I need help ASAP

Too much water or not enough?

  • A lot

    Votes: 2 33.3%

  • Not enough

    Votes: 5 83.3%
  • Total voters
    6
T

Tati

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Hey guys! I'm new with plants and bonsai. I got a juniper tree and it was so beautiful. I did exactly what the seller told me to do: no sun, water only once a week (a cup). But now it's dry and I think it's dying or dead already. There are some new roots coming but I'm not sure if they were there before get dry.
Idk what I did wrong. Idk if I pour too much water or not enough? Too much sun? Or not enough? I've being leaving it on my window during the day for a week now... But I don't any progress... Please help me!!!! I need to know what to do
 

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Don't listen to the "bonsai man"!

They need outside....sun....and should be a lot more water than a cup a week...

But they got you 100% dookified!

No worries...

Crazy got you covered....

Welcome to it!

Sorce
 
It's a juniper they are dead before they show the signs. We need to know more about the tree and you. Soil temperature where you live. It's a tree ment to be outside. Honestly if it's in " bonsai soil" once a week during summer is not nearly enough.
 
Next time get a ficus if you want a tree that can survive inside and a great tree to learn from. Just not a "gensing rooted" ficus. There are severel species that are great to learn with. Ficus microcarpa and its cultivars may be a great tree to start with, there are many more. Ficus benjamina isnt the best choice but will work. Theyre all tough trees, perfect to learn with and very forgiving..or another tropical if you want an inside tree..
 
If the second pic is what it looks like now, Im sorry to tell you this tree is dead.

NEVER listen to what the bonsai cart/kiosk/van salesman tells you. The instructions are always wrong and designed to kill your tree so you come back and buy another.

This is a procumbens nana juniper and they are outside trees. They want sun and lots of it. You water when they need it, not on a schedule. You can tell when it needs water by keeping a chopstick stuck in the pot and when it is mostly dry (not bone dry) you water. The amount and frequency of watering depends on the local weather.

Dont give up, lots of us started with these little trees and many of us failed with them.
If you are interested in bonsai, do some reading, alot of reading, here and elsewhere, get some books from the library and get an idea of what bonsai care takes.
Then get yourself a little juniper from the nursery and start learning how to keep it alive with watering, feeding, winter protection, pruning, repotting etc etc.

Just remember dont do too much to the tree at once or in one season. You can kill the tree with too much "care". Get a few to work on if you so desire and be patient. Bonsai can not be learned overnight or in a matter of weeks. Bonsai takes years to master and the journey is very enjoyable if you have the patience for it.
 
To paraphrase Monty Python--"you have an EX-bonsai" That tree is pretty dead. The first thing you have to know to do bonsai successfully is to realize that just because they are in a pot DOESN'T make them houseplants or cancel out their need for sun or make them hothouse flowers.

Juniper is a particularly tough tree for beginners because it is an outdoor tree, but sold by unknowledgeable sellers as an indoor tree. Junipers REQUIRE sun and lots of it. Watering can't be done by measuring out a metered quantity on a set schedule. Trees, like humans and other living things, have needs that vary according to their environment. More juniper bonsai are killed with overcare than most any species used for bonsai. They don't like to be coddled. They thrive in cold, wind sun, heat. Have for millions of years in the wild.

If you HAVE to keep a tree inside, get a tree of tropical origins, not temperate zone--(maple, pine, elm will all die a fast or slow death if kept inside for more than a few days). Ficus is an excellent "indoor" species for bonsai -- although there are no trees that prefer being indoors, just those species that can tolerate it better than others.
 
Sorry about that pal. I feel your dissapointment, but consider it lucky to have happened to a tree you just bought rather than one you out years of time in to. Also, it sounds like it was less your fault than the sellers, for its condition, so perhaps take pride in the knowledge that it wasn't so much your fault.

Do some reading, get another one, and post another topic with pics when you do :).
And don't buy it from that guy again... I've never heard someone say "no sun".. I thought you were joking lol.
Usually stuff is, outside, lots of sun, water daily.
Not 100% accurate for all trees, all seasons, all locations of course, but it's a hell of a lot better than no sun and no water!
The amount to water will greatly vary on many things, but it seems like daily is a good rule of thumb.
 
Don't let it get you down, I killed two junipers when I started. Tough trees to grow as a beginner. Ficus are easy, I've kept mine alive and I'm pretty much torturing it.
 
Well, I have been "into " Bonsai since 71. I started by finding the odd sapling in a large wood nearby . My first was a Blackthorn which did very well indeed 10 years or so until I went on holiday and paid someone to water them for me, and when I asked for a soak a day, the kind lady filled a milk bottle and divided it by 40 for the lot !!!! Every one dead. Don't you just hate that ? And she insisted I coughed up £50 (1981 ). Never again, I invented my own auto sprinkler, the diagrams I sent to a hose manufacturer . I was offered a stake in the business, but had to go into hospital.
I do think it is worth doing a good deal of homework when starting with Bonsai. I have about 50 books today. Some are rubbish: one suggested repotting in wet clay and 1" gravel for a 6" sapling !. Some come with beautiful pictures of £10.000 Bonsai from private collections, others are printed on nasty paper useful for blotting. The worse for me were cheapish with cartoon-like pictures, nothing like the natural trees.
Just now , Amazon are selling off older Bonsai manuals at 1p each plus P&P. There is one that shines out and is perfect for beginners and others alike. It covers a great deal in detail and is easy to follow........THE BONSAI HANDBOOK.....by David Prescott. (1960 by NEW HOLLAND LTD ). Having just read this, I am very impressed and there is no doubt that it an asset to anyone thinking of taking up Bonsai. God knows how I missed this superb book over the years.

Regards Mitty.
 
Tati said:
I did exactly what the seller told me to do: no sun, water only once a week (a cup). But now it's dry and I think it's dying or dead already.
Click to expand...

The vendor/seller is an idiot. Don't let it get you down though. If you like Juniper I am going to suggest you buy 4 -5 inexpensive ones from a big box store, a few different kinds. Take them home, place in a sunny location, water and fertilize through out the growing season just thinning and trimming. Put your location in your profile so it shows like mine does and it will be easier to give any further advice ;)

My Wife got to a point with Junipers that she requested I don't buy her anymore and actually leaves the area when I work on mine... They are not that difficult to learn but you must take your time and learn how to grow them, care for them, and when it is proper to water, fertilize, and more. Growing plants in pots varies for trees, shrubs, and other plants and is the first of many steps one must learn to be successful.

I am still using that same process with plants that are new to me. This year and next year will be Pines. It is a long process but it works.

Grimmy
 
Mitty said:
Well, I have been "into " Bonsai since 71. I started by finding the odd sapling in a large wood nearby . My first was a Blackthorn which did very well indeed 10 years or so until I went on holiday and paid someone to water them for me, and when I asked for a soak a day, the kind lady filled a milk bottle and divided it by 40 for the lot !!!! Every one dead. Don't you just hate that ? And she insisted I coughed up £50 (1981 ). Never again, I invented my own auto sprinkler, the diagrams I sent to a hose manufacturer . I was offered a stake in the business, but had to go into hospital.
I do think it is worth doing a good deal of homework when starting with Bonsai. I have about 50 books today. Some are rubbish: one suggested repotting in wet clay and 1" gravel for a 6" sapling !. Some come with beautiful pictures of £10.000 Bonsai from private collections, others are printed on nasty paper useful for blotting. The worse for me were cheapish with cartoon-like pictures, nothing like the natural trees.
Just now , Amazon are selling off older Bonsai manuals at 1p each plus P&P. There is one that shines out and is perfect for beginners and others alike. It covers a great deal in detail and is easy to follow........THE BONSAI HANDBOOK.....by David Prescott. (1960 by NEW HOLLAND LTD ). Having just read this, I am very impressed and there is no doubt that it an asset to anyone thinking of taking up Bonsai. God knows how I missed this superb book over the years.

Regards Mitty.
Click to expand...
I believe that book was published in 2003...
 
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