I think I killed my juniper!
About four months ago, I received a 7-yr old Japanese juniper. It was doing well despite the fact that I had it indoors (after reading some postings I realize that was a mistake). I was watering about twice a week (soaking in a sink), letting it dry out. I had fertilized twice (with a liquid called Green Green) Four days ago, I moved the plant to my new house. The needles were soft and green. I had it sitting on a counter with light (but not direct). This morning I started to water it, and saw that the needles were dry,brittle and sharp (but still green). I scraped the bark and it's still moist inside. What can I do? Should I put it outside? Prune it? Is there any hope? It's a running joke in my family about my 'ability' with plants. Any help would be appreciated.
Larka5,
Here is the most important question you can answer for me right now.
When you scratched the bark, Was the cambium layer still green? [Just below the bark.] If it was you still have life there, If not...you have an ex-juniper.
First the 'Don'ts'...
Don't: Prune it, or Fertilize it [The soil will have plenty of nutrients available and it is far too late in the season to be promoting new growth.]
Your location would be helpfull here to ascertain your climate as your Juni really should be outside acclimating to the cooling weather in preparation for dormancy. However, as I understand it your tree has been indoors which means moving it to an area with far cooler night temps will be shocking to it [as opposed to the gradual lowering it naturally experiences whilst being outdoors.]
Watering on a schedule is not in your trees best interests, Here is why.
It does not address this issue: Does the tree need water?
Check it every day, But ONLY water when it needs it.
Schedualed watering is akin to you being fed every half an hour or every 30 hours.
One schedule is too often, The other is not often enough and neither one takes into consideration if you are hungry.
I hope this makes sense to you. Wrt bonsai, You really do hold the trees life in your hands when you hold the watering can.
[Btw The foliage on a juniper can remain green for several months after the tree has expired -it does get brittle though]
Don't forget to let me know about the green [or not] from the scratch.
See here for some basic facts about Junipers: https://www.bonsai4me.com/SpeciesGuide/Juniperus.html
And here is a bit about bonsai basics in general, Lots of links here.
https://www.bonsai4me.com/Basics.html
!
Good luck
ynot
Here is the most important question you can answer for me right now.
When you scratched the bark, Was the cambium layer still green? [Just below the bark.] If it was you still have life there, If not...you have an ex-juniper.
First the 'Don'ts'...
Don't: Prune it, or Fertilize it [The soil will have plenty of nutrients available and it is far too late in the season to be promoting new growth.]
Your location would be helpfull here to ascertain your climate as your Juni really should be outside acclimating to the cooling weather in preparation for dormancy. However, as I understand it your tree has been indoors which means moving it to an area with far cooler night temps will be shocking to it [as opposed to the gradual lowering it naturally experiences whilst being outdoors.]
Junipers are outdoor trees [If you want them to survive. It is not impossible to do indoors but even proffesional bonsai artists don't do it. They need a sustained [as in months] dormancy period of cold temps which is tough to do indoors. Also, Junis LOVE sunshine and IMO without additional lighting there is NOT a bright enough spot indoors to have a thriving Juni [Struggeling to survive-Yes, THRIVE- no]It was doing well despite the fact that I had it indoors (after reading some postings I realize that was a mistake).
I was watering about twice a week (soaking in a sink), letting it dry out. I had fertilized twice (with a liquid called Green Green)
Watering on a schedule is not in your trees best interests, Here is why.
It does not address this issue: Does the tree need water?
Check it every day, But ONLY water when it needs it.
Schedualed watering is akin to you being fed every half an hour or every 30 hours.
One schedule is too often, The other is not often enough and neither one takes into consideration if you are hungry.
I hope this makes sense to you. Wrt bonsai, You really do hold the trees life in your hands when you hold the watering can.
Get it as much light as possible, Please post your location. And try to find somewhere cooler to place it so it can start [late though it is] slowing down for dormancy. It does need to be outside but I am hesitant to suggest this until I know your location [daytime high temp and night time lows would be helpfull also.]Four days ago, I moved the plant to my new house. The needles were soft and green. I had it sitting on a counter with light (but not direct). This morning I started to water it, and saw that the needles were dry,brittle and sharp (but still green). I scraped the bark and it's still moist inside. What can I do? Should I put it outside? Prune it? Is there any hope? It's a running joke in my family about my 'ability' with plants.
[Btw The foliage on a juniper can remain green for several months after the tree has expired -it does get brittle though]
Don't forget to let me know about the green [or not] from the scratch.
See here for some basic facts about Junipers: https://www.bonsai4me.com/SpeciesGuide/Juniperus.html
And here is a bit about bonsai basics in general, Lots of links here.
https://www.bonsai4me.com/Basics.html
!Good luck
ynot
Last edited by ynot on Sun Sep 24, 2006 2:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
ynot pretty much covered it here, but yeah you need to check the cambium. also, in a few weeks, you need to movew it to a cold part of the house, so that it can go dormant. (and by cool, I mean the coolest unheated place...while still gettign some light, so not a closet). I'm not sure if that was covered by ynot, I sort of skimmed over his explanations.
Larka, Please do post your location to give an idea of your areas temps and get some reading in.JoeLewko wrote:ynot pretty much covered it here, but yeah you need to check the cambium. also, in a few weeks, you need to movew it to a cold part of the house, so that it can go dormant. (and by cool, I mean the coolest unheated place...while still gettign some light, so not a closet). I'm not sure if that was covered by ynot, I sort of skimmed over his explanations.
Joe,
Please read the links I posted to Larka and you will see that the above [emphasized] advice is not the best route to take.
[This is a simplification as there are other factors such as Species, and Length of day involved also.]
To achieve a minimally satisfactory dormancy a tree requires in excess of 1000 hours sustained at temps below 40f. Thats nearly a month and a half. Hard to do inside the house.
Larka [and Joe] In my previous post in this thread there was an excellent link with winterizing tips and facts wrt to dormancy. You can read a bit more about dormancy at: https://www.evergreengardenworks.com/dormancy.htm
[No skimming please, It is not helpfull to you, Your trees, Or people you offer advice to.]
Remember That generally if it is a deciduous tree, [Most evergreens also] It lives outside naturally [As in fact all trees do] . That is it's home, Some caution must taken due to the container culture bonsai live in. [Research your tree, Google is your friend!] They have less temp protection than their full sized versions.
But please stop babying them and killing them with kindness.
[img]https://img141.imageshack.us/img141/9183/bonsaisnow009400cb2.jpg[/img]
[img]https://img131.imageshack.us/img131/5324/bonsaisnow004400za2.jpg[/img]
Good luck.
ynot