Dry Juniper Bonsai

[JohnnySon]

As you may know I am new to this thread I purchased a Bonsai I believe it was around the middle of April. Anyways my Bonsai as is stated above is starting to dry. I believe its a Juniper I first photo (depending on which order it puts them) is of when I first got it



the other one (the closer one) [is of it just starting to dry up not sure if you can see it or not.




Anyways I read some where that you had to give it plant food (also a picture of what I giving it) every 2 weeks up until mid fall and mix it with water as not no over water it ( also a picture of the cap to which you know how much I'm giving it).



I also have been taking it outside when I get home from work when it sunny that is so I'm not sure if from to much sun or if I giving it to much plant food. If anyone could help I would much appreciate it. If you need to know anything more just let me know.

[Gnome]

JohnnySon,

I took the liberty of re-formatting your post so that it is now, hopefully, easier to follow. First thing I would suggest is that you find a spot outside and leave it there. Can you please provide us your location? Read this thread for starters. Pay particular attention to using the chopstick or skewer as an aid to monitor the moisture in the soil.

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/vi ... =36&t=1479

Norm

[JohnnySon]

I put something in the welcome to the forum thread but I live in Elyria,Ohio

[tomc]

I put something in the welcome to the forum thread but I live in Elyria,Ohio

I live in Albany OH.

Your juniper belongs outside 24-7-365. You can protect it from afternoon sun if your feeling protective.

Nursery stock probably is going to need its soil changed next spring.

[JohnnySon]

I put something in the welcome to the forum thread but I live in Elyria,Ohio

I live in Albany OH.

Your juniper belongs outside 24-7-365. You can protect it from afternoon sun if your feeling protective.

Nursery stock probably is going to need its soil changed next spring.

What about during the winter?

[tomc]

What about during the winter?

If you lived north of the treeline, where it is exclusively permafrost I might give shelter to a juniper in winter.

For any grower in Ohio I would simply nest the pot in the fall and check soil for dryness very week or two after thanksgiving.

In its proper environment this is a very rugged tree.

Indoors is too dry too low light levels.

You still need to amend your profile.

[rainbowgardener]

Look at all the juniper growing on the roadsides. It is extremely cold hardy, down to -20 and below. And it needs that cold dormancy. What needs protection on junipers is not the leaves/needles, but the roots. That's what tom was talking about with nesting the pot, giving the roots a bit of protection.

[tomc]

The guys who like evergreen as bonsai. Like their slow growth and unchanging evergreen profile. Herein below is my take on the why you don't want to use potting or soiless mixes for trees as bonsai.

Juniper (or any of the other evergreens) do definately team up their roots with mycorriza. These mushroom family do often give a white-ish shade to bonsai soil. It is my position if there is not an adaquate amount of bark mulch (or even sawdust) in your soil, your tree just aint going to do as well.

Bonsai soil when I mix it up, I use a one gallon scoop. So, a generic soil should have one scoop each of sifted crushed granite and soil conditioner (or crushed bark mulch). You can buy bonsai or cactus soil premixed. and either will do. Any other additions are minimalist.

What you should not do (and I killed a bunch of trees learning this) is use peat moss, coconut coir based soiless mix; or loess based "potting soil" to be the dirt for your bonsai. It doesn't have the right stuff to build the colonies evergreens keep around their feet. Worse the soil particle size is much much smaller in these soiless--potting soils. Making them hold too much water and too little air.

Your juniper will litteraly drown in its own water for lack of air.

Your ideal dirt will let water pass through faster than rice through a goose. Because your dirt will be so fast draining, you will need to check daily by sticking a chop stick or toothpick into dirt and as checking it foir dampness. (if its wet don't water, & if its dry water liberaly).

This sermon has probably been posted the better count of a thousand times by me and every other grower here. if you had done your own research you might already have read this a few hundred times. I'm making this point because if you really want to stay with bonsai you cannot wait for the needles to fall off your juniper before getting going with your own research. You will either get in front of these basic care research skills, or you will give up. There aint no plan "B".

I would like you to succeed with your tree, cause it'll take you where you may not be able to go otherwise. Your the one who has to create parenting skills if your trees are gonna live in shallow pans.

[tomc]

You could feed every two weeks in the summer *if* it was in full sun and you were using about 1/4 strength.

Your cap measure is getting mixed with how many gallons of water? (like 5 or 10?)

Trees take up nourishment in collaberation with mycorriza. By the time you've added enough nitrogen to make a noticable change in the tree, the roots are cooked.

Many of the earliest bonsai in america were never repotted or fertilized for up to fourty years, till trained gardeners emigrated from Omya (Japan).

Some trees actually had their meager soil balls lifted up out of their pots. So some is good, but less is more. (regarding fertilizing).

[JohnnySon]

You could feed every two weeks in the summer *if* it was in full sun and you were using about 1/4 strength.

Your cap measure is getting mixed with how many gallons of water? (like 5 or 10?)

Trees take up nourishment in collaberation with mycorriza. By the time you've added enough nitrogen to make a noticable change in the tree, the roots are cooked.

Many of the earliest bonsai in america were never repotted or fertilized for up to fourty years, till trained gardeners emigrated from Omya (Japan).

Some trees actually had their meager soil balls lifted up out of their pots. So some is good, but less is more. (regarding fertilizing).

About 1 1/2 of a cup about the pot nesting I tried to find something about it but had no luck sorry about being a pain in the butt about this

[tomc]

About 1 1/2 of a cup about the pot nesting I tried to find something about it but had no luck sorry about being a pain in the butt about this

Johnny,

Your not being a pain in the butt. But passivity is not your tree babies friend. It is my (and others) job here to push you up to speed, where handling and diagnosing your trees' condition is done daily and automatically.

You need to touch your trees every single day from late Feburary till thanksgiving. Parting in late fall should be like turning your own children off to bed.

Is there an arboratum or public garden near you with bonsai?

[JohnnySon]

Not that I am aware of

[rainbowgardener]

But you are not too far from Cleveland. Cleveland has a Bonsai Club and it looks like they put on a bonsai show every fall at the Cleveland Botanical Gardens.

Here's a nice little article about juniper bonsai, that includes some more information about what tom was calling nesting:

https://betterbonsai.blogspot.com/2007/1 ... nners.html

[tomc]

Johnny,

Some growers in the winter nest their hearty trees shallowly in the dirt under the bench where the tree babies sit through the summer with a thick sheath of autumnal leaves.

I know of others who use a wooden box and a layer of leaves in an unheated garage or car port.

If you keep an eve over your hearty trees remember to check soil for water every two weeks even if it stays frozen.

Johnny most of us, especially those of us who garden (like me) come to bonsai sure we know everything anybody ever needed to know about bonsai. I mean we garden right?

Well it aint so. I would rather you kill the fewest number of trees possible growing a set of diagnostic tools to care for trees. it aint rocket science, its just the horticultural needs of trees. Either they get some, or they die.

Trust me I killed my share.

[JohnnySon]

I'm doing exactly what you told me to do but it seems like it's dying on me. Is it possible that the heat is drying it up to fast?

[tomc]

You have some browning. I would lay off fertilising for a month or more. I would insert a chop stick or finger in the dirt past the moss to see how wet soil is. Daily.

Water once soil is dry to touch, Liberally.

One problem with juniper is they don't show many external signs of illness. I fear you may have over fertilized and over watered while indoors. Time will tell if your got an unsurvivable bout of root rot.

[tomc]

Johnny spend a rainy afternoon and wander around in the Bonsai Identification forum.

Count the number of posts the average new poster makes before they quit.

Did they learn everything worth knowing (about their tree) with that twenty word answer? Or did they just give up?

Keep questioning. The only way you can't get home is if you give up.

A smarter bonsai guy than me said: "Killing trees is the price of admission for learning bonsai".

[JohnnySon]

I'm not going to quit even if this one dies I'll just know more when more next time

[JohnnySon]

Just to give you an update the Bonsai looks like it not going to make it. If you would like a picture just let me know I'm thinking of going out sometime and getting me another one just to try again till I get it right.

[rainbowgardener]

Unfortunately, junipers die from the inside out. By the time it shows brown, it can be too late to save it. It may have been too late already when you got it. If you are going to buy another one, I suggest finding a reputable bonsai dealer, not a big box or a mall kiosk. If you get another juniper or other temperate tree, keep it outdoors.

[JohnnySon]

Bonsai Dealer never heard of that

[rainbowgardener]

https://www.gregsbonsaihouse.com/

www.wildwoodgardens.com

https://www.ohiobonsai.com/ (aka kensworldofbonsai.com )

https://clevelandbonsaiclub.com/

not recommending any of these places, which I just found in a quick search. If you really want to learn about bonsai, the bonsai club would be the place to go. People there would be very knowledgeable about where to buy bonsai as well as how to take care of it.

There are also lots of on-line bonsai vendors. I haven't purchased from any and can't say anything more about it. I have purchased lots of plants and trees on-line and they usually arrive in good condition.