Sick baby Shimpaku

[FrankP999]

I have two baby shimps that are turning brown. See the pic. It is planted in turface/grit/bark. Temps here have averaged high of 98+ this last month so I have been watering almost daily and misting every afternoon.
Is this mites? or rust-fungus?

Thanks

Frank

 

[tnaz71]

I can't say what it is but I don't believe it to be mites. In my experience the needles usually turn a gray color when it is being invaded by mites, not orange.

I looked up orange fungus what I found out is they said it's a spongy jelly like material, not sure if that is what is going on with yours?

You didn't say if you kept them in full sun/part shade etc? Could be getting to much sun and burning it?

 

[rockm]

It's neither mites or fungus.

It is a sign of a dead tree, or a severely damaged tree. Shocked conifers often turn this shade of orange when they suffer some sort of trauma--I've caused a few pines and junipers to turn this color myself .

The problem is, they don't turn green again. They're dead. This one might have some life in it, although I don't think it will survive long.

Your tree might have had issues with high temps, sunlight, dry soil, too much moisture. Hard to tell...whatever the cause it was fatal.

Sorry for the bad news

 

[FrankP999]

Thanks. They have been in full sun.

 

[Bill S]

Temps here have averaged high of 98+ this last month so I have been watering almost daily and misting every afternoon.
Is this mites? or rust-fungus?

Thanks

Frank

Think this may be the issue, dried out and is dead, or at least waiting for the last rites.

When rust fungus blooms on junis, it looks like orange snot, I think this was a watering issue, do you know when it was repotted?

 

[jk_lewis]

Diagnostics time, so it won't happen again.

1. Was this a cutting? If so, when was it struck? When was it transplanted?
2. Was this a seedling? If so, how old? How long had it been in this pot?
3. Was the color change an overnight event? Or, did it take some time? How long?
4. Did it start at the tips?
5. When was it last fertilized? How? How much?
6. Have you or a neighbor used a herbicide within 100 feet of the tree in the last week or two?
7. Has the tree been sprayed with anything but water?
8. How, and how often, do you water?

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Thanks. They have been in full sun.

Sorry for your loss...they really can't handle our full sun down here.

 

[FrankP999]

Diagnostics time, so it won't happen again.

1. Was this a cutting? If so, when was it struck? When was it transplanted?
2. Was this a seedling? If so, how old? How long had it been in this pot?
3. Was the color change an overnight event? Or, did it take some time? How long?
4. Did it start at the tips?
5. When was it last fertilized? How? How much?
6. Have you or a neighbor used a herbicide within 100 feet of the tree in the last week or two?
7. Has the tree been sprayed with anything but water?
8. How, and how often, do you water?

1. Cutting purchased from Matt Ouwinga in Dec, in turface,grit,bark
3, Color change was gradual
4, it started at tip
5 Fertilized with Miracid twice a month at recommended rate
6 No herbicides
7 Sprayed with Daconil and Pyrethrin
8 Water almost daily in 98+ degree heat, misted twice a day

 

[jk_lewis]

I can't recall, is Matt near you, or did the cutting change climate zones? Was it in this pot? How long had it been rooted?

I could be something as simple as a cutting moved to a new -- hotter -- environment before it really had tough adult roots. The first roots on cuttings are little more than elongated cell walls and are easily damaged by heat and chemicals.

Watering early in the day could result in the interstitial water heating up and damaging the new roots.

And speaking of chemicals . . . I would't have chosen Miracid for a juniper. I know bonsaiests like to say that junipers prefer acid soil, but that's really not true. Consider where they grow: Airid lands. Land at altitude. Windy, cold. None of those climates are conducive to creating soil with high acidity. The only juniper that I KNOW likes acid soil is the eastrn red cedar, J. virginiana, and it is happy in any soil. There may well be others.

 

[pwk5017]

Matt is outside of Chitown if I remember correctly.

 

[Vance Wood]

I have two baby shimps that are turning brown. See the pic. It is planted in turface/grit/bark. Temps here have averaged high of 98+ this last month so I have been watering almost daily and misting every afternoon.
Is this mites? or rust-fungus?

Thanks

Frank

That looks like fire blight, I believe it is a fungus infection but I also believe it to be beyond help.

 

[buddhamonk]

RIP baby shimpaku

 

[FrankP999]

The seedlings were from http://kaedebonsai.com/ Matt Ouwinga

 

[Thomas J.]

I would't have chosen Miracid for a juniper. I know bonsaiests like to say that junipers prefer acid soil, but that's really not true

This is true for any juniper that naturally grows in a rocky type soil such as Shimpaku. They naturally grow in an alkaline type soil so you wouldn't want to use a high acid type fertilizer on this type of juniper. A plain standard type fertilizer will work in this case. Now procumbens junipers is another story. In my almost ten years of working with them I found out that a high acid fertilizer works wonders for them. I use it on my procumbens once every week including throughout the winter. If I don't use it regularly the foliage will start to yellow on the inside where these junipers can get pretty dense. My first few years were kind of hectic wondering why I was getting so much dieback inside. I started experimenting with the high acid fertilizer and it worked great. No more problems with dieback, and the foliage looks as green as it could be.

 

[Vance Wood]

This is true for any juniper that naturally grows in a rocky type soil such as Shimpaku. They naturally grow in an alkaline type soil so you wouldn't want to use a high acid type fertilizer on this type of juniper. A plain standard type fertilizer will work in this case. Now procumbens junipers is another story. In my almost ten years of working with them I found out that a high acid fertilizer works wonders for them. I use it on my procumbens once every week including throughout the winter. If I don't use it regularly the foliage will start to yellow on the inside where these junipers can get pretty dense. My first few years were kind of hectic wondering why I was getting so much dieback inside. I started experimenting with the high acid fertilizer and it worked great. No more problems with dieback, and the foliage looks as green as it could be.

You're right but Shimpakus are pretty flexible and hard to kill. I've grown a lot of them in just plain old bonsai soil of no particular special mix. I still think these guys got sick.

 

[stacy allen muse]

I cast my vote for being burnt by the sun and lack of water... It has been way to hot and junipers do not do well in the summer sun... If you are going to keep them in a bonsai soil, I would suggest keeping them in the partial shade to shade...
put them back in regular soil, and throw some gravel in the bottom of the pot for drainage, if you want to keep them in the full sun... Even with this, I would still keep in partial sun...

 

[rockm]

I agree with Stacy. Too much sun and probably superheated roots. In intense sun all day long, containers can get extremely hot, like over 120 F. Plants roots have difficulty functioning when root temps get above 90 or so.

 

[FrankP999]

Thanks everyone.

I will move them to less sun and see what happens. Should I trim off the dead parts?

Frank

 

[jk_lewis]

Thanks everyone.

I will move them to less sun and see what happens. Should I trim off the dead parts?

Frank

I doubt there are any parts that aren't dead -- despite the green you see. I'd chalk his one up to experience.

 

[Mark59]

I cast my vote for being burnt by the sun and lack of water... It has been way to hot and junipers do not do well in the summer sun...] Are we talking about the juniper in this thread or junipers in general? I have mostly older juniper trees including an old Hatanaka prostrate juniper and they always stay in full sun no matter what the temps reach and they thrive in it. Reading that quote especially the "junipers do not do well in the summer sun" may lead some new to the hobby to think that junipers can't stand much sun. I do understand that excessive heat on small trees like in this thread are a whole different ballgame though. Just a thought.