AusBonsai

hey guys this is a photo of my first little "bonsai" haha if you can call it that, it was given to me by my girlfriend last year for my birthday and at the moment he isnt looking to happy, not that you can tell too much from the photo it looks worse up close but it isnt as green, the foliage is kind of harder and brittle? if that makes sense and i wiped my had across it yesterday and the new buds all came off an the brown bits all fell off i'm not too sure whats going on with it
i gave it a soak in seasol 3 days ago because i thought it needed a good water
i keep it indoors against my back window maybe not enough light?
could it be root bound? no roots coming out of the drainage holes tho but i haven't re potted it since i've owned it which is almost a year
i havent fertilised it yet i was going to put some slow release in the mix when i re potted in spring is this a bad idea?
any help would be great

matt

I would say your goodbye's to this little baby, imo I'm sorry to say but I think its slowly dying.
Have you kept it indoors by the window since you've had it

Its either been cooked by sitting next to the window and dried out, or its dying from being indoors to long
Junipers as with most bonsai like to be outside in the elements, at best they should only be brought inside for a couple of days at a time

I'm not that experienced myself but trust me, ive seen a few dying juni's in my time

I'm really not that experienced in bonsai years though and I could be wrong, I hope I am

I'm sure someone will jump in and set you straight shortly

Good Luck Mate

Hi Matty and It may be what is termed a "Finished Bonsai"

2 things to learn from this.
Bonsai are for outdoors only ( unless you spend heaps on indoor lighting and environments). You can bring a tree inside for a few days to display, but then Must take it back out for a few weeks to recover.
Bonsai need lots of watering and must NEVER dry out. A small tree in a pot like yours, I would water with a watering can and put at least 1/2 litre of water every morning and probably again in the afternoon in summer. In winter, every second day.

Water enough so the water runs clear out the drain holes, leave for 5 mins and then come and do again. Do not water again untill the soil begins to dry out and stat to lose its dampness about 25 mm under the surface.

Juniper take ages to brown off, and usually once they start to show signs of drying out, they have been dead for 3 months Sorry but I doubt an emergency soak is too late.

Unless of course it is just browning off for lack iof light then water regularly and place outside in the sun.

Ken

Unfortunately Ken is right once they start to go they've usually been dead for a while. Is all the foilage like this or only at the end of the tail? Scratch the trunk and if the bark is still 'soft' and there is still a cambium layer the lower parts of the tree may be ok. If the trunk is hard to scratch its dead. Take it outside to the sun and you'll soon see.
Andrew

Mate.
That's exactly how I started. Finished it with inside love.
Welcome to the club.

hey guys thank you all so much for the info i appreciate it if we ever meet one day along our travels ill buy you all a beer
i havent given up on this little guy just yet i pointed my finger at it i yelled at it an swore quite a few times and i think i feel better the tree not so much but there is still hope.............or just an untrained eye
its looking a little worse today heres a better photo
but...............

ANDREW E i gave it a scratch and it still green!!! heres a photo what do you think?
so i put it out in the sun and a water this morning before i went to work, and gave the foliage a spray when i got home, should i put it back inside out of the cold tonight?

KEN i think i learnt my lession i gave it a good water and placed it in the sun this morning before i went to work should i leave it out side over night?

TreeHugger wrote:Have you kept it indoors by the window since you've had it

no it spent a lot of time out side but i brought it inside once it got colder

Hartos wrote:Mate.
That's exactly how I started. Finished it with inside love.
Welcome to the club.

........................ i don't know if i like this club

Leave it outside. It's not that cold.
Junipers are ok with snow they never have to come inside. Unless ur on the moon.

Is all experience.