Specs of brown/yellow/gray

[pablo]

Hey Everyone,

I have a juniper with spots of grey and some spots of yellow and brown. Thoughts on root cause? Root rot? Spider mites? Soil is a mix of 60% pumice and lava with 40%acadama. I don’t want to pull out of pot quite yet to check roots but this is a recent purchase and I have been trying to nurture back to health. Thanks everyone for the help!

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I wouldn't recommend you do anything right now. Mid April in Vegas is too late to be messing around with conifer roots - you want your tree completely settled after a repot, and before the heat of the summer.

Can you share a photo of the entire tree? I'm seeing a lot of mixed needle and scale foliage like what you might see on a San Jose juniper. I don't see anything outright that would be a cause of alarm (at least for me) except the tree is showing signs that it might have gotten a little shaggy and is currently recovering from work - like a repot or pruning or both. Pictures of the entire tree will help us determine what's going on.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I think it's not a matter of concern unless you see whole branches dying.
Transport and wind can cause older tissue to turn woody faster.
Some yellow sometimes happens when junipers drop their old foliage and when they kill off branchlets with no growing tips that were shaded out or otherwise too "expensive" to keep.

Keep an eye out and see if it spreads, if it stops happening a week from now, there wasn't an issue. If it continues, we can help you re-evaluate.

 

[pablo]

I wouldn't recommend you do anything right now. Mid April in Vegas is too late to be messing around with conifer roots - you want your tree completely settled after a repot, and before the heat of the summer.

Can you share a photo of the entire tree? I'm seeing a lot of mixed needle and scale foliage like what you might see on a San Jose juniper. I don't see anything outright that would be a cause of alarm (at least for me) except the tree is showing signs that it might have gotten a little shaggy and is currently recovering from work - like a repot or pruning or both. Pictures of the entire tree will help us determine what's going on.

Here are some more pictures. Thanks for the feedback and I have another juniper that I have had for a while that is thriving so it’s hard when I see this one of course.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Here are some more pictures. Thanks for the feedback and I have another juniper that I have had for a while that is thriving so it’s hard when I see this one of course.

It looks pretty good to me. Did they sell it to you as a San Jose juniper?

 

[pablo]

It looks pretty good to me. Did they sell it to you as a San Jose juniper?

It was sold as an "unknown" juniper species. Either way, I really appreciate the help. .

 

[River's Edge]

Hey Everyone,

I have a juniper with spots of grey and some spots of yellow and brown. Thoughts on root cause? Root rot? Spider mites? Soil is a mix of 60% pumice and lava with 40%acadama. I don’t want to pull out of pot quite yet to check roots but this is a recent purchase and I have been trying to nurture back to health. Thanks everyone for the help!

The tree appears to have been repotted recently, either a collected tree or originated from landscape. I would connect with those you acquired the tree from to find out when it was last repotted and how much root work was done if possible.
For this season I would focus on proper care and watering while observing the growth pattern and get a definitive answer as to the species from a knowledgeable local bonsai artist.
The mix of juvenile and mature foliage is best understood and responded to once those two things are clear>
1. recent repot or root work.
2. identification
Long term to make the most out of this material will require a careful development and care routine involving grow out and cut back to create new shoots closer to the trunk and in the interior of the lengthy branches.
Interesting piece of material with lots of potential.

 

[pablo]

The tree appears to have been repotted recently, either a collected tree or originated from landscape. I would connect with those you acquired the tree from to find out when it was last repotted and how much root work was done if possible.
For this season I would focus on proper care and watering while observing the growth pattern and get a definitive answer as to the species from a knowledgeable local bonsai artist.
The mix of juvenile and mature foliage is best understood and responded to once those two things are clear>
1. recent repot or root work.
2. identification
Long term to make the most out of this material will require a careful development and care routine involving grow out and cut back to create new shoots closer to the trunk and in the interior of the lengthy branches.
Interesting piece of material with lots of potential.

Thanks for the advice. Yes, I would love to get an actual species identification for this one. I do have hopes for this material in the long run to be able to nurse it back to good health and work on getting those shoots closer to the trunk. .

 

[pablo]

Update on this one. Looks like its been shedding a lot of the older foliage but the newer foliage is coming in now with more green chutes and some of that slight "blue" color in the new needles.

 

[pablo]

Update again. Lots of new growth and foliage, thanks for the tips everyone!