Radiata progress.

[Jow]

Below are a series of photos detailing the transformation of a Radiata pine. It was used as a demo tree at a BSV club meeting. Unfortunately the result for that night was far from impressive as in bending the branches down i cracked pretty much every one, so i could only get them half way into position. I received the tree the year before. It was yellow and when i went to repot it i cut the tie wires holding it into the pot and it pretty much fell over. Most of the roots were dead and rotting. After a repot it hasn't looked back! Last week i wired it up and today i finally got around to taking a picture of it. It still has a long way to go but i think it will have a bright future.

July 08

before.jpg

after.jpg

July 09

the tree grown out and healthy.

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Removing a branch

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And after a full rewire.

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[jarryd]

looks really good a great transformation.

however i think that new jin needs reduction

[Nereus]

the bark is really quite nice on this radiata, i hope mine develop bard as good as that
thanks for sharing

[Scott Roxburgh]

Hi Jow,

What type of soil do you keep it in? Same as JBP?

Do you have any tips for working on these pines?

I have a property just outside of Canberra that has them growing like weeds (over the past few years i have been chopping and growing them on)

I'd like to find out as much info as i can so any help would be great.

Cheers

[Jow]

So far i am still trying to work out how to deal with Radiatas. I grow them in 100% Miadenwell Diotomite. I read an article from a Californian bonsai club that talked about treating them exactly the same as a Japanese black pine in regards to candle pruning and needle reduction. I have done this with mixed results. I have noticed that some needles on some branches comes out and are noticeably shorter. This gives me hope that there is a reliable method to get the needle length down, other than weakening the tree via limited feeding or delayed re-potting. I am still trying to work out the timing and technique to achieve this.

[Jow]

This is an Email i received from a grower in the states when i was trying to get good information about Radiatas and needle reduction.

Hi Joe,

In case you don't know him Katsumi Kinoshita is a Japanese-born resident of Monterey, CA and has been living in there since 1955. He started collecting Monterey pine from their native habitat a few years after arriving and thus has some of the oldest ones that are bonsai. From your description the needles on the trees that you have are longer and more difficult to deal with than the native variety here. I have the one that was in my post and some seedlings as well as a full size one in my yard. The full size one has much longer needles than any of the ones in pots. The longest needles on my good bonsai are about 4 inches. I am hoping to reduce that to 2-3 inches over the next few years. It would not surprise me to find that the pines used for timber had been selectively bred to have larger needles to make them faster growing.

I ran across two articles when I was looking through an old box of "Golden Statements" magazines. Since they are long out of print and our club is a member organization of GSBF, the publisher, we are allowed to reprint them. I will be entering the better of the two articles onto our website http://www.bssf.org sometime soon.

The critical instruction in the article is this "The trick is to cut back the candles that develop each spring to five or six needles in length in late June or during July and to remove back to its base any candle that appears to be especially vigorous. Under this regimen, the needles will be reduced to the desired size in only a few years. Kinoshita cautions that the procedure should be used sparingly or omitted altogether in years when the trees are repotted." Quoting the other article: "The Monterey Pine responds well to heavy pruning by sending out lots of new foliage. Mr. Kinoshita lets the spring growth elongate, but he cuts it off at the end of June. Subsequently, he allows two buds to develop at the tip of each branch. In the fall he removes the old needles.

As you are most likely aware, the end of June is about one week after the summer solstice here, so I would think you would cut the new growth at about the end of December. I see that you are in zone 10 by the US numbers. Technically, Monterey's are native to Zone 10 in the US, but it is deceptive because although we are in Zone 10, the summertime high temperatures are typically only 65 to 75 degrees fahrenheit due to the marine influence. I was keeping mine in full sun last summer but it started to turn yellow. I noticed that the needles have greened up over the winter. My conclusion is that the tree prefers cooler temperatures. Perhaps if you keep your trees in slightly more shade the needles would be shorter?

I've been in Mr. Kinoshita's yard and seen his trees. He grows them in dense soil, contrary to conventional techniques. Find attached a couple photos of one of his best trees. I think he routinely gets the needles down to about 2 inches. Both these trees are about 36 inches high.

Mr. Kinoshita's trees are below.

Monterey Bonsai 001.jpg

Monterey Bonsai 018.jpg

I think it may be valuable for people growing Radiatas to post the details of how they are doing it. Soil, pruning, candle work etc with some photos of results. That way we might get closer to getting an effective method to grow and manage needle length. There seems to be quite a number of aproaches that people are using and it would be interesting to see which is most effective.

I have another article written by Mr. Kinoshita that i will post once i get permission.

[Asus101]

They are excellent specimens, they remind me of a few old pines in the Adelaide hills.

[Nereus]

I've been in Mr. Kinoshita's yard and seen his trees. He grows them in dense soil, contrary to conventional techniques.

i have noticed the same thing with my Radiatas.

[Jow]

Hi Nereus, That's interesting... What mix do you use and what have you achieved as a result of this?

My approach at the moment is to basically treat them like a Japanese Black Pine. I grow in an open mix (100% Diatomite) and try to reduce needle length via timed candle removal. so i would be interested to see your approach and techniques. I am very confident that there will be a reliable method to reduce needle length we just need to work it out..

[John Henry]

Hi Jow, as you know i have quite a few radiata pines and have found over the past 5 years that i am getting better results on Radiata and Red pines by only useing one part Diatomite 4 parts bonsai mix (Debco Bonsai Mix) this seems to work very well for some reason radiatas seem to grow better in heaver soils/ the needle size will become shorter after about two years if you dont repot every year, on my black pines its a 50/50 mix

[Jow]

How do you think that the finer soil is effecting needle length? Or is it more general health you are referring to?

[John Henry]

There is a definite reduction in needle length after the first year( only on old trees)

[Jow]

There is a definite reduction in needle length after the first year( only on old trees)

Do you have any idea why this is occurring? Is the finer soil preventing root growth?

[John Henry]

Most Radiatas you see growing around Victoria seem to be in extremely heavy compact conditions and thrive they seem to like soil with not a lot of airation the Radiatas that i had in this mix survied with out any problems in that 48 degree day compared with those with a high rate of Diatomite ... Diatomite seems to promote greate root growth iam not so shaw about foliage

[Jow]

I received permission from the Author of this article to post it up here.... So here it is. Bear in mind that it is from 1984, and that techniques both in the west and Japan have evolved regarding pine care since that time so the info may (or may not) be a little out dated. That being said, most of the techniques we learn about in the west and that are published are from this period.

Kinoshita_GS1984_3_Page_1.jpg

Kinoshita_GS1984_3_Page_2.jpg

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Kinoshita_GS1984_3_Page_4.jpg

This article was originally printed in Goldern Statements. Which is available here:
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Enjoy.....