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Yet another newbie here. I identified my first pre-bonsai as a Juniperus Communis. It came with this format, and it seemed pretty healthy and all over greeny.

I placed it in my window to get the morning sun, I'm watering it every 4 days, and after two weeks (two days ago) I included a little bag of bokashi to give it some food if it's missing at the current soil.

A week or so ago, I started noticing the longest branches getting brown at the points. The main section is still pretty healthy, though. At least for now.

Could that be lack of water, or food, to arrive at the farthest spots?
Maybe heat? Lack of getting used to the place before being put at the sun? Something else? Nothing?
And any chance those spots will regrow after the brown spikes drop / get removed?
Or isn't that even a communis?

Any extra material on Juniperus care specifically? I only found some a big generic, like "it's a tree, place it on the sun and wind and rain, feed every X months, repot every 2 years", etc.

Dry dead tips is often a problem with the roottips (Too much fertilizer, Too wet, ...) or fungal (Less likely to affect the whole plant at once).

What substrate is this plant in? What sort of weather do you have?

The tree needs to be outside. Inside it will die.

If you dont have frost yet in your area just move it outside. If you do have frost it will need somewhat slowly transition.

If you are in the northern hemisphere, it is not growing season, hence no fertilizer.

I haven't touched the substract yet, and got no information about it from the store. I judged it's OK, since the plant seemed healthy when it arrived, maybe lacking fertilizer at most.

That said, I do see a couple (really not much) of tips leaving the holes at the bottom, and I think it could be more drainable. There's no roots appearing at the top yet.
I haven't added fertilizer besides the bokashi sachet, and the issue started before it... Wouldn't say it's too wet either, as I take a while before watering again, but I'll start double-checking the substract through the bottom holes.

I forgot to mention this is Rio de Janeiro, getting hot and sunny by the summer. But the morning sun is pretty ok - the hard sun isn't hitting that Juniperus.

Just checked. The bottom of the substract is completely dry. Could it be the opposite - lack of water?

Also, forgot to mention: I've been spraying it at least once a day.

It's still on the plastic pot. Could it be getting hot in the sun, and damaging roots in some way?

Pic: 12:20 PM, no sun on it anymore (the strongest).

In Rio de Janeiro you are way out of common Juniper zone. If you are not a very experienced botanist, your tree will die. Keeping it inside or outside Will make no difference. This species needs a dormant period every year.

Tropfrog wrote: In Rio de Janeiro you are way out of common Juniper zone. If you are not a very experienced botanist, your tree will die. Keeping it inside or outside Will make no difference. This species needs a dormant period every year.

Yeah... I noticed that only after I ordered it :pinch: figured the store wouldn't be crazy of selling things that are not valid for its own region.
But then, how was it grown up to now? In a controlled environment? Maybe came from another region and then sold here?

And last but not least... It's definitely not imported (wasn't that expensive), so it's used to Brazil's season order. It may complain about hotness, but not of being spring/summer - so it shouldn't be dormant now, right?

Dormant season for Junipers is below 5 degrees c for a period of 2-4 months. However, they do good in minus Celsius for a lot longer. Above 10 degrees all year long will proboably kill it. If it dont die, it will struggeling.

To be able to develop a bonsai you need to have a tree that is thriving. Bare survival is not enogh. My recommendation is to start your bonsai journey with a tree native to your area. It will do better. And reach out to people that do bonsai in your area. They know how to practice bonsai where you are.

There are varieties of junipers doing great in Brazil as well, tbh...

The way a plant functions is taking water out of the soil and transporting it to the leaves. Spaying water on the needles does nothing for the plant.

Pour water into the soil until it pours out of the holes in the bottom of the pot. If there aren't holes, get another pot.