Shimpaku Bonsai

[Teegz]

Hello all,
I have a shimpaku that I bought in November 2019,
I have kept it indoors and I read that this might be a mistake. I live in vancouver. So i noticed that the needles are turning pale, theres no brown but they are definitely not a vivid as before. Im really stressed that I might have lost this tree, but at the same time it seems a really short timeframe to have killed it already. I ran my hands through the needles and they fell pretty easily too.
Any help would be appreciated.
Ill post a photo of the tree back in November and one from today.

Thank you,

 

[leatherback]

have you placed it outside now ? (Is the weather frost-free?)
Else put it in the coolest room that you have, ideally with moist air and lots of light till frost breaks..

 

[Shibui]

Juniper are one of the hardest to keep indoors. They are very hardy to cold and should be outside wherever possible.
Unfortunately by the time they look sick on the outside they have actually been dead for many weeks. i do not hold much hope for your tree.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Those 'needles' that fell off, are the branches when they're young.
This seems to be a case of the grey death; parts dying without changing color. This means your plant is rejecting them without withdrawing nutrients from them first, which is an alarming thing. When those things happen in plants, it means they're at a stage of pure survival: only save the stuff that can keep itself alive.
There's no "retreat and fall back" when that happens, it's every branch for itself, while they last. This happens in stages, and it's past the first stage of rejecting all weaker stuff. If the stronger branches/foliage drop, it's dead for sure.

The best course of action would be putting it outside and into a bright and humid environment, hoping for the best. But as others said, it might be too late already.
I would personally put it outside regardless of frosts; junipers growing in the mountains can experience freezing winds and blazing sun in the same 24 hours. It's better to go dormant in a shock, than to slowly die in a relaxed state.

 

[Mayank]

I kinda tend to agree. It may be dead already. Either way like @Wires_Guy_wires said, I would put it outside. In the sun. Make sure it's not overwatered! You don't have any freezing temps in your forecast so there's no worry about that anyway...
Lesson learnt. Bonsai...outside... Always! Except for display. Tropicals etc only come in when staying outside will kill them due to cold temps.

 

[Teegz]

Thanks guys, I hope it recovers. It’s outside now. I used to water it once a week so I don’t think is overwatering, I have a fig tree inside thats doing great. Just think 4 months for the plant to die was quite quick, I guess Junipers are not very resilient. Fingers crossed.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Junipers are super resilient, just not to indoor conditions. I mean, they can live without roots for a year or more if they get enough water, they can survive salt spray from the sea, they survive desert conditions, they survive snowy mountains. Fires and floods? No problemo.
But.. just like 99% of all plants, they have an issue with living indoors. Your local garden center might have a couple hundred plants suited for indoors, all the other plants in the world(!) are not offered at the 'indoor' section for a clear reason: they die within a week or two.
Your juniper has basically been figuratively buried in a casket for 4 months and it's still not dead. If that's not resilience, I don't know what is ;-)

 

[Teegz]

Thanks Wires, still not dead... that gives me hope! This was bought from a bonsai shop and the owner said I could keep it inside, my mistake for believing him and not doing my research. Its outside now, lets hope it comes back from the dead. Would you fertilize it now? Or should I wait a bit and see if it recovers? The other think is that my apartment faces north so I don't get a lot of direct sunlight, I do have gardening lamps should I point one to the bonsai?

thank you!

 

[leatherback]

This was bought from a bonsai shop and the owner said I could keep it inside

Do not understand how people like that stay in business. Or even alive..

Would you fertilize it now?

Absolutely not. Fertilizer is needed when a plant is actively growing. SUnlight, water and natural variation in temperature, moisture, light are what is needed. Spray the foliage daily with water for the next week or so to help it.

 

[Mayank]

Junipers are super resilient, just not to indoor conditions. I mean, they can live without roots for a year or more if they get enough water, they can survive salt spray from the sea, they survive desert conditions, they survive snowy mountains. Fires and floods? No problemo.
But.. just like 99% of all plants, they have an issue with living indoors. Your local garden center might have a couple hundred plants suited for indoors, all the other plants in the world(!) are not offered at the 'indoor' section for a clear reason: they die within a week or two.
Your juniper has basically been figuratively buried in a casket for 4 months and it's still not dead. If that's not resilience, I don't know what is ;-)

I agree. Junipers are one of the most resilient trees!

 

[dtreesj]

Do not understand how people like that stay in business. Or even alive..

They sell more by making it seem easy to care for. People do the same thing with hermit crabs, figuring people will buy them for the novelty and knowing well they will end up killing them.

 

[Teegz]

Thanks guys. Last question was regarding light. I dont get direct sunlight on my balcony. Should I use my gardening lights on the bonsai?
Thank you,

 

[Housguy]

When outside, not necessarily, even if it is getting strong indirect light, it will do a lot better outside and it might come back for you. Good luck!

 

[Teegz]

Still going... never gave up, but it doesn’t seem to get better than this... trunk is green if I scrape it and still has some green in it. Any tips? Fertilize? Repot? Thx

 

[Shogun610]

View attachment 378665Still going... never gave up, but it doesn’t seem to get better than this... trunk is green if I scrape it and still has some green in it. Any tips? Fertilize? Repot? Thx

DO NOT REPOT
DO NOT FERTILIZE
LMAO. That shop owner should be smacked across the dome for telling you to keep it inside. Conifers are slow painful death to watch. It’s likely already in Elysium riding in green fields with the sun on its face. Next time, don’t keep it inside , and don’t buy from that person. If it is alive , put outside on balcony , with as much light as you can give it, they need light and plenty of it.

 

[Teegz]

DO NOT REPOT
DO NOT FERTILIZE
LMAO. That shop owner should be smacked across the dome for telling you to keep it inside. Conifers are slow painful death to watch. It’s likely already in Elysium riding in green fields with the sun on its face. Next time, don’t keep it inside , and don’t buy from that person. If it is alive , put outside on balcony , with as much light as you can give it, they need light and plenty of it.

Thx man. Don’t want to give up on it. If it’s in elysium I hope its happy! Lol

 

[Drewski]

For a north facing balcony, maybe consider a yew. They can do well in the shade. You’ll have to start out with nursery stock though. I don’t recall seeing any yews potted up as bonsai in the nurseries I frequent.

And where did you buy that? I’d like to know which store to avoid.

 

[Bnana]

You say it's still going. Do you mean you see growth? Those tips don't look bad. If that is growing it apparently made it.

I don't like pebbles on the soil, they make it hard to see how most the soil is. Do you know what kind of soil it is in?

I fully agree that anyone who says you can keep a juniper inside like that should be avoided.