Help! My juniper bonsai has a few brown needles

[sunnysun]

Hi everyone,

We are new to bonsai.. We got our juniper bonsai 2 months ago, and followed the watering schedule (7-10 days) and fertilization schedule (one a month) recommended to us. I watered it exactly 9 days ago, and also used a bottle of fertilizer given to us. I just noticed the needles turning brown from the base of the branches. I just checked the soil and it's still damp so I think we may have been overwatering it.. But I also read that it might be normal growth process..

Can anyone help me diagnose it from the pictures below (I've pinched out some of the brown needles)? What can I do to help it? We would hate to lose our beautiful bonsai

 

[Rob_phillips]

Hello there welcome to the site.
Right where to start here.
Just a few tips from reading your post so please dont take offense to anything.
First Read this about watering.
http://bonsai4me.com/Basics/Basics_Watering.html
Watering our bonsai that takes years of practice to get right it may seem easy but there are so many variables to concider.
You need to learn how to read your tree and water, not to a schedule i mean if you only water once every 10 days what happens if you have a sudden heat wave or its been raining constantly for a week and the soil is soaked.
Next where do you keep your juniper?
They need full sun and to be outside all the time they need to go dormant in the winter the cold will not hurt them and keeping them indoors will stop dormancy.
Next you only need to fertilize in the growing season when the tree is actively growing say between April till late june/july and august to September depending on how the weather is in the year as trees may go dormant in the summer if its really hot.
They do not need feeding in the winter as they dont need it.
Next the brown needles look fine i think it is just shedding old needles so keep an eye on it and if it gets worse post another pic.

 

[AZbonsai]

Welcome! From what I can see your juniper seems pretty healthy. They lose a few needles like that. Some take them off others leave them on. They like to be outside.

 

[plant_dr]

Your tree looks pretty healthy actually. A few brown needles here and there is just part of the branches maturing.

 

[JosephCooper]

Welcome to bonsai nut!

That's normal for junipers, if anything take out the dead needles.

As for watering, doing it every 10 days might not be often enough, i do mine every 2-3.

You need to see how wet the soil is, so take the rocks off. They do not help!

 

[sunnysun]

Thanks everyone for the quick feedback! This puts my mind at ease, and I'll definitely check out the links and suggestions sent. Thanks again!

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy!

It does look healthy, but you may be able to water more, or less....
If it aint broke though......sho ain't broke!

Sorce

 

[Potawatomi13]

Still looks good. Add area to profile please and get tree outdoors.