Help with Juniper Squamata, indoor

H

Hyyer

Seedling
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
-LANSING, MI
-INDOOR (~62-72*F)

Bonsai aficionados, I require some input/advice. A family member dropped off (what appears to be) a Juniper Squamata tree, with a grow light (seasonal sunlight rotation function, and a water sensor), and fertilizer pellets. They got it from a roadside vendor about a year ago. It has been repotted once since then, rarely pruned at all, watered every other week or so, and out of the sun for a week but other than that has been exposed to real sunlight or the grow lamp on and off.

What on earth can I do to keep this thing alive and help it slowly recover from the poor state it is in? I cannot put it outside b/c I live at a ground floor apt building. I'm getting new bulb for the grow light... Should I re-pot it with certain nutrients, prune it a particular way, protect it from specific bugs etc? Some of the inner leaves are browning and dense... photos attached

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxUF5K96ARBYUTJ2ZUlPR2F3VlU
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxUF5K96ARBYRkJUbFBFdVRfOTQ
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxUF5K96ARBYbklONDN2bHE4UnM
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxUF5K96ARBYaXl3enc1Y0ROWG8
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxUF5K96ARBYN2FmT2dIcHRCOHc
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxUF5K96ARBYb2lhcW1pRkx6eXc
 
I'm not sure how long a juniper will survive indoors. They typically need a winter dormancy, higher humidity than is indoors.
 
Ok so it needs exposure to the cold... Could I put it outside for a few hours then bring it in @ night... or should I try and keep it completely outside....
In Michigan it snows, sometimes quite hard, so if I left it outside winter-round it would get almost buried in snow...
 
bringing it indoors would just shock the plant and never allow it to go dormant
 
Hyyer said:
Ok so it needs exposure to the cold... Could I put it outside for a few hours then bring it in @ night... or should I try and keep it completely outside....
In Michigan it snows, sometimes quite hard, so if I left it outside winter-round it would get almost buried in snow...
Click to expand...
I did about a 5 year stint at one point trying to grow indoors. I have exactly one tree left from that timeframe - a ficus.

What I learned is that dormancy matters - a lot. Junipers give the illusion of being an indoor tree because they look like they are surviving, sometimes for several years, but it never ends well. They need a rest, and if they don't get it they eventually tailspin.

Outside buried in snow is actually fine. You need to protect the roots from extreme winds somehow, but you can do that by burying the pot in the ground and mulching over it. Other options would be a garage, shed or enclosed porch.

There are lots of options,
but no matter what, it needs to be exposed to the fluctuating temperatures of outside, all year round.

Indoors is great for us, but terrible for temperate trees. My bonsai hobby change for the better forever once I figured that out.
 
Hyyer said:
Ok so it needs exposure to the cold... Could I put it outside for a few hours then bring it in @ night... or should I try and keep it completely outside.... In Michigan it snows, sometimes quite hard, so if I left it outside winter-round it would get almost buried in snow...
Click to expand...

Fortunate you can clean up the inner brown growth almost any time of year. Do it now and the plant will respond nicely. There has to be a spot near a door, porch, or sill that it could be secured to - think bungee cord, electrical ties, wire ties... Put it out and leave it out. It will be fine - if it looks purple/blue do not worry it at all. Buried in snow - the plant will love the protection and water!

Grimmy
 
Hyyer said:
Ok so it needs exposure to the cold... Could I put it outside for a few hours then bring it in @ night... or should I try and keep it completely outside....
In Michigan it snows, sometimes quite hard, so if I left it outside winter-round it would get almost buried in snow...
Click to expand...
Uh, think about this...how do junipers in the yard live through winters? The plant you have in a pot is the same thing as what is planted in yards in your area. PUtting it in a pot doesn't make it a delicate hothouse flower.

If you can, you have to get it outside now and leave it there. Read up on overwintering temperate zone conifer bonsai. Do what the articles say.
https://www.evergreengardenworks.com/overwint.htm

All this is beside the point if you don't have access to outdoors. The tree will die inside. It will do so gradually, or all at once depending on how strong it is. Simple as that, junipers need to be outside...
 
Dav4 said:
A dormant evergreen needs little to no sunlight.
Click to expand...

Yes, mine will go from a full sun growing area to a shaded area soon and remain there until they start to show green again in mid to late Spring.

Grimmy
 
Thanks for all the timely responses everyone, that's some helpful information I will read up on.

My apt building on the ground floor (where I am) does have little 'pitio' porches, indented 4' deep pits where sliding doors open to the road. That's going to be the safest (read:eek:nly) place that's accommodating. There are probably going to be some residual bugs out there because it has been unusually warm lately for this time of year, and there's tons of leaves. I'm thinking I'll clean it out a bit and set the plant up.

The pot it's in is actually rusting a bit, that makes me fear something is going to leech into the root system.
Should I fear for any bugs, the 'less than stellar' pot, or pruning too much? I'm probably going to move it out there tonight.

EDIT> and the fertilizer pellets,,,, just forget about 'em for now or should I work them into the soil a bit before committing the plant to outdoor conditions?
 
Last edited:
Hyyer said:
In Michigan it snows, sometimes quite hard, so if I left it outside winter-round it would get almost buried in snow
Click to expand...
You don't say. Where in Michigan?
Actually snow is your friend. I worry we will never have enough.
My junipers sit on straw,buried up to the first branch in straw. Most winters all I get to look at is a bunch of lumps in the snow. That makes happy. I know my trees are protected from the worst part of winter. Wind and bitter cold.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

G
Need help with a juniper design
Replies
2
Views
182
Wires_Guy_wires
W
N
Help! How do I stop my juniper bonsai from turning brown?
Replies
11
Views
386
snowman04
snowman04
S
Looking for Juniper Foliage Thinning and Pad Development Help
Replies
7
Views
316
stroven
S
S
Looking for Juniper Foliage Thinning and Pad Development Help
Replies
0
Views
104
stroven
S
T
HELP : Juniper identification
Replies
6
Views
274
Shibui
S
Back
Top Bottom