Something seems amiss...

[nrgizerrod]

My juniper has recently taken on a bit of a sickly yellow hue to it and in the last couple days I noticed some of the new buds appear to have died off. My initial thought is over watering as it looked great coming out of it's winter slumber. I don't see any signs of critters either. The yellow hue was a bit hard to capture with my phone, the dead buds are easy to spot though.

Am I on the right track regarding watering or is there something else I should be looking for?

 

[Shibui]

The rusty silvery older leaves may be from mite infestation. You may be able to check with sheet of white paper under a branch then shake/tap the branch. Check any small things that fall onto the paper. If some move you have mites. Even if you can't find any evidence a preventative spray would not hurt because mites seem to be more and more of a problem for juniper. Mites are very small. Only just visible to the human eye and not visible at all to some of us with older eyes.

Watering could also be the cause. Either over or under watering can cause similar symptoms. You will know best if it has been over or under watered. If you can carefully slip the tree out of the pot you can check the roots. Soft black roots indicates root rot.
If there are white root tips it is good.

Starvation also causes yellowing foliage. How long since last feed and with what?

 

[nrgizerrod]

I checked for mites this morning and didn't find any. I'll be hitting everything with some spray as i did find them on another pot. It's had a couple doses of fish fert already and I applied some plant tone to the surface about a week ago.

hopefully, i'll have some time later today to check the soil and roots.

Appreciate the advice!

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

If you have a microscope or some vision enhancer, damn, I seriously forgot the word for magnifying glass..
You might want to check for tip blight. I found a PDF about it, the link is below. I found the same thing happening to my scopulorum juniper last year and couldn't figure out what caused it. Tip blight seems like a possible cause for the dead tips. The issue hasn't expanded in any way whatsoever, and my junipers seem to be disease free. I use copper sulphate on all of my conifers, and I think that it may be the cure. But since I just found this PDF and have no live infections going on, I can't check for spores so I'm not completely sure if it's really tip blight.

http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/factsheets/junipertipblight.pdf

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Don't get mad at me for asking the obvious question - the last time you repotted did you remove all the old soil around the root ball? Or did you mostly slip-pot?

 

[nrgizerrod]

Don't get mad at me for asking the obvious question - the last time you repotted did you remove all the old soil around the root ball? Or did you mostly slip-pot?

lol, I don't get mad easy. It was repotted last spring and I did clean out the nursery soil it was in at that time. I was going to repot it again this spring but it didn't look close to being root bound and i wanted to let it get more established. I'm going to dig in to the pot this afternoon to get a look at the roots, make sure i don't have any dry spots etc...

 

[Bonsai Nut]

lol, I don't get mad easy. It was repotted last spring and I did clean out the nursery soil it was in at that time. I was going to repot it again this spring but it didn't look close to being root bound and i wanted to let it get more established. I'm going to dig in to the pot this afternoon to get a look at the roots, make sure i don't have any dry spots etc...

No, if you repotted last year I wouldn't do it two years in a row, particularly if the tree is already stressed. When I see yellow like that on a juniper I usually think (1) mites or (2) stressed roots. If you lived in SoCal I would also suggest you check your water and make sure you are using acid fertilizer (since our water is so alkaline) but in Colorado I assume your water is good.

I would just spray it with neem oil regardless of whether you detect mites or not. My junipers love neem oil... and I can't always tell why.

 

[nrgizerrod]

No, if you repotted last year I wouldn't do it two years in a row, particularly if the tree is already stressed. When I see yellow like that on a juniper I usually think (1) mites or (2) stressed roots. If you lived in SoCal I would also suggest you check your water and make sure you are using acid fertilizer (since our water is so alkaline) but in Colorado I assume your water is good.

I would just spray it with neem oil regardless of whether you detect mites or not. My junipers love neem oil... and I can't always tell why.

Our water is pretty alkaline as well, I didn't realize junipers like acid until very recently! i'm guessing some miracid would suffice..? if so, how often would you suggest applying, every 1-2 weeks as stated on the label?

The pot seems to be retaining way more water then everything else i have (the particles are pretty small and it's somewhat sandy), it still drains freely though.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

i'm guessing some miracid would suffice..?

Well, if you're Bill Gates, go for the Miracid. Unfortunately I am not Bill Gates, so I prefer a professional landscaper mix that costs 1/10th as much per lb (I'm not kidding). This product is designed for our crappy soil - it is 10.5% sulfur (lowers pH) and 11% iron, and a medium strength general N/P/K fertilizer. If you can find it locally, you should be able to pick up a 50lb bag for around $30. I use a couple of bags per year, but I also use it on my citrus trees, my camellias and my hibiscus.

 

[LCD35]

So did it recover?

 

[GGB]

When I see discolored new growth on my BC I spray (milk/water/dish soap) for mites. Sometimes i doubt myself or am just very busy, and I don't spray. So far I'm 0 for 3 and have had mites flare up hard on those occasions. Maybe they aren't mites, but I would at least be spraying down with a hose daily in case

 

[GGB]

just realized how late I am to this party... oops

 

[Grego83]

If you can find it locally, you should be able to pick up a 50lb bag for around $30. I use a couple of bags per year, but I also use it on my citrus trees, my camellias and my hibiscus.

@bonsai nut do you know of a specific store in SoCal that carries the Super Iron? Sorry to hijack!

 

[nrgizerrod]

So did it recover?

Yes and No... At least 50% of the foliage has dried up and died. much of the rest of the existing foliage looks a bit unhealthy but it hasn't dried up. It does have new growth coming out of the main trunk so i'm holding out hope.... still looks pretty mangy though!

My best guess is root damage while overwintering. We had a pretty wild winter around here, thankfully this is the only tree that seems to have suffered. everything else is thriving!

 

[LCD35]

Yes and No... At least 50% of the foliage has dried up and died. much of the rest of the existing foliage looks a bit unhealthy but it hasn't dried up. It does have new growth coming out of the main trunk so i'm holding out hope.... still looks pretty mangy though!

My best guess is root damage while overwintering. We had a pretty wild winter around here, thankfully this is the only tree that seems to have suffered. everything else is thriving!

Well, good luck! Hopefully you get to a point where you know what's alive vs dead and can have a definite recovery point.

 

[Emanon]

@bonsai nut do you know of a specific store in SoCal that carries the Super Iron? Sorry to hijack!

I picked a bag up at a Ewing Irrigation & Landscape Supply store.

 

[Grego83]

I picked a bag up at a Ewing Irrigation & Landscape Supply store.

Thanks, I finally got some the other day - how much fertilizer are you using, say, per gallon of soil? I range anywhere from 1 tbsp on the small stuff to 1/2 cup on the big stuff. Fingers crossed I didn't over do it