Energy balancing question for JBP

[longd_au]

Hi

I hope someone can help me answer this question regarding energy balancing in JBP and similar.
Assume a JBP with just two branches. One branch has no secondary branches while the other is 3 levels of smaller branches.

If both have the same number of needles, is the energy balance for this JBP?

Thanks in Advance.

[kcpoole]

I would doubt it very much.

The branch with 3 growing nodes will draw far more energy than the other. Unless the smaller branch is higher up the tree and allowed to grow unhindered. In that case the upper branch will catch up if left to grow as I believe pines are apically dominant.

ie the upper levels of the tree will grow faster then the lower and eventually the bottom branches will wither. Happy to be proven wrong though.

Ken

[Grant Bowie]

Probably the best way to tackle this problem would be to completely remove the tertiary refinement on the stronger branch; totally cut it out.

Then next year the less ramified/weak branch will get secondary growth/ramification thus bringing them closer together.

Then in another year or two you could once again remove one complete level of growth on the stronger branch; and then the following year they would be equal in all ways.

Grant

[Jow]

I'd disagree with the comments so far to an extent.

Balance isn't to do with the number of sub branches of the branch but the strength of the candles. If one branch is showing signs of being consistently stronger than other areas of the tree, more needles should be taken from this area and the strength corrected at shoot pruning time (after candle pruning). This should allow for stronger growth in the weak areas and weaker growth in the strong areas hence balancing the tree. The difference in number of shoots should play little to no role in your care regime. Over time the difference in strength should become even as good technique is applied.

If your example was true then every branch would need to have exactly the same number of shoots in order for the tree to be balanced. That is not the case. You can have a large branch with many many sub branches, and a small branch with a fraction of the growth and still have balanced growth across the two. It comes down to applying good technique throughout the growing season.

Remember, balancing pines is not limited to needle pulling. In fact the needle pulling is only a small part of the process.

Joe

[treeman]

I agree with Jow. Every shoot is competing for water nutrients and light with its neighbour whether it is on the same branch or a different part of the tree. That's why we try to use the weakest shoots (not the weakest branch) to guide how much is removed from the rest of the tree. (within reason of course). You can have a weak branch with strong buds at the tip or a strong branch with weak buds close to the trunk. When you balance the shoots you balance the the tree.

[longd_au]

Thank you for all your responses. It is something I need to think about carefully but suspect it will only be understood with some practical experience with my own trees.
I wanted to get this question out there so i can understand all the variables to the science.

Thanks again.