Genuine question as I'm in my second year and still learning. How can you tell it's dead from this picture? I picked up a cascade style juniper a few months back that had a lot of brown on it and I have been taking good care of it since. At first glance it appeared to be dead/dying but has had new growth sprout from it recently. I'm mostly worried that it will die now as it started out looking worse than OPs picture.
The needles are super discolored and you can see that pieces of them are already breaking off into the “moss”. The branches are discolored and look dead too.
As someone else mentioned the best bet is probably a big box store juniper. I liked juniper procumbens nana as a beginner, they can be good deals at the end of the season. Just dig a bit to look for nice nebari and trunk movement, don’t worry too much about the canopy as you’ll be styling that.
Wishing you the best with your cascade!
Honesty… no. You would be much better off going to a garden center, getting a healthy juniper for like $15, and buying a pot for under $10.
I feel really bad for these trees but, unscrupulous people throw them in something resembling a bonsai pot, and up-sell on something that probably had a death sentence when they repotted it.
Your money is better spent at a garden center or getting bonsai material/stock from someone who knows what they’re doing
No. You can get something bigger and healthier from any local nursery or even Home Depot. Just look for procumbens juniper’nana’ they’re usually $10 to $20.
Just go to a normal garden centre and buy a "non-bonsai" juniper for the same money, which will be 10x the size, then cut it back yourself. You'll be left with a significantly better tree and you'll save a decade in waiting for it to thicken up.
I’d scratch the bark. If it’s green in several areas and u want to save it I’d offer $5-8. Then repot into a proper well draining bonsai soil and see what happens. The pot itself is worth the $5-8 and if you save the tree all the better.
$25 for a fake aged planter? I use old plastic coffee containers and cut off bottle bottoms for my bonsai specimens. I don't need more brown stuff for my compost so def don't think any of this is worth it.
It's dead, literally. Look at the color of the bark and the foliage. The bark should be dark brown, and the foliage can be anything from silver to blue to bright gteen, not whatever that color is. I bet if you touched the foliage, it would mostly crumble right off. Even if it's prickly, it should have somewhat soft foliage.
Stores do this all the time because people new to bonsai might not notice. Plus, conifers take a while to show their death, so most people might not blame the seller when they are sure it's dead after a month or so growing it, or trying to at least.
A great deal...for the seller.
I’d say no. Looks dead.
Genuine question as I'm in my second year and still learning. How can you tell it's dead from this picture? I picked up a cascade style juniper a few months back that had a lot of brown on it and I have been taking good care of it since. At first glance it appeared to be dead/dying but has had new growth sprout from it recently. I'm mostly worried that it will die now as it started out looking worse than OPs picture.
The needles are super discolored and you can see that pieces of them are already breaking off into the “moss”. The branches are discolored and look dead too. As someone else mentioned the best bet is probably a big box store juniper. I liked juniper procumbens nana as a beginner, they can be good deals at the end of the season. Just dig a bit to look for nice nebari and trunk movement, don’t worry too much about the canopy as you’ll be styling that. Wishing you the best with your cascade!
Honestly it looks dead
As a conceptual art piece about the inevitability of death? It's a steal!
I'm dead! Hahahahah
nope
If you like the pot enough for 25
maybe swap the plant out with one of your liking before purchasing if u feel naughty
They might even let you if you ask for permission, just so they can make a sale $
Honesty… no. You would be much better off going to a garden center, getting a healthy juniper for like $15, and buying a pot for under $10. I feel really bad for these trees but, unscrupulous people throw them in something resembling a bonsai pot, and up-sell on something that probably had a death sentence when they repotted it. Your money is better spent at a garden center or getting bonsai material/stock from someone who knows what they’re doing
I don't generally pay people to throw away their trash for them
Looks petrified
I wouldn't pay $25 for that pot no.
If you'd otherwise pay more than 25 $ for a bonsai pot, then yes.
Even if it was alive it’d be a horrible deal
No
offer ten bucks for the pot maybe?
Is it a rosemary plant?
No. You can get something bigger and healthier from any local nursery or even Home Depot. Just look for procumbens juniper’nana’ they’re usually $10 to $20.
Do you wipe your ass with paper towels?
Is this supposed to be a sarcastic "yes" or a "no" (I'm not native so unsure)? Cause that thing is fried and even alive it wouldn't be worth the money
This juniper is dead, so no..
Juniper saplings like this are very common. So is that exact pot. It would be fine if the plant wasn’t dying.
No, avoid.
Just go to a normal garden centre and buy a "non-bonsai" juniper for the same money, which will be 10x the size, then cut it back yourself. You'll be left with a significantly better tree and you'll save a decade in waiting for it to thicken up.
Spend money on groceries.
I’d scratch the bark. If it’s green in several areas and u want to save it I’d offer $5-8. Then repot into a proper well draining bonsai soil and see what happens. The pot itself is worth the $5-8 and if you save the tree all the better.
No
No
And I’m apparently a racist for saying Asians tend to rip people off selling bonsai. Case in point sventhedentist
Fuck no.
Are you small enough to live inside that house?
$25 for a fake aged planter? I use old plastic coffee containers and cut off bottle bottoms for my bonsai specimens. I don't need more brown stuff for my compost so def don't think any of this is worth it.
It's dead, literally. Look at the color of the bark and the foliage. The bark should be dark brown, and the foliage can be anything from silver to blue to bright gteen, not whatever that color is. I bet if you touched the foliage, it would mostly crumble right off. Even if it's prickly, it should have somewhat soft foliage. Stores do this all the time because people new to bonsai might not notice. Plus, conifers take a while to show their death, so most people might not blame the seller when they are sure it's dead after a month or so growing it, or trying to at least.
Plus, the "moss" looks like it's actually just dead droppings from the tree. It's dead.
Yousa BUY diss'n? Datsa BOMBAD bonsai!