Juniper with dry leaves - Needs to be moved outdoors?

[maned]

Hi,

I have a Chinese Juniper bonsai with dry leaves, living indoors in Chicago. Its leaves have gone from being a glorious rich green in the summer to pale dry needles today, and I'm concerned for its health. Here is its story:

I bought my bonsai (an 18 year old juniper) in July. The bonsai nursery owner told me that it would be fine in my room (West facing window) and gave me directions for its care, etc. I've been watering it every 7 days or so by submerging the pot in a bin of water just up to the soil line. In retrospect I could have been better with the watering schedule; specifically around Thanksgiving I may have forgotten to water it for 10-12 days.

I left Chicago for three weeks this winter, and left the bonsai with a friend, in his much warmer apartment. He watered it during this period (again, about once a week, although he poured water rather than submerging it). During this period the bonsais leaves started to dry.

When I arrived, the leaves were dry and brittle, easily snapped by brushing them and easily getting lodged in the skin (like needles). Furthermore, the leaves on one side of the tree were starting to brown near the base of the branches. (I believe this sparse side was facing away from the sun.) The majority of leaves were, and are, pale green, and dry.

I immediately watered the bonsai, and in the past few days there has been new growth on the tree. There are 4-6 new sprouts from the trunk of the tree, each sprout producing several bundles of bright lush green leaves. It appears that there may have been more of these growths in the past but some wilted. Also, on the spare side of the tree, one of the branches has about 1 inch of new growth on the end, covered in bright green buds. Surprisingly, one of these buds is protruding small dry needles (like are found on the rest of the tree).

After doing some reading on bonsai care, specifically Juniper bonsai care: it seems that my watering habits (I should have been checking the soil rather than watering to a schedule) probably weren't the best, and also that the whole idea of keeping a Juniper bonsai indoors may have been bad to begin with. I'm reading that the Juniper needs to be outdoors during the winter to go into dormancy.

I could move the bonsai outside onto the balcony (east facing, with roof, 3rd floor). This would expose it to the Chicago winter (conditions currently mild here, 30s-50s) and eastern sunlight. Alternatively, I could move it into an unheated side room with huge (West-facing) windows; this room is generally very chilly (close to outdoor temperatures) and has great sun.

Based on my bonsai's current history and recent new growth: would it be wise for me to move the bonsai to a colder environment, either the side room or the balcony? And how can I best care for it?

Also, some branches (on the side of the tree) have foliage that is mostly brown, with wilted dry leaves at the end of the branch. Should I cut off these branches?

Thank you very much.

[TomM]

maned,

Gotta be honest. I had to take a really deep breath when I read through your post. But first WELCOME! I'm glad you came here. Maybe you could get this bonsai nurseryman to come to this forum too. He sold you an 18 year old Chinese Juniper bonsai and said that it would be fine in your room with West facing windows in Chicago?

Junipers are extremely cold hardy. In Chicago they are in the ground as landscape material to 'decorate' hundreds, maybe thousands, of commercial buildings. Bring them indoors and they die. Simple as that. They might 'hang on' for awhile, but they will die. Frequently they will stay green long after they die but that's another story.

In your case, having a lot of brown needles and some new bud growth, causes some confusion. I can not explain it but I have little hope for recovery. I might try to keep it in your in your cold room for the remainder of Winter and hope for the best.

Please stay in touch and let us know what happens in Spring. While dormant a juniper does not require light but will need a little water now and then. Let it freeze.....and sleep....

[maned]

Hi TomM,

I wanted to include all the relevant information in my post, I know it wound up being quite long; thanks for taking the time to read it.

I think I will move the bonsai to the cold room and hope for the best, like you suggest. My only uncertainty is whether given the new growth the bonsai would be even more confused by abruptly moving to a colder environment than it would be by going without a dormancy period. I just spoke with the bonsai nursuryman over the phone, and he believed that the tree would be better off staying in warm temperatures. However since almost everyone on the internet says junipers should be outdoors and should have a dormancy period, I'm inclined to go with that approach.

Thanks again for your advice.

[rainbowgardener]

Your nurseryman clearly gave you VERY bad advice about keeping your juniper inside when he sold you the plant, so I would not rely on anything else he tells you. You are right that having had it indoors this long, I wouldn't just plop it outdoors into the middle of a Chicago winter (unless you are having a weird warm winter like we are in Ohio and it's still 50 degrees). But the coldest indoor space you can find will be better for it.

Unfortunately, whatever you do at this point may be too late for it. Junipers tend to die in slow motion. By the time they are showing significant brown needles, it can already be too late to save them.

It is very bad business practice from the seller, to give you such bad information about an 18 yr old (presumably expensive) tree.

[tbtoobad]

Belmont Flower Market?