new here!

dartie21

hello my name is dara i live in illinois. i bought my bonsai from bonsai of brooklyn.com. this was about 2 months ago. since then i have been doing everything all the books say, watering it, pinching the buds etc.....i emailed the website because i was noticing the tree started to look very different from what it did when it came in the mail. the email i received in response was very rude and abrupt. i was never really clear on the instructions, and the response email told me i was treating my tree like a houseplant. i find it hard to believe i was treating it like anything, considering ive never cared for a houseplant, i have simply been doing the best i can with the information i was given and the desire to keep my new tree alive and healthy etc. i am going to try to figure out a way to get some pictures of the tree on here so that i can get some opinions. i am excited i found this board and cant wait to meet new people who share my interest.....thanks!!!
-Dara
ps....just tried to load the pic and i think it may have come out wrong so if anyone is interested in seeing pics of him my email is dartie21@msn.com thanks!

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taipan(deceased)

Hi Dartie, Sounds like you wont be spending any more hard earned cash with those guys again!

Could you post a pic of the front of the tree level with the base of the pot with an uncluttered background.

It looks to be healthy but your pic is very small...

Good luck!
Tai

dartie21

here are some better pictures....im not sure how to post them any larger....but i hope they came out alright. thanks for checking them out!

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	mr. miyagi 2 001.jpg (40.0 KB, 53 views)
	mr. miyagi 2 003.jpg (40.4 KB, 49 views)

lehket

Dartie,

Are you keeping the tree indoors or outdoors? For the most part, trees need to be outdoors in order to get enough light. Even a brightly-lit interior is much darker than outdoors in the shade. Although I'm not anywhere near as experienced as many of the good folks here, I'd guess that that's probably the main issue right now.

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lehket

Dartie,

Oh, wait . . . I just realized your initial photo seems to have been taken outdoors. Maybe that's not the problem. Although, it still could be depending on how much direct sunlight the tree is getting. I'll defer to the experts on that. Might help to know what species it is. (I'm sure some can tell from the photo, but I still have a bit of trouble with the identification business...)

__________________
--Dale
----------
Co-author of Spiritual Telemetry,
Host of Planet Baha'i and the Planet Baha'i Forum

dartie21

my bonsai is a dwarf japanese juniper. for the most part i put the tree out in the morning before work, at around 8 am. my boyfriend gets home from work at about 5 pm and takes the tree in because by then the sun is pretty much not anywhere near our porch, or the window side of the apartment we are in. i water the tree in the morning, by misting its branches, needles and moss etc. quite a bit. i water it every other day or so by putting it in a pan of water to let the water soak up thru the drain holes for about 15 minutes until the moss is quite damp. i mist the tree throughout the day when i think it needs to be misted. i pretty much know nothing about how much water it needs, so i just try not to dry it out or drown it.

Bonsaifreak

It's hard to say from the pictures. Your tree actually doesn't look particularly sick from what I can see. Having said that, I must emphasize Junipers are outdoor trees. Without getting into an extensive discussion, for most part, bonsai trees do better outdoors and they particularly like it during the summer. Junipers are sensitive to pests such as spider mites and they may perish way before they start looking dead (not to be pessimistic). Many of us started with junipers as our first tree and learned a lot from those lessons. I gave up on them mostly because they don't do well in our area.

Bonsai is a great hobby and it can quickly become a passion. I welcome you to this forum and look forward to your posts!

Jorge

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nsmar4211

Hi dartie! Welcome

Sorry about the bad experience! Many bonsai dealers are great people, willing to help, but there are a few bad apples in the bunch.

Even though your tree may not be in the sun at 5pm, there's more light than you would think in the shade. I'm guessing there's some reason why you don't want to leave it outside all the time-but you may want to leave it until it gets dark. If possible, leave the little bugger out all the time . The temperature difference can cause stress... and there's always the chance of dropping the tree from moving it around (experience speaking there ).....

Not sure from here, but it sounds like it may be getting a bit much water for a juniper? Junipers like it a bit dry (but not crispy). Maybe back off the misting a bit..... Basically, if the top of the soil is damp, it doesn't need any water. Course, if you just misted it the top would be damp but the roots could still be dry.... watering is the trickiest part of bonsai. Do a search on this website (search button at top) and you'll see what I mean .

Like Jorge said, junipers can be tricky so don't feel too bad if anything happens. Personally, I had to get more trees because when I only had a few I overwatered them as I was afraid of them drying out!

Glad to see you like your new plant . There's a lot to explore here.........

dartie21

thank you all for your responses and advice. i think the reason i am afraid to leave it out all that much is because i didnt know thats what i should be doing....i have been afraid that it will get too much sun and become too dry and that would damage it. also with the watering and misting i have been afraid that with it being out all day by itself, that it needs a lot of water and moisture etc. so i have to just realize that its a tree, not a baby and stop being so 'over-protective' maybe. not to say that i am going to start neglecting it