what to use to encourage growth on junipers?

[anttal63]

Sorry for all the questions hugh, when was it last repotted? i also dont believe it is sick and it is definately not dead. How ever the tree is in a weak state and could easily go south for various reasons. I would keep it out of full sun at the moment.

[Jamie]

sorry, i think there is a lot of false hope going on here, hopefully i am wrong, i would be so happy for hugh that i am wrong but when i see this sort of look on the trunk of a juniper, to me it says the tree is gone, i have had it happen with mine a few times, this is the sign of a juniper being dehydrated under the bark, even if it is gren it is like the layers are unable to transfer junipers, every juniper i have had that has had this happen it has died or been dead for a while, sometimes the tree seems to be ok, i had one that had this and the foliage was brown but had green tips, and the brown foliage was still soft, a couple of weeks later they green growth was dead and it was gone, sorry this is just my experience, like i said i am hoping for you i am wrong hugh

enlarge the pic, i have zoomed in and the pic is clear. arrow points to what i have seen,

hugh grant juniper.jpg

jamie

[Bretts]

I think if this tree was a gonna it would not have the vibrant colour in the tips that are growing. It is the dull look that scares me

Drainage is VERY important on a weak tree. The tree is not sucking the water out of the pot so you need to ensure that it is getting out.
I would give it a little morning sun and watch the watering very closely. Angle the pot to encourage growth as Pup states but I would do this more for drainage than anything. Also it could be a very good idea to drill extra holes in the side of the pot to help drainage.
The more you can get the soil to dry out enough and then be able to re water the better the tree will recover.

Constantly misting the little foliage that is there should also help unless it is some fungal problem which I doubt.
I would also mist the foliage with seasol and a fertiliser occasionally.

[Jamie]

unfortunatly i dont have pics of this, i had the same problem as i have been saying, hang on i will search my files.

ok i found some files of a juni i had that was sick, showing similar symptoms of this, it was a spider mite attack that killed mine but this is how the foliage was-

branchresize.jpg

tipok.jpg

notice that the tips look ok but the rest is brown, this is my personal experience that tells me that the tree is in trouble. sorry. like i said i do hope that this is not the case but my fears are that it is.

jamie

[hugh grant]

hey
Ant the tree was repotted about 13 months ago and it is not root bound if thats where ur going i checked it this morning and i put it back in the shade on the varandah so its getting a little sun now.
i get what ur saying jamie but i dont reckon that its dying, all the dead stuff on it is the branches that where under the foliage that i plucked off leaving the green stubs on the end so i wasnt totally killing and i know now i probably went a little over the top with it. what i was tryiing to acjeive was to get some more budding down a bit lower in the secondary branching as the growth had grown out of its shape.

Hugh

[anttal63]

Ok Hugh 13 months is not a lot for juni. Over pinching is a dangerous game especially in summer. Over pinching in general can weaken a Juniper.
In summer, from that Two things can happen. 1) soil dry's out too quick and trunk / foliage get sunburnt. OR 2) the tree gets drowned from over watering in a mix like this and no foliage on top, if not given time to dry out. Mind you Junipers do not like drying out. Heres what i propose (from experience). Cut off what ever is dead and not necessary. Bare root the tree, then i will be interested to know the condition. Rotten roots or just dead roots??? any of either should be cut off. The tree then needs to go into something like an orchid pot or terracotta with a very open mix. ex. 50% diatamite or scoria and 50% potting mix. Early morning sun only, water as needed and seasol 1/4 strength once a week. Be prepared that if this tree recovers it will take a long time. Up to 2 years. Is it worth it? Only when it starts to show good colour and growth can we go onto the next phase. Until then. Good luck!

[techpetal]

Don't give up yet Hugh,

It's suffering but dont throw throw the baby out with the bath water.

Get a LARGE container of water and place it below the tail to reflect light back up to the tree,

If it looks like it's going to turn it's tail up and cark it. Chop back to a semi cascade where suitable to save it.

Don't over fertilise and tonic the hell out of it. REST REST REST!

Tech

[hugh grant]

thanks ant, your help is appreciated.
ill see how it goes i think over the next month and if nothing new happens ill take ur advice and give it a repot which i was planning to do anyway to put it in a smaller pot to the one its in now, which is pretty big for it.
really stuffed up with this one ah well im confident it will come good sometime.
although it buds coming on it on the branches im guessing this is a good sign dont ya think.

thanks tech anice idea could give it a go
Hugh

[techpetal]

The large container of water method was given to me by my teacher who has some awesome cascades. It has kicked arse for me with mine this season.

Good Luck
Tech

[anttal63]

The trick is to not let it stay dry nor too wet in this state. That is a great idea Tech thankyou for that one. The simplest things.

[Rob781]

did the tree make it?

[Dumper]

yeah... is the juni alive or dead??? very curious..

[Andrew Ward]

Dead or Alive ... sounding a bit like an 80's pop group!

There is a difference between 'trimming' and 'skinning'. Many of us have stories of success in leaf reduction through defoliating, we change energy flows with pines through plucking needles over a period of time starting with the apically dominant top needles and then over a matter of weeks working our way the lowest branches.

Much debate surrounds whether to scissor prune or finger pinch junipers. Peter Adams' cultural notes on junipers emphasize that we should pinch with our finger tips and not our finger nails. Browning to the tips of the juniper foliage will occur ... has anyone thought of giving up their day jobs so as to be at home to spray their freshly needle reduced junipers 18 times a day.

Sounds an attractive proposition!!!

[Chris Sirre]

Ok Hugh 13 months is not a lot for juni. Over pinching is a dangerous game especially in summer. Over pinching in general can weaken a Juniper.
In summer, from that Two things can happen. 1) soil dry's out too quick and trunk / foliage get sunburnt. OR 2) the tree gets drowned from over watering in a mix like this and no foliage on top, if not given time to dry out. Mind you Junipers do not like drying out. Heres what i propose (from experience). Cut off what ever is dead and not necessary. Bare root the tree, then i will be interested to know the condition. Rotten roots or just dead roots??? any of either should be cut off. The tree then needs to go into something like an orchid pot or terracotta with a very open mix. ex. 50% diatamite or scoria and 50% potting mix. Early morning sun only, water as needed and seasol 1/4 strength once a week. Be prepared that if this tree recovers it will take a long time. Up to 2 years. Is it worth it? Only when it starts to show good colour and growth can we go onto the next phase. Until then. Good luck!

Hi Hugh, I'm only reading this topic just now and there are a lot of replies.
I'm a qualified horticulturist and have worked with Junipers for more than 20 years. I have to completely agree with Ant ( I couldn't have said it any better Ant!). the only thing I would say is add some Multicrop Plant Starter (1 cap/9ltr) to the Seasol or Maxicrop (which I prefer). Plant Starter is a root hormone and this will help to stimulate root growth.

Good luck

Chris Sirre

[anttal63]

yes chris but i think hugh's given up on it???