Juniper is sick

[Rowdy]

Hi
I have a small juniper i got as a seedling and have been growing for about 9 months, it ias been fairly healthy all that time till recently.
It is going brown from the ends of the branchs in.
Dose any body know what could be causeing this and how i can get it back to health.

[leamos]

Have you been pruning it with scissors?

[Emoska]

I had a Juniper when I first started collecting Bonsai that started dying the same way... I checked for pests too and didn't come up with anything (might be worth checking if you haven't already).

My diagnosis in hindsight is that I was watering it appropriately but while it was sitting in slow draining soil mix; and I wasn't checking under the top layer of soil to see if the soil was still wet underneath. The result was essentially over-watering. My understanding today is that Junipers suffer root rot quite easily when over-watered, so mind your watering schedule. Stick your fingers into the soil and if you notice its *really* wet and stays this way for several days without drying, then this may be a part of the problem.

[Rowdy]

Never Pruned it
I bought it, and twisted it up alot as per another post on ausbonsai, and have let it grow on for over 6 months

The over watering is a possibility, i have watering it at the same pace as my figs

[Pup]

What fertilizer are you using? it looks like it could be a burn from too much Nitrogen. Shimpakus are not fond of too much Nitrogen.

Over watering is also a big possibilty in your climate and looking at that soil mix.

Pup

[Leigh Taafe]

Looks to me like a scorching. Most likely from the roots not operating normally as a result of a bit of root rot. Treat with a product called "fongarid". When the roots begin to rot they wont draw the water required to feed the tree, thus a hot sun can scorch the foliage.

[Tony Bebb]

Hi Rowdy

Sargents have been suffering a bit like that up here the lsat couple of years as a result of the humidity. Generally they are not drying out enough and developing root fungal problems. As mentioned treat with fongarid once a week for 3 weeks before it gets too bad, and make sur the tree gets dry between watering. Thoroughly soak when you do water bit it must get nice and dry before you water it again. Bone dry is of course too dry. If you are woried about other trees treat them also.

Tony

[chrisatrocky]

The foilage looks fairly compact, it just may need thinning out let some air and light into it. humidity can cause the tips to die back like this.

chris

[Rowdy]

It could be buring, i had a sock full of D Lifter on the soil that i have now taken off.
The soil mix is well draining, i have a 50% of diatomite mainly, i just topped it off with soil so it dosnt look like it on top.
so my 3 steps are
Let it dry out more
remove the fert and let the soil leech out before i use any more.
Get myself some anti fungal stuff on the weekend.

It is compact foliage because its been all twistied in on itself, but i dont think thats the reason, because its the outside of the tree that is turning brown, not the branchs more towards the middle.