Is this Juniper Blight?

[longd_au]

Hi

Is this Juniper Blight? All my junipers started getting this type of damages lately and it is very frustrating. I think it is juniper blight but I am not sure.
A bit of brown would appear just below an healthy looking foliage and it slowly spread to the top and then near by foliage. The little section will completely die but other foliage on the same branch will look very healthy and continue to grow. Small sections appears here and there and the clump of foliage will eventually die.

I have had these Shimpaku for about 6 - 7 years and this year is the first time I've seen this. They are in larger pots to help thicken the trunk.

One Shimpaku in a bonsai pot had a few brown tips over winter but as soon as spring arrived, almost the entire plant is affected.

So far, I have cut off all foliage with any signs of browning and have been spraying with Mancozeb every week.

Has anyone successfully controlled juniper blight? If this is a common problem with Junipers, I am thinking of not growing junipers as bonsai.
How do people in Japan grown junipers for hundreds of years and I can't even keep mine alive for 10?

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[longd_au]

Does anyone have any opinion?
Does Mancozeb really control this type of foliage damage?

I had to cut so many branches from one of my smaller bonsai, I think it is no longer any good as bonsai material. It will require lots of grafting and reshaping and will take many years to regrow if it does not give in to this disease.

The last few weeks has been quite devastating, watching the juniper deteriorate in health and small sections starting to go brown. The twisting probably weakened the plant allowing the disease to spread. The problem is, I have other juniper that I have not worked on starting to show this problem as well.

Should I just give up on Junipers? I

[MJL]

Just bumping this for Dennis who seems rather distraught at what might be afflicting his tree. I don't have a clue but others might be able to assist.

[longd_au]

Thanks MJL.

The neighbor has 3 very large Junipers growing in the front yard about 15 - 20 meters from my bonsai. They are more than 10 meters high.
I inspected them today and found they show similar issues with parts dying. I even noticed one higher branch totally dead.
I suspect this is the source of the infection and has spread to my junipers in the back yard.

I will keep spraying with Mancozeb and hope the issue will go away one day. From all my online research, this is juniper blight and Mancozeb is the best chance I have.

[Daluke]

A few points;

Is the rot on new growth?

What do you fertilise with? Anything in the soil??

The bushes look too dense. Is sun penetrating all parts? No sun means things shade and die. It also promotes fungus and is a good place for bugs to set up shop. All cause week growth.

Try a liquid copper fungicide.ive has similar growth in sections show up in my junipers. Remove the dead leaves then spray.

Regularly jet blast the foliage. It helps get rid of foreign bodies.

[gordonb]

Is this possibly mites? You probably have considered this anyway, but have you looked for mites? - shake/brush foliage over a clean white sheet of paper, then press/smudge with fingers any little brown/black things. If they are mites, they will smear, perhaps leaving blood on the paper.
>>.Regularly jet blast the foliage. It helps get rid of foreign bodies.<< This also keeps down mites, who like it drier and warm.
If it does turn out to be mites, an evening spray, wetting with the hose will help keep them away, but you'd need to INSECTICIDE them first.

That is, if it is mites.

Good luck on this!!

[PeterH]

If its Blight I use Kocide blue on my pines and junipers. A copper based fungicide. Like any fungicide dont let it'get onto the soil.

Kind Regards

Peter

[longd_au]

Thanks everyone for your replies and help.
I am obsessed with my plants and monitor them almost daily. I have not seen any mites on my plants and has followed advice and did the white paper check with no mites found.

The photo I took is of one example where this problem is occurring. It is occurring with all my junipers and it only started recently (from about mid winter to now). I have 5 junipers in various potting/bonsai mixes and they have been growing strong over the last few years. You can tell from the extensions on some of the foliage. The junipers continue to grow strong in most branches but some will have this die back. Usually starts with a single tip going brown but will eventually spread to the entire branch. The other branches remain green with healthy growth. It is even flowering if you look closely at the photo.

I am puzzled, assume it is juniper blight and have commenced spraying with two types of fungicide including one containing mancozeb.
The juniper in a bonsai pot which grew very well last year continue to have die back even after spraying while the one pictured appears to be growing strong with the exception of a few foliage pads showing this type of browning in the tip.

I have read threads on Ausbonsai that talks about Juniper blight.
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=25420&p=254867&hili ... ht#p254867
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=20472&hilit=juniper+blight

I am doing my best. Thanks again for your help.
I wanted to know if anyone has successfully controlled juniper blight with regular spraying or once you get it, it remains a problem for a long time?

[Zencitizen]

How did you end up going with this? I’m having a similar problem and am also thinking of giving up on Junipers in my climate (humid)