5 pine urban yamadori - aka destined for the tip

[shibui]

There are a few species with 3 needles per bunch but most are not common in Victoria or Australia.
P. ponderosa, P. coulteri, P.jefereyi, P. attenuata, P. sabiniana, P. rigida, P. bungeana, P. canariensis, palustris, P. taeda and the much more common (in Australia) P. radiata.
There are a few other species that sometimes have 2 needles and sometimes have 3 or a mix of 2 and 3 needles bundles.

Chances are pretty good that these are P. radiata given that it is so widely planted in agroforestry and parks.
I believe P. radiata is treated as a single flush species.

While pines are RELATIVELY easy to bend don't take that as being elastic. Branches will still snap and break off completely if you bend far enough. Some species like red pine are recognized as being more brittle.

Feeding will improve vigour. Vigour will improve back budding on bare wood. These trees have long bare branches so back budding is going to be important. probably more important than needle length in the short term.

It is important to recognize the difference between DEVELOPMENT and MAINTENANCE in pines. During development needle length is not important. The aim is to build trunk size, Then build taper, then build branches with plenty of ramification. At this stage you need to work on taper and the ramification part.
There are 2 ways to get budding and ramification:
1. grow and cut back hard. You can cut pines back as far as the lowest healthy needles which may involve removing 2 or 3 years growth. New shoots will form in the remaining needles and sometimes from bare wood below.
2. Decandling. New terminal shoots are cut and more buds grow from the base of that shoot. This only gets new, shorter shoots at the terminal end of branches so is best used for maintenance to keep and improve ramification. It does not usually force back budding.
Pinus radiata is one of the pines that back buds more easily. It can sometimes even bud when the trunk is cut to bare wood but don't rely on that. Best to still leave at least a few healthy needles when chopping radiata just in case.

There is so much more to pine care and, as usual for bonsai, many different growers have slightly different methods and all of them claim theirs is the best or only way. These will give you a good chance to try out some and see what works.
Somewhere on Ausbonsai is a thread about radiata I think it was started by Jow so some time invested in searching here could yield some good info.

[Akhi]

Thanks Neil, should I cutback hard now or just let the trees establish for the year and then do all of that once I know they have survived? I am definitely in Development mode so will throw the needle length out of my consideration set for now.

[shibui]

Leaving some terminal shoots seems to help survival after transplant so I would not cut back hard now. Let the roots get established and some strong growth next summer. Feed well then you can chop hard the following year. Sounds like a long term plan? Bonsai is like that.
Unfortunately the long term survival strategy will see another section of bare branches as the oldest needles drop off next summer. As far as I have been able to work out that's just part of working with pines. Hopefully these, probably being radiata, will back bud well.

A more risky alternative would be to chop hard now and that they survive the transplant.

Your call.

[Akhi]

One of the pines has yellow needles all over. It was partially under the eaves of the house and I think it didn’t get enough water from the rains and I wasn’t watering it due to the rain! Is there anything I can do apart from maintaining the watering to assist it to recover?

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[shibui]

I don't know of anything to reverse damage from dry apart from a good soak and better watering then hope for the best.
This may also be from the transplant. Pines (and junipers) can be a bit sensitive to root reduction but they often don't show signs for months after. I never count a conifer transplant as successful until mid summer following transplant.

[Akhi]

Thanks and that was one of the better ones of the lot. Fingers crossed for now...

[Akhi]

Screenshot_2024-05-20-16-49-49-77_99c04817c0de5652397fc8b56c3b3817.jpg

Can anyone help me understand what I am doing wrong. I am consistently getting these kind of juvenile candles. No proper candles. There is one tree which only had this type of buds all through while this one has it mostly and in one or two branches it has proper candles. The thirds surviving one is the only one which has mature foliage and candles.
BTW all the three have very strong bark by which I estimate they are all mature. Initially thought this was because of repotting and feed etc. but this is getting super annoying now.
Any guidance much appreciated
Tha ks in advance.

[Raniformis]

I have no idea, found the pic useful though in relation to forcing bud where you want it via the needles.

Your question might be a little vague as there's a 2 season time gap. Maybe a pic of the entire tree will help.

[Akhi]

IMG_20240522_135807.jpg

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Screenshot_2024-05-22-14-01-27-85_99c04817c0de5652397fc8b56c3b3817.jpg

Those are the three pines.

[Keep Calm and Ramify]

Try More Sun! You've got more Sun available in your yard - these should be basking in it as much as possible. Move them out from the shade

[Akhi]

You are so right. Now that I think about it the troublesome ones were in the shade on the other side of the house.... Thanks a bunch.