AusBonsai

hello

I recently received a very thoughtful gift, a beautiful blue alp juniperus, problem is I'm a complete newb when it comes to bonsai. Ive owned since christmas and slowly there has been a constant number of leaves turning brown. I must confess that the first couple of weeks i only watered the tree once a day and kept it indoors. Since then I've read up on whats required for the juniperus but am still unsure about many things as I've read and received conflicting advice. The tree is quite young and came wired, the wire is still on it and I'm not 100% when to remove it.

Last week I found tiny webs inbetween some leaves so I bought richgro's naturally based insect spray but today I found a tiny little red spider and some other tiny webs. Not sure if the insecticide is strong enough. I'm not entirely sure if the spider is the sole reason for the brown leaves, I have left the tree in direct sunlight for a few hours some days, some of these days have been pretty hot and humid but for the most part i keep it under a veranda outdoors.

At the moment i am :
- spraying the tree with the richgro spray once a week.
- watering the tree when ever the soil feels too dry.
- I'm feeding it 3 bonsai fertilizer pellets from sashi-eda that I bought from bunnings, every 2 weeks.
- pruning with my fingers and tiny scissors for tiny amounts (I've read conflicting advice on whether to use scissors or fingers)
- left the wires on that came with the tree.
- today started to use seasol seaweed solution garden health treatment (plan to use once every 2 weeks)
- I keep it outdoors under a veranda so it gets a lot of indirect sunlight
- I have to move the pot around quite a bit as I dont know an ideal spot to place it on.

Some questions I have

- Does the above seem okay to keep doing as I go forward?
- Any advice on how to stop the brown leaves?
- Is it possible to grow these trees indoor? I feel I could take more care of it that way.
- Any links to comprehensive guides to this type of tree in particular?
- How much sunlight does this tree need, can it be mostly indirect?
- any suggestions on better insecticides, ( should it be spray or ones applied to the dirt) and fertilizers.
- some pruning advice please, tree is still young.
- how much seasol and fertilizer pellet should I
Give the tree?

Apologies for the long post but I find myself second guessing what i'm doing too often, thank you!!!!

Thank

The people who could give advice would need at least a couple or three photos-wide and closeup

brown at the tips would be bad but brown in close to the branching is possibly normal as long as the tips are still green-tiny spiders could be mites though not sure about the webs

Okay I'll work on getting some pictures, the brown begins from the tip and then usually spreads down the rest of the leaf until it's all brown

https://m.imgur.com/gallery/rRqHc

Here are some pictures I took, hopefully they show what I mean, I've removed some of the dead leaves and am aware some of the brown stumps are due to pruning. Any advice as per my original post would be much appreciated, thank you

The only brown needles I can see are old ones.
It is normal and natural for older needles to eventually die and fall off after a couple of years. This happens on all evergreen trees so it is not possible to stop it. You do need to manage pruning so that there are always some new shoots growing along the branches so the tree does not end up with long bare branches.
Otherwise your tree looks quite healthy.

Junipers do not like being inside. They have high need for plenty of sun and light and I would say at least half day direct sun, more if you can mange the watering. The tree will probably manage on the verandah but would really do better with direct sunlight for part of the day. I have noticed that moving trees around is not the best. They just get used to one level of light/wind/ etc and you move it to a new location and it then needs to adjust physiology to cope with new conditions. Try to pick a spot and leave it for a while. Just rotate the tree every few days/ once a week so all sided get equal access to light. Trees left facing one way all the time tend to have weak branches at the back where there is less light.

All bonsai need fertiliser. The more often you water the more often you need to apply fertiliser. Any fertiliser is better than none. Any fertiliser that is suitable for trees and shrubs or potted plants is good. Look for 'balanced' fertiliser which means it has all the nutrients needed for plant growth. Some fertilisers have only some of the nutrients so are not complete balanced ferts eg seasol is marketed as a soil conditioner because it does not have all nutrients in the quantities needed for plant growth. You can use it but need to also apply another balanced fert as well.
With all fertilisers just follow the directions on the packet - use the directions for trees and shrubs or potted plants if there are different mixes mentioned. Many of us are applying fertiliser every 2 weeks or so. Some use weekly applications, others only apply fert when they remember. You can often pick underfertilised trees because they start to look unhealthy. You can keep using the 3 fert pellets and seasol every few weeks but I would advise a proper complete or balanced fert every 2-3 weeks as well.

spraying the tree with the richgro spray once a week.

Are you having a problem with bugs? There is no point spraying insecticide if there are no problems. Spray only when needed.

Pruning with scissors may cause the ends of leaves that have been cut to go brown but it won't actually hurt the tree. The cut leaves will drop off and new ones will grow so the brown from cutting is only temporary. If you can cut without cutting through a leaf there is no problem. Finger pinching for junipers avoids cutting needles so you don't get brown tips.

Wires can be left until they start to mark the bark. By then the tree will be set and will stay in that shape when you take off wires. Just keep checking to make sure they are not getting too tight.

I grow Blue Alps and I have had trouble in the past. When the leaves take on the colour such as in your last pic, they will not recover from it. They will eventually die. This can take 12 months. I'm not sure what causes it. I suspect mites might be involved. You should spray for mites as a precaution. You absolutely must keep it in full sun, any protection in the form of overhead cover will weaken it and it will become susceptible to infestation.
I have found the tree itself will recover well if it is fed heavily. If you are putting 3 chicken pellet sized fert pieces on it, that may as well be nothing. Instead, put on half a handful every 2 weeks. The consensus now is to use scissors instead of finger pinching. Always cut to a branch without leaving a be-headed stump.

Looks like a little bit of browning from where you've trimmed it. I looks pretty healthy. As the branch continues to elongate, the maturing of the branch naturally loses its leaves and becomes a wooden branch. New young branches can grow from these sections as the cycle of the trees growth continues. It's easy to stress when you're starting out, especially because of the blight issues needle juniper varieties have, but I really think your little tree is fine. Just keep doing the regular things like feeding and watering. Keep it strong and healthy and you'll have very little to worry about. [CLINKING BEER MUGS]


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Yes I am stressing out, I hope the brown leaves doesnt mean it is dieing as someone mentioned. I will continue to spray insecticide on it, I think I need something stronger as i still find tiny webs and bugs on it.

Thank you all so much for your advice, I truly do appreciate it. It's my first bonsai so I'm trying my absolute best to take care of it. Cheers!