Sick junies

Dwight

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All my shimps are loosing needles. Two have already dies. I thought it might be a result of damage from the freeze we had this winter ( -3 ) but one of the trees that croaked was new. It appears to be a vector of some sort because it is spreading. The two RMJs I have are NOT affected. I've tried all the usual enviromental / maitenance problems such as pH , over/under watering , over/under feeding , etc. Nothing works which strengthens my suspicion of a vector of some sort. It isn't mites either so maybe a fungus ? All the affected trees are still putting out new growth , some of which replaces the dead stuff and some of which turns yellow then dies. Here's some pics.Pardon the poor quality from my Brownie.
 

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jk_lewis

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It is far more likely to be heat stress. Shimpaku simply are not genetically adapted to Texas heat in the best of years, which this most definitely was not. You should have them under shade cloth all day.
 
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would definitely agree !!! Dwight, if you sat in the heat you all have been having all day we would be looking a simillar pics of you... Besides some shade, get as much water as you possibly can on that foilage each day, and hopefully they will survive !!! Yikes !!!
 

Dwight

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I melt just looking outside. Moving them couldn't hurt anyway.
 
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shimps

dwight
i'm pretty sure the hot & dry weather in el paso stresses the heck out of the shimpaku's.
when i lived in el paso back in the day i also had a starter shimp that didn't last too long even in afternoon shade.
shimpaku's do extemely well up here in vancouver, wa. :)
try growing san jose juniper instead.
george muranaka has some excellent san jose material !
 
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jk_lewis

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I'm often amazed at people who try to grow trees in habitats that are 100% hostile to them. You need to know where the trees you are growing come from and what they like and what they don't like.

Shimpaku grow in the mountains of Japan -- Japan is WELL north of El Paso. Japan is an island and very humid. It snows, sometimes many feet deep, where shimpaku grow.

You can bring trees out of their natural habitat, but there are limits, and most of southern Texas will be well outside the shimpaku's. Now, that said, there are cultivars of the Chinese juniper (which is what shimpaku are) that will grow in hotter drier climates -- though I'm not sure that THIS year in El Paso would be in their range.
 

Dwight

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Art ,
Funny you should mention SJJs as the one thats doing the best is a SJJ/shimp graft.

I did move everything just to relieve stress. I'll water them regular like and see what happens

JKL ,
I've kept shimos here for years and this summer is the first time I've had a problem. I don't plan on any more though. Think I;ll stick to grafts or natives from now own. If the heat don't kill em the cold does. At least I can anticipate and protect them from the cold better than the heat.
 
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rockm

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God bless anyone living anywhere in Texas for the last two months. I was in Tyler a couple of weeks ago and it was 107-111 dropping to 98 at night...THAT kind of heat stresses cactus...:eek:
 

Dwight

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June and Junly were bad here. I think out of the 61 days 59 were over 100. Aug hasn't been that bad , maybe 6 days over 100. It's usually much worse in central TX cause we're 400 ' higher than they are.
 

Thomas J.

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I've lived in the DFW area since 1984 and this is the worst I've seen it. This year will go down as the second hottest summer right behind 1980 which had 69 days of 100+ deg days. We're at 60 now so we might even break that record.

My JBPs need full sunlight and even then I give them a break at times by putting them under the shade cloth. The ones in training are sitting in shallow containers with water almost like what some people do with their bald cypress.

As for the shimps and the heat, yeah get them under shade fast as I can attest to that. Mine started showing stress also until I got it under the shade and now it's coming back really good. I lost a few good ones though last year not knowing it was the heat that was hurting them. :mad:
 

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Dwight

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I/m finding weather to be my worst enemy this year. The great freeze of '11 killed almost everything now the heat is trying to finish the job. Well at least it's a learning experience.

bTW Thomas 60 days over 100 is nowhere the record for here. It's not as Dallas first because of the humidity and it cools way down at night. We've had days when it gets to 102 and then below 70 at night. I thimk that keeps it from being as hot for as long in any given day. I just checked and it's only 91 in my yard where the bonsai are nowrmally located. It will push 100 this afternoon unless it clouds up. Also we start hitting 100 in May usually and can still hit 100 in Sept so the nasty is spread out more. We should all spend a summer in Phoenix and a winter in Minnesota for educational purposes.
 
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