THE PINE PROJECT

[JimmyTheSkip]

Just out of curiosity, could you tell a difference between the source of your seeds? From memory you were concerned that the "Thunderhead" from eBay wouldn't be good for shohin bonsai, did this turn out to be correct or were you happy with it?

[Ryceman3]

Congratulations Ryan
A win well earned and acknowledged.
On top of your win, you have generously taken the time to share all your techniques and experiences on how to grow quality Japanese Black Pines from seed in a very short time, under Australian conditions. This is a rare treasure chest of knowledge for anyone wanting to grow JBP from seed. Local data is very relevant when growing Bonsai. Now thanks to you we have Southern Hemisphere knowledge, instead of trying to adjust the Northern Hemisphere data to Australian growing conditions.
Cheers
Kirky

Thanks Kirky, and everyone for that matter.
I often find it a bit confusing/tricky to translate timing etc from stuff that is posted by people in the northern hemisphere. It's not just a straight month conversion, you also need to account for things they experience but we don't (like snow and serious frost etc) that might affect their timelines so it can be quite complex and really just a guess. Hopefully you are right and this thread can get people started in the right direction to develop seed grown pines in our climate/hemisphere. Local knowledge is key!

[JimmyTheSkip]

I often find it a bit confusing/tricky to translate timing etc from stuff that is posted by people in the northern hemisphere. It's not just a straight month conversion, you also need to account for things they experience but we don't (like snow and serious frost etc) that might affect their timelines so it can be quite complex and really just a guess. Hopefully you are right and this thread can get people started in the right direction to develop seed grown pines in our climate/hemisphere. Local knowledge is key!

As someone with 0 years experience, this is one of the things I am struggling with the most. Most things online are from the Northern Hemisphere and what they are doing and when they are doing it can be so hard to follow given we don't typically have the same environmental factors as them. I for one will be using this thread as a how to guide when I get Pine seeds and decide to give it a crack.

Thanks for putting in the time to show us beginners how you did it.

[Nate.bonsai]

I just took a look at the competition. Whilst your results were already there for us to see, it is even more striking when you see how well you’ve done in the context of the other participants. You really have nailed it and it must be great and a reward in itself getting such feedback from Walter Pall. Winner winner, chicken dinner.


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[LeeBee73]

I can only add to the congratualtions being offered. I am truly inspired by the path you've managed to lay to develop and document the progression of your trees in this thread and throughout the competition. I hope I can take these little pines I picked up from you and do something half as amazing in twice the time, as I have told you personally I will be following the advice and guidance you carefully and clearly laid out for us here. Truly a generous gesture that I appreciate so much. Thanks and congratulations once again, what an amazing achievement. Wow.

[JimmyTheSkip]

JBP CompRP IG_04.jpg

Would you please be able to list the different size pots you used throughout the 6 years?

I'm also keen to find out what your record keeping system is like. On some of the ground grown trees you were able to put them in a pot years after and remember if it was a S/C or not so I'm assuming you keep records and that's not your memory.

[SuperBonSaiyan]

Congrats Ryceman! Great to see the Aussie bonsai scene get global recognition and award.

[Scott Roxburgh]

Congrats, there were some nice trees in that comp.

Thanks for documenting your work!

[boom64]

Fantastic result Ryan , your trees journey was a pleasure for many of us. Cheers John.

[Sno]

Love it . Well done R3 .

[Ryceman3]

Love it . Well done R3 .

Many thanks Sno, Boom et al… the time actually went super quick!! I appreciate the recognition, you guys did a lot to motivate my bonsai journey so I’m forever grateful for your posts/inspiration.
I really do like the tree I submitted (a lot) but I think if I had have utilised the extra 6 months, this is the tree I would consider as my final submission… this will be a corker in my opinion.

6yrJBP-Final IG_02.jpeg

[Promethius]

Congrats, R3! Well deserved.
I agree about that alternative entry: it’s amazing already.
6 years down - imagine where these will be in another 6!

[JimmyTheSkip]

Just out of curiosity, could you tell a difference between the source of your seeds? From memory you were concerned that the "Thunderhead" from eBay wouldn't be good for shohin bonsai, did this turn out to be correct or were you happy with it?

If you remember, would you please be able to list the different size pots you used throughout the 6 years? I’m keen to know the different size progressions. Sometimes photos are deceptive.

I'm also keen to find out what your record keeping system is like. On some of the ground grown trees you were able to put them in a pot years after and remember if it was a S/C or not so I'm assuming you keep records and that's not your memory.

Thanks so much for posting this, as others have said it’s an incredible learning tool.

[melbrackstone]

Hi again Ryan, I've just read through the whole thread again, thanks for all your work to share what you've done. Am I right in thinking the winning entry was one of the ground grown trees? Will you be continuing this thread with the progression of the rest of the good ones also? Please do!

[Ryceman3]

Just out of curiosity, could you tell a difference between the source of your seeds? From memory you were concerned that the "Thunderhead" from eBay wouldn't be good for shohin bonsai, did this turn out to be correct or were you happy with it?

None of the thunderhead seeds from eBay germinated so in the end any concerns about their utilisation for shohin became a moot point! I wouldn't buy from eBay again, doesn't mean others shouldn't ... just my personal feeling on seed quality from there.

Would you please be able to list the different size pots you used throughout the 6 years?

I'm also keen to find out what your record keeping system is like. On some of the ground grown trees you were able to put them in a pot years after and remember if it was a S/C or not so I'm assuming you keep records and that's not your memory.

In terms of pots, there were several different ones. Once out of the seedling trays and into their own individual plastic they were in square(ish) black punnets that fit 12 nicely in a standard tray. I think they are around 100 x 80mm and my standard pot to transition to from germination.
They then moved to dia 110mm shallowish pots (terracotta colour) from Teku for a season before going into 150mm black squat/orchid pots, or the ground and from then pot sizes varied upon growth rates and sizes etc. Moving them up in progressive sizes is a good idea in my opinion, but that's not a new thing though for anyone with experience in horticultural techniques. Trees do better when the pots aren't excessively oversized.

In terms of record keeping, some of that is coming unstuck now because most of it was done by writing on the plastic pots, so as I transitioned into bonsai pots I let that data go. I figured by that stage it was "job done". On the ground grown trees there were copper tags that I pressed the details into which I was still able to decipher when it came time to transition back into pots, so I copied that info onto the plastic pots from those copper tags.
Hope that makes sense!!

Hi again Ryan, I've just read through the whole thread again, thanks for all your work to share what you've done. Am I right in thinking the winning entry was one of the ground grown trees? Will you be continuing this thread with the progression of the rest of the good ones also? Please do!

Hi Mel,
Yes ... the winning entry was a ground grown tree, I had about 10 trees I thought could have been contenders in the end and of those almost all were from the ground grown stock. I probably won't document every single tree's progression in this thread but I will be sure to continue updating for the "good" ones! Don't get me wrong though, there are a few that weren't put in the ground that I feel will be good trees in time, but in terms of the timeframe for this competition I think the ground growing aspect was a pretty defining move that proved to be successful. I'll keep updating a few of those that were "pot only" as well.