Yet another pine project

[terryb]

Sorry to start another "pine project" thread. Following on from Ryceman3's excellent thread, this is where I'll document my attempts at growing pines from seed. Hopefully it will add the the growing knowledge bank here on ausbonsai.

Last year I was lucky enough to receive a small amount of JBP seed from an ausbonsai member. Of the 33 seeds I started with, I managed to get 5 to germinate and promptly lost 4 of those to damping off. The one that survived is growing happily. Not all was lost as I managed to purchase a few JBP, Austrian and Scotts pines that Ryceman3 was selling, so I have a few to play with.

I was somewhat surprised earlier in the year though, to receive a couple of seed packs in the mail. One containing Austrian pine seed (thanks Ryceman3 ) and another containing JBP from the same person who sent me the JBP seed last year - totally unexpected but gratefully accepted - you know who you are so thanks again. To avoid the potential pitfalls from last year, I decided to start with brand new seedling trays, brand new seed raising mix and I pretty much followed Ryceman3's documented method viewtopic.php?f=131&t=25843.

So far, things are looking good - 30 of the 37 Austrian pines and 19 of the 25 JBP have germinated. A couple of the seedlings are weak but overall I'm very happy.

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[Ryceman3]

I love a pine project! Hell, I love any project but particularly one that involves pines.
So happy to see you have some nice results from seed mate, may they continue to thrive, looking forward to many progress updates. Excellent start.

I’m away at the moment - hence my lack of participation of late but couldn’t resist a reply when I saw this thread. I’ll be back in a few days so watch out!

[MJL]

Just scanning the forum before heading off to golf. Golf is on the Mornington Peninsula and on the drive, I always enjoy looking at the various old pines and their structure. It's rather cool to see these little seedlings and imagine what they will become. As with R3's Pine thread(s) - the pictures of seedlings are quite beautiful - indeed, it is very difficult to reconcile the rugged trees these delicate seedlings become. Cheers, for the thread TB.

[terryb]

About a month ago, I tried my hand at seedling cuttings with a few of my JPB and Austrian pine seedlings. I pretty much followed the method in Ryceman3's thread except that I prepared my pots in a similar way to this post by Jonas Dupuich https://bonsaitonight.com/2012/05/25/ho ... -cuttings/. It is pretty quick once you get into the rhythm. Here's what I did:

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Once all the pots were prepared, I made my cuttings, dipped in rooting hormone and inserted them into the pumice. These went into the same propagators I grew the seed in and the pumice is moistened whenever it looks dry.

For the rest of the seedlings, I simply cut the tap root close to the first roots and potted up.

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These were kept in the shade for about a week and then moved into the sunshine - except on four days where the temp was between 32-42C. So far both seedling cuttings and potted seedlings are doing well

[Ryceman3]

Nicely done... I think you should be out of the woods soon in terms of vulnerability (roots should be growing by now) and with any luck heading into a pine forest!
I have some Scots Pine seedlings that are WAY overdue for some initial root work so it’ll be interesting to see how they fare compared to last year’s lot.
Thanks for the update!

[MJL]

Excellent update Terry, thanks for highlighting Jonas method too.

[boom64]

Fantastic work Terry ,keep up the good work. Will be a pleasure to watch these grow on and on. Cheers John.

[terryb]

After a winter hiatus, my pine seedlings are back in growth with extending candles and opening needles. I repotted a couple of them into larger pots but I didn't think the growth I got last year warranted repotting all of them. In fact looking back at Ryceman's post, mine are far less bushy than his were at the same time.

In terms of stem cuttings vs traditionally root pruned pine seedlings, both species survived both treatments, however, I found the JBP stem cuttings far hardier than the Austrians. I didn't lose a single stem-cut JBP, while I lost two or three Austrian pines. No such losses with the traditionally root pruned seedlings.

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[Ryceman3]

In terms of stem cuttings vs traditionally root pruned pine seedlings, both species survived both treatments, however, I found the JBP stem cuttings far hardier than the Austrians. I didn't lose a single stem-cut JBP, while I lost two or three Austrian pines.

Agree with pretty much all that from my experience too terryb. JBP certainly seem a bit more resilient as I see it too. These pines look nice and healthy from your most recent pics, expect some good growth from them in the next few months! Nice work there, it will be rewarded from here.
For what it’s worth I haven’t repotted my seedlings from last year, for 2 reasons really.
1. They weren’t as advanced as the initial lot the year before.
2. I didn’t have the potting mix to do it with, and couldn’t get it, so that sealed the deal!

[terryb]

A quick update on my pines. I sold off a bunch of my seedlings last year at SA Bonsai Society show in October. Nothing more done to the keepers except for watering and fertilising. I did shade them last weekend for a couple of days (39 & 43C) but otherwise they are enjoying full sun. The JBP have undergone their second flush and it looks like the Austrians are extending their candles for a second push as well - just young and vigorous I guess.

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[Ryceman3]

Nice terryb. Onwards and upwards... definitely moving forward.