After re-potting my Shimpaku Juniper this February, I got a small flush of new growth, but many of the tips turned brown & white and kinda crumbled off soon after. It’s only the tip of the branches, so I don’t think it’s Tip Blight, and the tips kinda look fat and yellow/white.
A bunch of small white dots started appearing around the same time, but they don’t look like bugs, and they come off easily & appear to be a dry white flake. There have been more of them over the past few weeks, but not a huge outbreak. On other branches, the growth appears to be healthy enough.
I would agree. It is scale. A spray of contact insecticide should work well. I wouldn’t recommend an oil spray on junipers. Check other plants for the same bug.
I was able to find some academic images of juniper scale that seem to match up. Apparently, juniper scale are white bumps, except mine don’t have the brown dot in them that seems emblematic of that stage of the pest.
Anyway, everything I’m finding on juniper scale is recommending horticultural oil (or the homemade version of a tablespoon of vegetable oil and natural soap in warm water).
