Jax1108
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Joined: Thu May 22, 2014 10:33 pm

Help with bonsai!

So I have a Juniper Bonsai and it is my first bonsai. I got it as a gift from a dear friend so I really don't want it to die!
I read up about how to take care of it so I gave it a "bath" once a week (soaked it in the sink up to the top of the soil for 10 minutes) and kept it outside because I knew it wouldn't survive indoors. Well a few weeks ago I checked out it and it had faded to a light green color and looked very dry. I live in Houston, Tx and my patio is West facing so it gets lots of bright light and yes, heat and humidity. Afraid it was drying out, I made a "humidity tray" for it and started spraying it with water daily. It only got worse, and more "dry" looking so we put it in a bag to try and keep the humidity in. I guess that was super stupid because now we see that there is definitely green and and white mold on it. I read of another similar situation so I took the moss out, took it out of the tray, and will put it back outside to dry out. I guess my question is, how can I save this thing and how can I keep it alive in this hot climate?

tomc
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Jax1108 wrote:So I have a Juniper Bonsai and it is my first bonsai. I got it as a gift from a dear friend so I really don't want it to die!
I read up about how to take care of it so I gave it a "bath" once a week
Watering any tree to schedule is almost always a guarentee to kill it. if your juniper is dry and crunchy its passed on. I'm sorry.

Jax1108
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Joined: Thu May 22, 2014 10:33 pm

Thank you for the helpful advice...

Turns out, my juniper is not brown and crunchy. It is an orange color. It is not wilted or changed shape at all. What does this indicate and how should I care for it now? Is there anyway to get it green again? If there is nothing I can do to save it, I would still like some tips on how to avoid this for my next bonsai....

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rainbowgardener
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I expect it is some kind of fungal disease/

Does it look like this:

Image
https://hyg.ipm.illinois.edu/photos/juni ... mopsis.jpg



Image
https://home.comcast.net/~americanpillar ... age002.jpg

that is Cercospora needle blight

https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOC ... 347863.pdf

tenting your juniper was a bad idea and created ideal conditions for fungal diseases. You can try treating it with a fungicide, but when well established these diseases are very difficult to overcome, so I don't know how much hope I can hold out.

If you try again, juniper probably isn't an ideal tree for your climate. You would be better off with a tropical that likes heat and humidity. Junipers like cold winters. If you are doing juniper again, don't put it on a west facing patio, put it somewhere where it gets morning sun and protection from hot afternoon sun.

Jax1108
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Joined: Thu May 22, 2014 10:33 pm

Yes! That is what it looks like all over. I figured some kind of fungus....
The funny thing is that they sell Juniper Bonsai's all over the place down here! I don't know what kind of luck anyone else here has with them. I will try your suggestion and if anything else look for something more suitable for my patio.

Thank you!



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