White tips on Junipers

[Tona]

Hey all,
I have some junipers that are white at the the tips (end of the foliage). Just the tips not the interior. No spider mites that I can find. Could this be a fungus and if so what should I spray with?
Tona

 

[John Ruger]

There are some types of junipers that are white tipped. What type of juniper is it??

 

[Tona]

They are 5 large procumbens. Planted in the ground for the last 15 years. I am getting ready to dig them up and transfer them into pots. Other than the white tips they are healthy looking.
Tona

 

[Mike423]

Have you grown them in the ground for the past 15 yrs? and if so have you ever seen this type of growth before?

 

[Tona]

Not this type of white tips. I have fought spider mites in the past though.
Tona

 

[Dav4]

Need a pic to be sure, but I'm betting it's pollen cones.

 

[Ang3lfir3]

+1 totally agree its most likely just pollen cones....

Need a pic to be sure, but I'm betting it's pollen cones.

 

[Smoke]

Calcium from watering.

Your tree is not growing.......

 

[Tona]

Hi Al,
The tree is huge for a procumbens. It gets very little water other than overs-pray from sprinklers. I have never seen the white tips before this year. The water in Santa Clarita is very hard so calcium is a possibility. It is one that I plan on digging soon. See pic

 

[Ang3lfir3]

Al called it... calcium from watering.... don't worry about it....

 

[Tona]

OK so I took some cuttings to a local nursery owner that I believe is knowledgeable. He identified the problem as "pine moths" due to the "exploded" looking white tips. He sold me a systemic insecticide to get rid of them.

 

[Smoke]

So what is the white caused from...webs?

 

[Tona]

According to the nursery owner, the larvae bore into the tips leaving an exploded look. They have a silk type webbing or cocoon that gives the white tips. They attack pines as well as junipers. I was given a systemic product "Bayer Advanced 12 Month Tree and Shrub" as well as a top spray "Bayer 3 in 1".

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

I had these on a cork bark black pine once, and they made an absolute mess of the new candles. Awful...hate those things with a vengeance. Thought they were wasp larvae since wasps seemed to be interested in that tree around that time. Maybe they were preying on the larvae...?