Where to start with nana

[Conure]

Preface by saying that I am very new to bonsai and have been reading old threads forum, bonsaempire, watching YouTube videos trying to gather as much info as I can.

I was gifted this nursery Nana by my girlfriend after she saw my interest in bonsai and I'm in over my head. From my research what I've gathered was don't do anything to this Nana now that we're approaching winter, wait until spring to repot/touch roots/prune.

I live in California and was wondering if there was anything that I should be doing to get this Nana ready for winter. Trying to do everything that I can to not kill this wonderful gift.

My biggest concern are the white tips at the end (not sure if they are bugs).

My plan so far is to:
1.) Cut off a bit of the nursery pot and get rid of weeds growing around it.
2.) Clean up the brown interior
3.) Figure out what the white tips are and take care of it.

Any suggestions would be appreciated I feel in over my head. I just want to get this tree healthy before I even start to attempt anything with it.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

You're quite right about the approach. Cleaning it up a little can be done now. Not just the foliage, but also the bark. You might want to keep soms dead branches, because those could become deadwood features in the future.

If there are roots coming from the bottom of the container, it means it's fully rooted in that container. That usually means it's been in there for quite a while (<1 year).
If possible, lift it up out of the container and put a layer of coarse gravel on the bottom, then carefully place it back. This will allow air and water to flow more freely, raising the chance of survival. This type of minor adjustments don't do much harm. If anyone after me advises against that, then don't do it.
It saves you on cutting the rim of the container, which is where the pot gets its strength.

When it's higher in its pot, you also have a better view of the trunk line. That's something nice, because in spring you would want to start thinking about how this tree is going to be shaped in the future. From the pictures I see here, there's a gnarly bending trunk in there. Your girlfriend has a good eye!

I haven't been fooling around with junipers for long, so if someone else advises something different, go with that.

 

[Conure]

Thanks for the tip. I didn't even think about doing that.

You're quite right about the approach. Cleaning it up a little can be done now. Not just the foliage, but also the bark. You might want to keep soms dead branches, because those could become deadwood features in the future.

If there are roots coming from the bottom of the container, it means it's fully rooted in that container. That usually means it's been in there for quite a while (<1 year).
If possible, lift it up out of the container and put a layer of coarse gravel on the bottom, then carefully place it back. This will allow air and water to flow more freely, raising the chance of survival. This type of minor adjustments don't do much harm. If anyone after me advises against that, then don't do it.
It saves you on cutting the rim of the container, which is where the pot gets its strength.

When it's higher in its pot, you also have a better view of the trunk line. That's something nice, because in spring you would want to start thinking about how this tree is going to be shaped in the future. From the pictures I see here, there's a gnarly bending trunk in there. Your girlfriend has a good eye!

I haven't been fooling around with junipers for long, so if someone else advises something different, go with that.

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy!

Pull dem Weeds!

In care, consistency is key to success.
0 weeds is the only way to keep a consistent root zone, which is neccessary to gauge watering needs, health of trees roots, etc.

I'd pull them weeds and don't worry about bringing up some soil too...that'll bring your soil level down for raising it up, or cutting the pot down.

If only that one section has them poopy tips...if a decent design allows for that entire section to be cut off. .that may be your best, "one move" for any upcoming season.

In these early stages....
I give 50/50 to design and shitty tree parts.
That poo tip spot would have to be really really necessary to keep. Otherwise...
Lop that shit with no more worries!

The better growing parts will grow onto a better design!

S

 

[Conure]

Had a bit of trouble getting it out of the pot so decided to cut it pot down instead.

Got rid of the weeds and went in with tweezers to get rid of dead interior growth and brown stems with no green tips.

The white tips seem to cover about 40% of the tips not in 1 location but scattered. I'm relieved that after seeing it u guys don't think that it bugs. Researched mites and scale and had me worried.

So next I plan to let this guy hang out through winter then spring prune back to try and get rid of these white tips.

As always any feedback or advice appreciated, thanks to the replies above, u guys help calming my nerves.

 

[Cable]

That is a really nice starter! Kudos to the gf for a good find.

I cut my pots down, too. Yes, you lose a lot of the pot strength but that's not really what I'm worried about at this stage. I have found that leaving a bit of pot above the soil level helps with watering. You can more easily get the water to pool and slowly soak down which makes watering multiple trees go faster. Also helps if your soil is a bit compacted since it won't just run off immediately.

Last year I acquired several junipers late in the season. I did little to no work on them and just watered until winter. Didn't lose any over the winter. Started work on them in March and they're all doing quite well.