I need help for my little tree

[Hazel-124]

A friend gave me this tree as a gift. He told me it is an indoor tree and I kept him indoors. Later I saw the leafs going yellow. I did a quick research and figured out it is an outdoor tree
I put him outside right away, but he has not had any improvement in the past week. He is still yellow and tired and loses leaves when I touch him. I checked the roots...they look fine... they are firm and it has a reasonable spread in the pot.
Am I being too impatient for him to recover? Is there anything special I need to do? Pleaaase help him and me ...

I have checked before and he is still alive...he has been through a rough time and now he needs some help. He is my first bonsai and I am not an expert but I want him to get better.
.

 

[Bonsaicarpenter]

When a juniper’s foliage starts to lose color and get crunchy and fall off it’s already dead. They will keep their normal color for a month or so after you kill them. Don’t feel bad. Everyone on this site has killed trees. Get another and keep learning.

 

[Japonicus]

It's gone, but being your 1st, probably to be expected, so don't be too hard on yourself.
Typically this stage can be attained from nursery stock like at the big box stores in a year.
Is a juniper procumbens probably nana, so get 3 or 4 and work with them.

Moving it outside from indoors CAN be worse than keeping it indoors if moved into what is normal immediately
without a protected respite. Thing is, if your friend had this indoors and passed it onto you telling you indoors
is the normal environment, then it was on its way out before you received it, probably not entirely your fault.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

While you have it out of the pot, go ahead and throw it away. Rinse the pot well, and try again. This one is dead.

 

[Japonicus]

@Hazel-124
Another error, look at the soil atop the roots in your 1st picture.
It appears to be potting soil. It looks to be as dry as your foliage and unkempt.
Since watering is king at the top of the list of common mistakes in keeping bonsai
potting soil just doesn't cut it, and works against proper watering.
May be ok for annuals in a hanging basket, not for your bonsai projects.
https://www.bonsaijack.com
This is where I get my bonsai soil components from, but you might find it best to begin
with a pre-mixed conifer option rather than to use individual components at first.

Should you buy a bonsai, pre-bonsai, or nursery stock and make your own bonsai from scratch
you should not work both the roots and the foliage in the same year typically, especially without experience.
One or the other. If you buy a nursery stock, and remove 1/2 of the roots, rake out what is left leaving a bit of soil
around the root ball and work in the bonsai soil into the roots securing snug, the root ball with wire to the pot
to protect the new fine feeder roots from damage as you move the pot or the wind blows etc...
but keep all the foliage that is alive and not hindering air flow through the "tree".
protect from harsh Sun and winds for a month, but good morning Sunlight is preferred for recovery, misting
the foliage when you pass by each time (keep a mister by the project-handy).
Optionally, you could style the project, keeping the roots untouched till the following year.

The biggest mistake, worse than killing a so called bonsai, in a lot of respects, is removing interior growth
that would have been beneficial to tighten up the form of the "tree". Then you have long sparse branches with bare wood
that just ruins the form. The form of this juniper, had it been healthy, looks ripe for a repot, to gather as much beneficial Sunlight
as possible. The form of this juniper had not been compromised for the long sparse branches I referred to, so was off to a good beginning.
Remember that

 

[Hazel-124]

Thank you for your help. I got the tree 2 months ago, so I did not have much effect on its form.

I was told to check to see if a tree is dead I can scratch the trunk to see if it is green underneath. I saw the green color, also when scratched it was wet underneath and had the pine smell that my tree had when he was healthy. He also bled the sticky liquid when I scratched the trunk. Some of the leaves are still fresh and flexible even though yellow. With all that, I assumed the tree is still alive. I know it completely looks dead, but I hoped I can do all I can before completely giving up on him

 

[_#1_]

even though yellow.

I know it completely looks dead

Listen to Brian Van Fleet and keep the pot. Don't feel bad though, some tress will inevitably die throughout our bonsai journey...

RIP first tree.

 

[Stormwater]

True that, hard to keep them all alive. Learn and move on!

 

[leatherback]

to see if a tree is dead I can scratch the trunk to see if it is green underneath. I saw the green color, also when scratched it was wet underneath

Yeah, scratching a tree does not tell you much besides that the trunk has not fully dried out. Whoever thought up that "test"..

 

[BonsaiPoppie]

Oh my. That took me back 40 years. The kill rate drops the longer you do this.

 

[BonsaiPoppie]

pax matrum, ergo pax familirum

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Oh my. That took me back 40 years. The kill rate drops the longer you do this.

You just took this thread back 1.5 years.