I purchased 2 juniper bonsais about 6 months ago and i realize that i have not really watered them on a consistent basis. Recently i have been giving them indirect light through a kitchen window and i have been watering them and making sure that they are not soaked or anything. However, they are really brittle, there are no brown leaves or anything but the branches on both of them are extremely brittle. The odd thing is that my ficus bonsais are thriving. Well one of them has little white spots on them not mealy bugs or anything just little spots and water rinses it off but it keeps coming back... odd... HElp!
i would first assume that you have accidentally killed your bonsai. junipers are temprate trees, and must remain OUTDOORS all year long. you should only bring them inside for a couple of hours or maybe haly a day at the most. the trees sold at the stores are most likely procumbens nana or dwarf japanese green mound junipers. the retail stores set a false precident by having the trees inside, giving you the inpression that you can keep them inside your home. they need full sun and fresh air. junipers are fairly supple species. they become brittle when they have been dried out, and most will retain a some what green apearance even when dead. the ficus is thriving because it is a tropical plant ans can survive indefinitly indoors. the white spots sound like powdery mildew. an application of copper based fungicide should take care of that for you. sorry about your junipers but they are gonners!
If you do bring your outside bonsai in one thing you can do for them is place the pot over, not in a larger tray of water. Place drain rock in the bootom of the tray and add the water this will let the bonsai pot sit above the level of the water and give it added humidity. Still you do not what to leave them inside for extended periods of time.
Ah yes, the Juniper bonsai. I have had three of them, and each one has died much in the same way that you describe (brittle, but still green, holding on for months and months until finally turning pale). I'm not prepared to give up, yet, so my next one will remain outdoors per Bonsai MD's recommendation! I've found a beautiful sample in our local garden centre (meaning it looked like rubbish and no one wanted it), and will replant and begin shaping it this weekend. And outdoors it will remain! What about frozen roots in the dead of winter? Is this a problem? Or should I plant into the ground for the winter months?
you shouldnt have any problem with a tree if placed in the ground for safe keeping during the winter months. just make shure that you water occasionally. alot of trees in pots die because they arent watered enough in winter. you see, the ice that forms in the soil actually insulates the root system. i leave most of my bonsai that are in plastic training pots alone all winter. meaning, i dont put them in mulch beds or the ground during the cold months. the ones i put in the ground are in the more expensive containers, or ones i dont want to take a chance with drying out and dying.
