AusBonsai

noticed my plant (still don't know what it is) looking a little sad. Usually by now it is covered in strong growing tips. I then spotted some yellowing needles. Then i see ants running up and down the trunk. On inspection i find these little suckers


For the brains trust to tell me what it is

Max they look like an aphid of sorts. If the ants are tending to them thats not a good sign. I’d be scraping them off or spray them with some scale/aphid remover
Cheers RodM

any ideas on the plant RodM

Possibly a juniper by the looks of the needles. Nice looking plant
Cheers RodM

Not sure if it may be a Communis. Foliage looks the goods tho not much info except apparently grow hither nither in Canberra. This was most probably bird seeded when i lived in Tumut. I queried then but responses were it was juvenile foliage. This plant has brittle branches of the approx .7cm mark of a 45 bend it seems. When bent/bruised in areas sap will flow. The sap i have noticed at the base of the trunk does not seem to solidify even after a year, however further up the trunk ( i use the term loosely) solidifies into a white resin. When i lived in Tumut it was not attacked by any pests, tho moving to a warmer climate has brought white scale and what i believe to be British Aphid. The habit of growth also seems to have changed. This was growing in a more a compact branch structure, as in a pencil pine fashion, but is now branching outwards and elongating. It seems to back bud very well (this may be from it's young age, 3 or so years). Trunk is a mere 2cm. Sacrificial apex growth seems to be the go for girth as in pines. Worried about sap lose. Potted up late October, tree was wiggly but has now firmed. Very irregularly fed. Since joining a Bonsai club i have become more aware of wiring early, feeding, pests, and the likeability of people of every walk of life, who talk about plants. You will never see your plant finished. Would you really want to?