I have an Itoigawa Juniper which I’ve had for only a few months. It has had a slightly brownish cast to its foliage since I got it. I’ve noticed some active bud growth the past few weeks which is encouraging however i’v also noticed some limbs with foliage that has white tips. Is this a sign of disease? Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Are any of the needles dry and falling off? Can you flake off or clean off the white on the tips? Do you mist the tree regularly, and if so, how hard is the water that you are using? Have you had this happen on a juniper before, or is this your first? Has it happened on any of your other trees?
Some junipers do get a darker or discolored look over the winter, but it’s normal. I have hard water, and I’ve noticed that if I mist mine a lot, the water dries and leaves this white film over the leaves of my trees. It’s easy to wipe off, but a bit of a pain.
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Thanks for the reply! This is my first juniper. The white tips are only in a few places and I can seem to wipe it off. There are a few dry needles here and there. I havent been misting the tree, just top watering daily. I live in the oakland hills which is usda 10 i believe.
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Take my advice with a grain of salt, and it would be nice if someone else would chime in.
That being said, your juniper looks healthy as all hell. I wouldn’t be sweating this too much. I see this white crust on some of my trees due to hard water, and since yours wipes off, I’m inclined to think it’s the same. I live in a pretty dry climate, so I don’t have much experience with fungus on trees though. Might be that, but it doesn’t sound like it. Watch the water intake as spring kicks in and the weather gets hotter. You may have to water a little more often pretty soon. I’m in 10 as well, and have had to up the water intake. I’m also hitting the low 90’s though, so YMMV.
Other than that, just keep an eye on it. My experience with plants is that sometimes, messing with them too much, and trying to baby them too much, does more harm than good.
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I agree, looks healthy to me and my junipers also have white on them from the hard water in my area. I generally try to water mine with rain water as much as possible rather than tap water. I keep them slightly on the dry side but with modern substrate it’s tricky to overwater. Your juniper looks absolutely fine to me.
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New growing tips are very good healthy sign. I have the same white tips on my itoigawa. Mostly on old, spent foliage. And the juniper is growing vigorously and is healthy. Probably the hard water is the problem. So don`t worry.
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thanks, appreciate the feedback. these things are hard to judge without much experience.