Impossible to guess without knowing what shape they were really in when you bought them, what conditions they grew in at your place, etc. etc. You're either lucky or unlucky, depending on how you look at it!

Is there a anything they had in common? Smaller pots or less soil around the roots which means less room for error? Different soil mixes? Was 1 mix easier to monitor over another?

randy

The 4 from the bonsai nurseries looked like they were in excellent condition. By the way they were from different nurseries. The 1st 2 were shaped by wireing and repoted. After they died I decided to wire and leave it in the same pot and soil they came in. They still died. The last was done at a bonsai club meeting and many members reported the same results.
Thy were all kept outdoors.
The big box juniper was wired shaped repotted in a bonsai soil mix (1/3 grit, turface and sph. peat. all were sifted)
It is doing well.
I'm getting the feeling that the Healthy looking plants are babied
Paul

I had a total wipe out of all my Junipers last year with the exception of one. It was repotted into a nursery 3 gal pot and left on the side of the house. The heat was 100 deg for many days last summer. The 3 gal pot received watering twice per day and only morning sun.

I am beginning to think since Junipers are purchased to plant in the yard as ground cover, leaving them in "bigger" pots (where the heat is extreme) is the best way to go. I cannot water 5-6 times a day.

I would appreciate any comments on this. I have been communitating with a lady expert here and she too has gone to a mostly humus free draining mixture to keep her prize possessions alive here.

At one of the bonsai meeting a members said his Juniper survived in great condition but he kept it indoors and sprayed it with water at least 3 times a day until the warm weather arrived and then put it outside. It is still doing well. I'll be trying that this year.
Paul

Don't spray it! Maybe your friend got away with it (living in Colo, Ariz?) but it doesn't improve life for junipers normally, and can encourage mildew and mold, and generally add too much water to the soil.

Keeping junipers indoors is seldom a good idea. Your friend may have made it work this time, but don't count on it for long.

I think we have to try to understand what happened.
Looking back - The trees where repotted and shaped in February. They had probably broken dormancy and keeping them out doors was not the best thing to do in a extremly cold winter and spring. As far as spraying I have had no problem with it because many of my plantss are kept by a splashing fountain, especialy cuttings and smaller plants Storing them in a cool room and sprying them may have been a smarter thing to do.