What's happening to my juniper leaves?

[bdmatt]

Hello yall,

I recently bought an older nana procumbens from a wonderful fellow down in San Diego about 2 weeks ago. The tree is fairly big, about 40 inches tall and in informal upright style. I believe the fellow had repotted the day before I picked it up and he advised me to keep it away from direct sun for 3 weeks (which I am doing so). The lower branches seem to be sick; they're pale, slightly yellow, and have browned tips. They've been like this ever since I got the tree and I was wondering what's happening to it. The lower branches are affected the most, the middle branches show some brown tips too, and the apex is completely healthy. Is this some case of spider mites or fungal infection?
Up to this point, I've done very little to the tree besides clean up dead foliage and light pruning. I have not yet added fertilizer or vitamins since the tree was repotted recently, and it has been kept in shade for 2 weeks now.
I would greatly appreciate any input from anyone, thanks!

 

[Housguy]

Hi Matt,
Looks to me that it could be one of two things, spider mites (do white paper test to check) or juniper scale. Either way, spray with neem and you should be good unless it is an internal response from the tree being repotted recently. Take care.

 

[Adair M]

A couple of things...

Are you sure it’s a procumbens? It “looks” like it could be a shimpaku with some juvenile foliage.

Second, I always put my pines and junipers right back out into full sun after repotting. They need energy (sugar) to regrow roots. Sunlight is needed for the plant to make sugar. So, by putting the tree in the shade, you are effectively “starving” the tree. Be sure to keep the tree well watered.

It never hurts to treat for spider mites.

One last thing...

It looks like some of the foliage has been pinched. I see some white tips on the foliage in the last picture. That’s not the way to manage juniper foliage. When you do that, it removes the growing tips. The growing tips produce sugars, and a hormone called “auxin”. When you remove the tips, you remove the sugar factory, and the auxin factory. Auxin moves from the tips down to the roots, and is the signal to the roots that the tree is growing, and it stimulates root growth. Removing the tips, removes the auxin. No auxin, the roots don’t grow!

So, here’s what’s happening:

1). Tree in shade: bad! No sugar production.

2) pinched foliage: bad! No sugar production, and no auxin! No auxin, no root growth!

You said you had been doing some foliage trimming... STOP!!! You want to let it grow to produce roots. You want it to produce “runners”. Like these:



Later, you can cut the runners back. But having runners is evidence you have strong root growth.

 

[bdmatt]

Thank you @Adair M and @Housguy for the quick responses.

Right, I'll do the paper test when I'm home. I started treatment using neem oil yesterday since I had another juniper in similar condition before.

I was told it was a nana procumbens. If it's a shimpaku, lucky me because I've been dying to get my hands on one. In regards to the last photo, I have yet to do any work on the upper branches of the tree; (no pruning, no pinching, no wiring, no anything) so it was most likely the last owner who did so. I also should of specified what I meant by light pruning- I cut out foliage I thought for sure was not going to survive. These foliage were either light yellow or brown. My mentor taught me that I shouldn't touch a tree when it's sick. Is it fine to remove affected branches or should I leave them on and wait until recovery? Oh yeah, I also forgot to ask- does yellow foliage, such as the ones I posted about, grow/green back?

When I helped my mentor repot his larger junipers, he'd always put them back in full sun. I should of known better and placed my own tree in the sun. My fault on that part.

 

[sorce]

Looks like tip blight.

Sorce

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

I agree with Adair. Full sun, let it grow, no pinching. Feed it and treat if for spider mites If you find any signs of an infestation.