Also, my juniper has some brown leaves (or are they quills?) among the healthy green ones. Is this bad?

Hi, sure it can overheat, but you can protect it by keeping it in a place that is lightly shaded, and by propping up something like a white tile against the pot to keep roots from cooking. However, I wonder what else is going on - how much you are watering and how often, for instance? You say the needles (quills go on a porcupine :-) are brown... is that only near the bottom and/or middle of the tree, or is it starting at the tips and moving inward? Are there pebbles (still) glued to the soil from when you bought it, or were there ever any but they've been removed (which is good) letting you judge dryness or wetness of the soil? More info please...

Hi it's Banshee. The discolored needles only seem to be on the bottom or middle of the tree. The rest looks a healthy green.

"Banshee"? Is that the trade name of the co. that sold it? It isn't a species name that I'm aware of. If you clear out the old needles from the middle and bottom of the tree to allow more light in that would be appreciated.

Ummmmmm, banshee is his username. ;-)

Junipers are naturally occuring in many dry, hot, and arid climate zones. I don't think that 120+ degrees should phase you plant. But, it wouldn't hurt to mist is throughout the day. Also, make sure that your potting mixture does not completely dry out. It should be potted in a well draining mix.

Hi, sorry! I hadn't really registered your name properly, so didn't realize you were announcing yourself... LOL!

Wow you guys are so friendly! There weren't any pebbles in the soil wheen I bought the plant. I'm worried though that direct sunlight will fry the poor thing. By the way...I'm a girl.

I figured so, Not many guys line up for the moniker Banshee (as if is really a derivation of something that litterally meant Woman Fairy) anywayss, on to the juniper.

It will get sunburnt, if you do not harden it off, you need to start out in some chade and slowly move it out to more and more sun, in a short time it will be able to handle more sun than you can throw at it. Just be sure to provide it afternoon shade when its very hout out and water well.

That's great. I put it out in the sun early this morning, when the heat was not so extreme. I now know that bonsai are outdoor plants (I'm such a rookie), so the plant has been outside since then. Right now it's in the shade on my porch. I've been misting it to keep it from drying out, and I cleaned out the dead foilage. By the way, does anyone know what kind of soil is best? Mine doesn't seem to be draining so well.

Most of the time the best thing to do is to mix up your own soil, a coarse loam and sand mixture would be a step towards a better substrate, but I had best let someone who actually has trees over a year old in pots smaller than 15 gallons come up with a more specific set of soil instructions for you.

Also misting is something most mallsai instructions specify, but its a bad deal, encourages desease but does not actually increse humidity most of the time.

Hi, misting is not such a great idea, as it can lead to mold and mildew, but doesn't address humidity very well, and junipers don't need extra anyway - there's always more in the atmosphere outside than you think, especially compared to inside our homes.

I have struggled with the heat here in south Texas also and have lost many junipers. I cannot be home to water more then twice a day and that is all of watering I have seen people do. I am going to more organics and water trays this year. Any comments or suggestions? Thanks.

You shouldn't have to water more than twice a day, and that only in summer. Your problems could be that you haven't shielded the pots themselves (with a white tile or something leaning against them to reflect heat away), and/or that the soil mix you're using is incorrect, along with watering techniques, and/or the pots are SO small (eg, 1" hi x 3" wide) that nothing could survive except under really, really expert care.

Hi Lucy. My previous soil mix was about 60 pct organic and the rest inorganic. Water flowed through after watering through the bottom. No afternoon SUN at all, just morning and most of my bonsai were kept on our patio. My pots were about 6 by 8 minimum.

A lady who has 30 yrs experience and has a bonsai shop here where I live also lost some of her bonsai, junipers.

I even went to large nonbonsai pots but want to give this a try again with more organic mix and humidity trays this year (short periods of time with water in the bottoms).

Well, all my instincts are to tell you to use less organic material, because if its holding water too long it can appear to be drying out, browning, etc. and without a lot of experience you couldn't tell the difference. I could also suggest (apart from the tile to keep roots from cooking) putting them in a slightly shadier spot if possible (a.m. sun being preferable to p.m., but that's relative). The lady with the shop, does she actually grow bonsai or just sell them, because a lot of people may have sold them for a long time, but not be much in the growing department. Having the soil around roots dry up is one thing (that can be addressed by watering if the mix is really free draining and inorganic, but having the roots literally cook because of too much water is another. Then again I don't live there, so will now go way and shut up!

Lucy,

The problem with forums is, once I type something, I forget to add what I originally meant to.

The lady grows, shapes, raises from seed Bonsai. She has a Masters in Agriculture also. Of course, that really doesnt mean beans but she is very sweet also and not one who has stopped learning. I really don't think they are overwatered
but I will be especially careful this year, thanks

My junipers started to look a little sad, espicaly the one in the black plastic planter. So I felt the pot and wow, it was hot. I guess I was cooking the roots. So I dug a hole and stuck the planter in it. I did the same with the junipers in bonsai pots. I did not cover the pots, just got it so the top lip of the pots are at ground level.
I did that about a week ago and the plants look better and can see new growth now. I was going to buy some pavers from wallmart, but digging a hole was much cheaper.
-Bill