of the tree look OK while other branches are affected more. Just looking at your site and wondering if the worse parts might be on one side or another? Junipers need good light and I often see trees with dying back branches because the trees have never been rotated and those back branches do not get enough sun.

I stopped fertilizing around mid April, I thought fall was on it's way but it took ages to really get cold here so I could have kept feeding. I'll add a teabag to this one and see if it helps.

Should I slip pot into a wider shallower plastic pot? I'm not fond of the shape of this one as I think it may be affecting how the water reaches the root ball in the middle of the pot. It's tall and narrow. I should be able to do a slip pot into a wider plastic pot with little to no root disturbance.

I do rotate the tree quite often as I'm aware that having it next to a wall isn't ideal. It was actually on top of the wall until recently but have now had to move it down onto the shelf it's on now.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I stopped fertilizing around mid April, I thought fall was on it's way but it took ages to really get cold here so I could have kept feeding. I'll add a teabag to this one and see if it helps.

Should I slip pot into a wider shallower plastic pot? I'm not fond of the shape of this one as I think it may be affecting how the water reaches the root ball in the middle of the pot. It's tall and narrow. I should be able to do a slip pot into a wider plastic pot with little to no root disturbance.

I wouldn't mess around with it until spring. Slip-potting and fertilizing, if in fact it is dormant, will not help it and may actually cause more problems than it would solve. My opinion

 

[SeanS]

It may just be normal winter dormancy. My junipers would always go dormant in December/January in SoCal (Zone 10A), and they would become a dull green color instead of the normal vibrant green that they display when actively growing. It shows some minor damage that might be associated with handling and/or physical contact with the house wall. In a perfect world, you would pull your bonsai benches away from the wall a few inches to allow air to circulate all around the plant.

It doesn't appear all that unhealthy to me. In late spring make sure to clean up the ends of the branches while leaving all interior budding alone.

The damage may be my fault. I had been moving branches manually quite a bit every week or so to try figure out how I want to style the tree when it comes to styling time. I think I've been a little too "hands-on" I've recently stopping "playing" with it, hopefully that could have been the issue for the damaged foliage.

 

[Shibui]

The damage may be my fault. I had been moving branches manually quite a bit every week or so to try figure out how I want to style the tree when it comes to styling time. I think I've been a little too "hands-on" I've recently stopping "playing" with it, hopefully that could have been the issue for the damaged foliage.

That could certainly account for the problem being confined to certain branches although you usually need to be reasonably rough to damage the cambium.
Leave it in the current pot. More stress it does not need.
I suspect water has been a part of the problem but that should be OK through winter. Repot spring if you feel it is necessary.
As mentioned, junipers do respond to winter fert in my area which I suspect is quite similar to Jo'burg. A group of bonsai growers did some side by side trials a few years ago and all found a similar increase in growth through the following spring where trees had winter fert compared to those that had none.

 

[SeanS]

Thanks @Bonsai Nut and @Shibui , this is my first juniper so your feedback about possible winter appearance has been a bit more reassuring. I'll keep looking after it as I have been and keep an eye on it during spring to determine if there really is something wrong.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Thanks @Bonsai Nut and @Shibui , this is my first juniper so your feedback about possible winter appearance has been a bit more reassuring. I'll keep looking after it as I have been and keep an eye on it during spring to determine if there really is something wrong.

I have actually been fooled by a juniper on this site that was in hard winter dormancy - and was shipped from a bonsai nursery to a buyer. It looked a dull copper grey color and I thought for certain it was dead. A couple of weeks of warmer weather and sun, and the tree looked perfect. The nursery owner was more confident in the health of his trees than I was... and he was right!

 

[sorce]

How often have you been watering?

Seems dry.

I killed all my Nana's simply following this "Juniperus don't like 'wet feet' " bullshit .

When I took them out of the pot guess what?

They don't even haVe Feet!

Sorce

 

[SeanS]

How often have you been watering?

Seems dry.

I killed all my Nana's simply following this "Juniperus don't like 'wet feet' " bullshit .

When I took them out of the pot guess what?

They don't even haVe Feet!

Sorce

Daily

 

[sorce]

I feel like it should be more there, whatever that means.
I have a Terra Cotta joint that is thick with algae.
I'd rather see yours thick with algae.

Sorce

 

[SeanS]

I feel like it should be more there, whatever that means.
I have a Terra Cotta joint that is thick with algae.
I'd rather see yours thick with algae.

Sorce

The pot is only 6 months old, and gets a decent amount of air and sun. But I’ll monitor the watering and see if it needs more. In summer I was watering twice daily as it gets dry by the time I get gone from work. Now in winter it stays damp until the next morning

 

[sorce]

The pot is only 6 months old, and gets a decent amount of air and sun. But I’ll monitor the watering and see if it needs more. In summer I was watering twice daily as it gets dry by the time I get gone from work. Now in winter it stays damp until the next morning

Sounds like Bonsai Nut is correct.

Sorce

 

[SeanS]

And we have lift off
Added a tea bag at the time of my first post. It’s now spring and there are plump bright green tips all over the plant
(Whitish colour on the foliage and branches is lime sulphur)