Apex37
Chumono
I'll try and get some tonight. I tried yesterday and all I got was pretty much a small yellow dot on the camera because it was having a hard time focusing.
Struggling Junipers
- Thread starter Apex37
- Start date
HENDO
Shohin
When I have spider mites attacks here in Houston they are way bigger than most people describe. They're relatively easy to spot scurrying along trunks/branches and pot rims if you have them, and an orange/yellow color as you describe. I hate them.
The 3in1 spray I recommended earlier along with Bonide imidacloprid granules is pretty much what most of the society members here will recommend for treatment. I've stuck with what the local experts tell me and it's worked. I only use neem on younger fleshy growth.
Japonicus
Masterpiece
On the white paper test
swipe you fingers across them with a little down pressure
red streaks are smeared across the paper when mites are easily, well, smeared.
I tap several branches and foliage downwards over the paper, usually an envelope
I can navigate to the interior. For the most part as a preventative I use Safe Soap
insecticidal killing soap which is not soap as we know it, rathe potassium salts of fatty acids that
break down the mites. Juniper will discolour for about 2 days similar to using neem oil.
Neem oil also has some fungicidal qualities to it, but limited there.
I also use Malathion at the beginning of the growth season and any time I have mites show up.
Malathion does kill mites, but you should use safety precautions with its use as with the Bayer, more so than
other "greener" chemicals. I know 1st handed Bayer insecticides cause cancer as my wife's building
where she worked sat next to bayer Crop Science plant in chemical valley here in WV, with at least
85% of here coworkers having at least 1 type of cancer including herself. Just be careful, and remember
when handling your plants and pots that you have used chemicals.
A rotation of products, if indeed, when you have mites will keep them less likely to become immune.
I use a separate sprayer for each product I use and label the sprayer with a marker.
swipe you fingers across them with a little down pressure
red streaks are smeared across the paper when mites are easily, well, smeared.
I tap several branches and foliage downwards over the paper, usually an envelope
I can navigate to the interior. For the most part as a preventative I use Safe Soap
insecticidal killing soap which is not soap as we know it, rathe potassium salts of fatty acids that
break down the mites. Juniper will discolour for about 2 days similar to using neem oil.
Neem oil also has some fungicidal qualities to it, but limited there.
I also use Malathion at the beginning of the growth season and any time I have mites show up.
Malathion does kill mites, but you should use safety precautions with its use as with the Bayer, more so than
other "greener" chemicals. I know 1st handed Bayer insecticides cause cancer as my wife's building
where she worked sat next to bayer Crop Science plant in chemical valley here in WV, with at least
85% of here coworkers having at least 1 type of cancer including herself. Just be careful, and remember
when handling your plants and pots that you have used chemicals.
A rotation of products, if indeed, when you have mites will keep them less likely to become immune.
I use a separate sprayer for each product I use and label the sprayer with a marker.
leatherback
The Treedeemer
Exactly. They are small, but not invisible to the naked eye unless they move kind of small..
leatherback
The Treedeemer
Looking at your pictures I come to different conclusions..
I think the styled one was styled by someone who treated the plant roughly and not expertly. Too much was removed, by the looks of it. I think that is was is causing the decline.
Your unstyled one is dropping inner foliage, which is not uncommon for juniper to do. Infact, most junipers I have will drop old foliage in one swoop, once a year. And during a few weeks the tree looks scruffy. The outer foliage seems to have mostly active growing tips. Not too much of a concern.
Watering is a skill one has to learn in its own yard. I do not use akadama nor fine organics in my mix as it stays too wet and becomes a brick of muck here. So I use stable granules and water daily when we have good weather. This week it is raining and I expect to reduce the watering to every other or every 3 days. A friend of mine, a few streets away, waters his junipers once a week at the moment.
I think the styled one was styled by someone who treated the plant roughly and not expertly. Too much was removed, by the looks of it. I think that is was is causing the decline.
Your unstyled one is dropping inner foliage, which is not uncommon for juniper to do. Infact, most junipers I have will drop old foliage in one swoop, once a year. And during a few weeks the tree looks scruffy. The outer foliage seems to have mostly active growing tips. Not too much of a concern.
Watering is a skill one has to learn in its own yard. I do not use akadama nor fine organics in my mix as it stays too wet and becomes a brick of muck here. So I use stable granules and water daily when we have good weather. This week it is raining and I expect to reduce the watering to every other or every 3 days. A friend of mine, a few streets away, waters his junipers once a week at the moment.
BonsaiDTLA
Shohin
leatherback
The Treedeemer
???
BonsaiDTLA
Shohin
truer words have not been said
bwaynef
Masterpiece
Local (knowledgeable) advice trumps "some guy on the internet". Listen to him. Maybe the mites are just bigger in Texas.
Apex37
Chumono
I appreciate everyone's input and just all the help you guys are willing to offer my trees. It's been raining for the past 2 days, tomorrow will be day 3. I brought some the trees up to avoid over-watering or possible root rot because it's been so much rain (I'm not complaining, my yard needs it). Kinda been hard to tell any on spider mites with all the rain. Trees look about the same, so I can't really update much. I will look into the insecticide recommendations and will update as I go a long. Hoping after all this rain trees will be happy with some sun.
Apex37
Chumono
One question, on the styled on with browned tips. Should I trim the tips back to where there is green growth or leave them?
Japonicus
Masterpiece
They will be. Thing about mites, they like dry conditions, a lot.
If one had a very few, not an infestation, the best method is a blast from the hose
as long as you purge any hot water from the hose 1st.
I sometimes cradle a branch in the palm of my hand, supporting the foliage whilst
spraying the foliage down. They come back, a healthy tree will be ok as long as they are kept in check.
Proper bonsai soil will aid in over watering with the occasional prolonged
"help" from Mother Nature, but we oftentimes encounter issues in development stages of our trees
where we have not removed all if any of the old soil, so at times you may have to "2 step" your trees to shelter as such.
Japonicus
Masterpiece
On any plant that has shed foliage, or has dead foliage that can be removed easily
by all means clean it up. If it looks like debris, breaks off when you roll it between your fingers
or snaps off when pushed to the side, remove it.
?
How do you mean, inside? They're going to need some air movement in such a damp sate.
I'm no expert on the subject of disease, forgive me if this has been covered, I forget, but we aren't
entirely sure this is mites yet, correct? Could be disease or wiring damage or any combination
of all of the above?
Apex37
Chumono
Sorry should have been more clear, I have a pretty large back patio I have some plants under and will bring some of the more delicate plants in when we have severe storms. Like the other day we were getting ping pong sized hail in areas, so brought a lot of plants up. Still plenty of air movement and all though and will get sun if there is any.
No I'm not entirely sure we've narrowed down a cause of the issue, just some things to try. Definitely going to be putting it in full sun and watching more for mites being the issue and making sure to stay on top of watering and fertilizing.
Work has been crazy past few weeks and I've had little time to really do much in the garden. Hoping this weekend to clean them up some along with working on some other trees.
Japonicus
Masterpiece
Don’t do this. You robbed the branch of its energy. It is shedding the remainder in survival of healthier branches.
Dont handle The branches so much, post a pic of the subject before you work on it this weekend.
I think the biggest problem is in how you’re handling the junipers.
Apex37
Chumono
I should probably state this tree was purchased styled like this online. I've done no work on this tree myself other than trying to keep it alive, which has been a struggle since the beginning. Also being very new to this, I'm not even entirely sure what you're saying don't do in this pic as this is just what is left of what appears to be a dying back branch. I really appreciate the help.
HENDO
Shohin
Can you tell us how the soil looks under the top layer? Initially it looked like a decent inorganic mix, but if you dig down a bit is it still inorganic, or did the seller just put that as a top later and leave soggy inorganic underneath?
bwaynef
Masterpiece
Don't buy anymore junipers online that you can't see active growing tips. Ask the seller for closeups if necessary.
Apex37
Chumono
It's in a very sandy mix that I feel like from the beginning was not great. It doesn't drain nearly as well as the other mix the unstyled juniper is in (which is 1:1:1 akadama, pumice, and lava). Definitely tough actually getting a finger down in it to figure out how wet or dry it is. I had posted awhile back asking for some advice on him and was recommended to wait to repot due to the stress the tree had be going through.
Apex37
Chumono
Yeah definitely learned my lesson. Seller had 100% on reviews with almost 200 sales so thought I chose the right person, but evidently not. I reached out for help with him and some info awhile back after getting him and was given little other than "I’d wait a year to re pot. It was worked on after last growing season. If you just want a different pot, you can slip pot it without harming the roots. Hope that helps." I let them know he had lost a whole pad and another looked really bad and was asking for recommendations but never got anything back. I just want the tree to survive and thrive.
