Has anyone ever seen a terminal bud dry out burn out or die? The plant is in 1gal pot seems to be fine but lead terminal bud is as depicted in foto. Does anyone think it could come back to life? Or will new branches take over below eventually? This is indoor plant under gro-light. Dry environment.

i haven't seen one like that, but if left in the freezing weather, they will die and dry up. you should see few bud below that which will take over.

looks like spider mites to me

Like Rob above mention spider mites or another type of critter starting to suck the life out of that tip.

@rafaelissimo, make a fresh strong Cinnamon tea and after passing it through a cheesecloth or something fill the sprayer with it and spray wash the entire plant, the terminal bud is not dead in the picture, it will continue to grow.

I will check to see if there is any evidence of spider mites and swab w alcohol, i understand there should be cobwebs, bite marks, and if u shake leaves, maybe falling critters. I don't think so but I will check tonite. I do think the bud is in worse shape than it looks. A sister plant same variety is also in similar shape. I think they need fresh air and real sunshine, but we are still a month away here in NYC.

i've not seen one that looks "fuzzy" like that.  I have some that have seemed to turn brown and get soft that I pinched off and found a little tiny green nub underneath that continued to grow.  I'll bet it will eventually open.

I bet if you have a microscope or even a magnifying glass you will see they are alive. 

Maybe not spider mites but some type of critter.  A couple years ago I saw the exact same thing on my cuttings.  I always assumed spider mites, but I never saw any webs, so maybe it was something different.  I used to live up in NY when I had them so maybe some local thing.  Looked at it under a microscope and it was definitely some small crawling thing.  Just rubbed them off/squished them.  They didn't do much damage.  Spring is coming soon so your cutting should survive until you put it outside, at which point whatever it is will stop being an issue due to outside conditions/predators. 

Bud mites. Treat all of your plants right away and every week until the plants go outside. You can spray the whole plant down with rubbing alcohol, or a soap solution.  

Hi,
That bud is not dead. It is up to you to help it thrive .
Time for shower - wash carefully - all the brown wash should be easy to remove.
Wash the big leaves as they seem to be under attack as well.

Thank you!

Here are pictures of the terminal bud after 2 alcohol swabbings-looking a bit better!

I'd give a little water spraying, as the light can make the tip too dry. I put the pots to the side, where the light is on the leaves, but not on the tip.

they look promising ;)

If you have other plants near by you may want to carefully check them as well.

Thx I have checked them all, 3 out of 4 plants in 1-gal have this problem, the terminal buds are still alive under the brown crust but they need a new environment-I can't wait for fresh, warm air but weather reports do not look promising.