Our Juniper’s needles at the tip are turning brown - is it normal?

[sunnysun]

I’m attaching a few photos. Only the tips have started to turn brown. This has been the case for the last 4 weeks and it hasn’t spread and the brown needles haven’t really fallen off (other than a few).

I believe I’ve been watering it when the soil starts getting dry (although sometimes it’s really hard for me to tell..any tips?) I started fertilizing in April. It gets plenty of sun and light during the day.

Is this all normal? What may be the issue?

 

[bonsaichile]

Are you keeping it inside or outside?

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

It's fairly common for almost all plants to get leaf tip and shoot burn thanks to over feeding.
I think that's what I'm looking at here.

 

[sunnysun]

Are you keeping it inside or outside?

I'm keeping it inside, but next to a window that gets sun all day.

 

[sunnysun]

It's fairly common for almost all plants to get leaf tip and shoot burn thanks to over feeding.
I think that's what I'm looking at here.

Hmm, by overfeeding do you mean fertilizer? I hadn't given it any fertilizer for 2 months when it started browning, should I space it out more?

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I take my words back. Actually, I don't. I thought I was looking at an over fertilized plant.
But it's probably the indoor environment that's not that nice to new growth. As far as I know, only tropical plants can be suitable for indoor bonsai. Junipers need the outdoors.

 

[Dav4]

I'm keeping it inside, but next to a window that gets sun all day.

There isn't a tree on the planet that wants to be grown inside. Your juniper, in particular, would love full on sun and not the weak, indirect sun your window provides. Keeping them inside will almost certainly condemn them to becoming weaker over time, increased susceptibility to disease, and ultimately death.

 

[bonsaichile]

I'm keeping it inside, but next to a window that gets sun all day.

Move it outside immediately, or it will die

 

[M. Frary]

It's fairly common for almost all plants to get leaf tip and shoot burn thanks to over feeding.
I think that's what I'm looking at here.

Never seen it.
And I use very high amounts of fertilizer quite frequently.
At least once per week.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Double or triple that use and you'll see what I mean M. Frary. Of course there's a difference between acceptable high dosage and just over the top fertilising. There's tonnes of examples of the latter on most gardening forums.
Some people just think that you can fatten up plants like you can fatten up animals.

 

[JoeH]

It needs actual sunlight.

 

[M. Frary]

Double or triple

That would be 10 to 15 times what is recommended on a box of miracle grow.
I'm already at 5 times the amount prescribed weekly and I have an elm out there that gets that twice per week.
I'll give him the 10 to 15 times the amount I'm supposed to and see how it goes. I bet it likes it.
I've never seen fertilizer burn the way I use it. Now I have heard of some poor souls that still use organic fertilizer getting burned plants though.
The problem with this particular plant has nothing to do with fertilizer but everything about being kept inside.
It's dying or dead.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

With a course calculation:
Miracle gro is used at a tbs/gal.
Which is around 2 grams per 3.78L
It contains 24% nitrogen.
That's roughly 0.126 grams/L of nitrogen.
Recommended nutrients for elms in literatue based on Crowns Woody Plant medium is around 0.8 grams/L in nitrogen.
Of course you're not getting any burns. Even using miracle grow at 2x strength, you're at a quarter of scientifically recommended dosage. But hey, whatever works, works. I just like finding out why/how stuff works.

As said before, i agree this tree needs the outdoors.

 

[M. Frary]

Recommended nutrients for elms in literatue based on Crowns Woody Plant medium is around 0.8 grams/L in nitrogen.

Is that for in ground or in pots?
A lot of these science things don't really have a thing to do with bonsai.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

That's based on the internally measured levels of nutrients in healthy growing plants. So in both pots and ground, and even in liquid or semi-solid media. If a healthy growing plant contains X-amount of nutrients, than that amount must be good for them. Just to be sure, usually around 500 of those healthy growing specimens are tested. Since most nutrients can travel only by water, the concentration of optimal nutrients can be expressed in grams/L.
This type of (micro-propagation) science is literally growing plants in containers the size of a fist, or even smaller. I think this branch of science has more to do with bonsai than any other field of science.

 

[0soyoung]

If a healthy growing plant contains X-amount of nutrients, than that amount must be good for them. Just to be sure, usually around 500 of those healthy growing specimens are tested. Since most nutrients can travel only by water, the concentration of optimal nutrients can be expressed in grams/L.

If it is saltier outside the plant than inside its cells, water moves (by osmosis) out of the plant = fertilizer burn.

 

[augustine]

Sunnysam - fertilizing is not your issue right now - it is getting your tree outside and restoring its health. introduce to full sun gradually.