Strange Brown Spots on New Leaves on Juniper Leaves

[AnaCas]

Hello Everyone!

So, I currently live in San Diego but went back home for vacation in LA for a while and took my bonsai with me. About a week after my return to San Diego, I began to notice weird brown spots on the new leaves of my bonsai. They could be wiped of with my nail but I started to look closer I noticed more and dying new leaves. I'm very concerned please help! Also I hope I'm posting this in the correct forum. Thank you for all your help!

Edit: Please forgive the quality, I'm not using a great camera ;-;

 

[Rob_phillips]

What type of juniper is it?

 

[AnaCas]

What type of juniper is it?

To be quite honest, I'm not entirely sure. When I bought it the man only told me it was a Juniper. But to get a better sense, this is a picture of it now:

 

[Rob_phillips]

Can you try and get a higer resolution pic of the brown dots as the pics you have posted are quite blurry.
Can the brown bits be removed or are the a blemish in the leaf its hard to see.
Almost looks a bit like scale in places but its a really blurry pic.

 

[Rob_phillips]

Can you tell us a bit about tbe plant?
Where do you keep it?
Indoors or out?
What type of soil is it in?
Your watering regimes?
Also your climate, where are you from?

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce

 

[AnaCas]

Can you try and get a higer resolution pic of the brown dots as the pics you have posted are quite blurry.
Can the brown bits be removed or are the a blemish in the leaf its hard to see.
Almost looks a bit like scale in places but its a really blurry pic.

I try to post better resolution pics later (I have to get to work soon). But to answer your questions:
1) They can be removed. They are like tiny brown bits that if I run my nail on the leaf, they'll come off. They can be squished but whatever it is doesn't seem alive.
2) I keep indoors in a window where it gets sun. I live in San Diego, California. When I went to LA, I would keep it on a shelf nest to the door. It's important to note that outside that door were my moms roses which had aphids. In my current living situations, it's not unusual to have moths come in where the plants are kept at night.
3) I water it about every 3 days or when the soil looks dry on the top. I gave it fertilizer April 5th although the problem was already there before that.

I hope this helps!

 

[Paradox]

Pretty sure its scale.

Can you scrape them off with your fingernail?

If you can, its scale. You need to spray something to get rid of them.
Do it outside.
The tree should be living outside if its not already

 

[AnaCas]

Pretty sure its scale.

Can you scrape them off with your fingernail?

If you can, its scale. You need to spray something to get rid of them.
Do it outside.
The tree should be living outside if its not already

I can scrape them off with my fingernail and they do look like scales when they are off. I cant plant it in the soil here because I live in a dorm. I spray the leaves every morning and night. Is there any way to get rid of the scales?

 

[AnaCas]

Can you try and get a higer resolution pic of the brown dots as the pics you have posted are quite blurry.
Can the brown bits be removed or are the a blemish in the leaf its hard to see.
Almost looks a bit like scale in places but its a really blurry pic.

I'm afraid this is the best I can do

 

[TJB]

Looks like scale to me.

 

[Paradox]

I am sorry to tell you this, but your juniper bonsai will not survive in your dorm room. They are outside trees and they need to be outside 24/7. Eventually they will slowly start to turn brown and get crispy and die. People that sell these things dont tell people that they need to be outside. They call them indoor plants so when they inevitably die, you go back and buy more.

However, the only way to get rid of scale that is safe to use indoors is spraying every week with a mix of 1 cup rubbing alcohol, 2 tablespoons of dishwashing soap or similar (I use simple green in my mix), 2 tablespoons of dormant oil or neem oil and then add enough water to make a quart. Put the pot in a plastic bag and put the tree in a sink or a shower and spray it down thoroughly. Let it dry before you remove it from the bag.

 

[AnaCas]

I am sorry to tell you this, but your juniper bonsai will not survive in your dorm room. They are outside trees and they need to be outside 24/7. Eventually they will slowly start to turn brown and get crispy and die. People that sell these things dont tell people that they need to be outside. They call them indoor plants so when they inevitably die, you go back and buy more.

However, the only way to get rid of scale that is safe to use indoors is spraying every week with a mix of 1 cup rubbing alcohol, 2 tablespoons of dishwashing soap or similar (I use simple green in my mix), 2 tablespoons of dormant oil or neem oil and then add enough water to make a quart. Put the pot in a plastic bag and put the tree in a sink or a shower and spray it down thoroughly. Let it dry before you remove it from the bag.

Thank you so much for the advice! I will be sure to do this and post an update!

 

[Rob_phillips]

Yeah my thoughts were it was scale aswell also the reason i asked where you keep it is because junipers dont like living indoors as others have said.
Read up on scale infestations on google there is loads of info out there.
I had a scale out break this year on one of my trees and i managed to get that under control with a systemic incecticide.