For some time I tried to avoid the unavoidable, or perhaps I didn't want to accept it, but let me tell you that my juniper bonsai did not survive a storm a couple of months ago that tumbled it over. :(
It had most of its roots exposed to air and by the following day, when I checked on all my bonsai trees, they had dried out. Repotting was immediate and did everything in my knowledge to save it; and the following weeks it seemed that it worked. However, its foliage slowly began to turn yellow. My initial thought was that I needed to water it more since we had a couple of weeks here in Austin with extreme heat. No success, more and more foliage turned yellow.
Regular watering continued, hoping that it was just a weather thing and when fall arrived everything would come back to normal. By the time fall arrived most of its foliage had fallen off. It was then that I decided that I could not continue hoping for a recovery.
There were to options: 1) throw away Juni and accept defeat, or 2) repot it in a smaller container and still keep it as a bonsai, but one that never grows and stays as it is forever. Obviously I chose option 2, and here are pictures of it:
[IMAGE: https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmWYbB8P5P1ZdEDEq4gjvKbDa1GJ3UQc53G8KZLGmVzuJt/IMG_3436.JPG]
[IMAGE: https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmW4SgsaPV1brwHsmKMHyZSPiCjeErKfVxCXSF6rndnyac/IMG_3437.JPG]
Black sand was used to decorate it and gives it a great contrast with that pot. There's beauty even in death and I did my best to pay respect to this juniper. It taught me many lessons on how to take care of bonsai and learned from my mistakes, I will keep Juni forever.
Thank you for reading.
Social media:
Instagram - @bonsaiaustin
That is a sad story.
What kind of soil was it in initially?
This past year I found out that akadama clay tends to suffocate juniper for unknown reasons. I'm going to have to repot my tree now that I know that.
I have a hard time keeping my juniper healthy too. Last year I had more parts dying off than growing. This year it had some new green buds that grew only on one side. Mine really hates wet feet and too much hot sun, but it loves humidity from nearby water sources. Many bonsai growers insist on never using any organic soil material, because it does not let the water drain well enough.
I've used black decorative sand too, but haven't had much luck with it in potted plants. My indoor plants usually end up dead by the end of the year. It helps loosen up garden soil a bit, but I think it starves the plants because it cannot hold any nutrients, and it cooks the roots in the summer.
Next year, I'm going to switch almost exclusively to pumice, since it is white and porous inorganic lightweight volcanic rock.
Congratulations @bonsaiaustin! You have completed the following achievement on the Steem blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
https://steemitimages.com/60x70/http://steemitboard.com/@bonsaiaustin/posts.png?201810260308You published more than 20 posts. Your next target is to reach 30 posts.
https://steemitimages.com/60x70/http://steemitboard.com/@bonsaiaustin/voted.png?201810260308You received more than 250 upvotes. Your next target is to reach 500 upvotes.
Click here to view your Board of Honor
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP
To support your work, I also upvoted your post!
Do not miss the last post from @steemitboard:
SteemitBoard notifications improved
> Support SteemitBoard's project! Vote for its witness and get one more award!
Congratulations @bonsaiaustin! You have completed the following achievement on the Steem blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
https://steemitimages.com/60x70/http://steemitboard.com/@bonsaiaustin/votes.png?201812040847You made more than 3000 upvotes. Your next target is to reach 4000 upvotes.
Click here to view your Board of Honor
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP
Do not miss the last post from @steemitboard:
Saint Nicholas challenge for good boys and girls
> Support SteemitBoard's project! Vote for its witness and get one more award!
