Young Itoigawa overwatered, overfertilized, or fungus?

[Brain Treez]

Is this young Itoigawa overwatered, over fertilized, or suffering fungal issues? I got it this March from Bonsaify. It was not repotted, just nestled down into pumice so escape roots can proliferate. It has been side by side with one I did end up repotting in March (2nd picture) that is doing much better.

 

[bwaynef]

Have you contacted @Eric Schrader? That looks like a pretty free-draining mix. Unless you've had unseasonable amounts of rain, I doubt its overwatered. There could be pH issues or it could be experiencing fungal issues ...or both. The tips look like there might be some tip-blight, but when I've had that before it wasn't accompanied with general yellowing of the foliage. That makes me think there's a pH issue and the tree can't sustain new growth because of nutrient lockout.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Looks like fertilizer burn to me, but I'd expect the tips to be darker if that's the case.
It's not fungal.
Weird.

Is it in a place near where you store salt, or where your dog pees?

 

[Brain Treez]

Have you contacted @Eric Schrader? That looks like a pretty free-draining mix. Unless you've had unseasonable amounts of rain, I doubt its overwatered. There could be pH issues or it could be experiencing fungal issues ...or both. The tips look like there might be some tip-blight, but when I've had that before it wasn't accompanied with general yellowing of the foliage. That makes me think there's a pH issue and the tree can't sustain new growth because of nutrient lockout.

I haven't reached out to Eric since all the plants I got from him this spring appeared in good shape, and he's shipped enough trees in his career that the soil they come in shouldn't be problematic.

Upon further reflection though, this is the only plant of that batch that I didn't repot into majority pumice at the time. It's possible I've been subconsciously underwatering to compensate for it being the only one of the bunch with a lot of organics in the soil.

 

[Brain Treez]

Looks like fertilizer burn to me, but I'd expect the tips to be darker if that's the case.
It's not fungal.
Weird.

Is it in a place near where you store salt, or where your dog pees?

It sits on the ground near all my trees that aren't experiencing similar issues.

Since this wasn't repotted, it's possible it was shipped with some slow release fertilizer already in the soil, and when I added more this spring that it was too much for the relatively small soil volume. I'll poke around the surface to better asses the fertilizer situation, as well as keep a better eye on the moisture levels.

It's been moved into partial shade while it (hopefully) recovers.

 

[Charlo]

I have not been able to keep my junipers alive in the small nursery containers or mame pots. However, the ones I have in larger containers or pots are all doing very well. I have given up on having a super cute mame juniper.