newbie needs help

[bki]

Hi All,
i am a new member and have been doing bonsai in australia since last winter. i came from the fareast where i have started the hobby and have been in australia for 6 years now. i consider myself as a newbie again. the climate, tree species and everything have a lot of defference from where i came from.
i have a bit of an emergency on my little tree here. this is my first tree i bought last winter and have taken care of it the way the nursery guy have told me. last night, the not so friendly cat has broken the pot where it was and this morning i slip it in this new pot. not too much damage on the roots and branches. please advise me on how to make it's recovery faster. any suggestion or critique to upgrade the health and design will be much appreciated. the tree's id is also unknown to me.
best regards
Alex

[Craig]

Nice little pine Alex, i love the movement in the lower trunk ,
Could it be a Pinus radiata possibly ?

[bki]

thanks Craig. are these species sensitive to wiring/bending and can i trim the longer leaves?

[Craig]

Alex , is it a 2 needle pine or 3 needle pine, do the needles come in 2's or 3's ?

[bki]

it has 3 Craig.

[Dario]

Hi Alex, looks like a radiata to me...they are three needle pines (well all of mine are anyway).
But I am not a pine expert Alex.
You could mist the leaves a few times a day with water and give it a drink of seasol too (seawood solution).
Infact sometimes I mist my radiata with seasol and water in the spray gun.
Give it some morning sun and then in light shade for the rest of the day if it is a really hot day. Do this for the next week or so and then introduce it to more sun.
Also maybe keep out of strong winds too until it has recovered.
Other members please correct me if I am wrong with the care instructions!
I too have some smaller radiatas and I like yours a lot! Good luck!
Cheers, Dario.

[bki]

Thanks a lot Dario. i will give it seasol and will also try that seasol spraying technique.

[alpineart]

Hi bki , if its simply repotted into another pot then there should be no real drama's .Dario's advice is good for emergency repotting or slip potting . For a full re pot and root prune i would treat the same way , although in most cases it would be done at the correct time . Don't stress , a bit of root damage wont hurt the tree , it looks quite healthy .

Cheers Alpineart

[bki]

thanks Alpineart.

[kcpoole]

Hi Alex and welcome.
The tree should be fine after its little accident ( bloody cats)! so you are lucky

What is does need is some wiring to give it some better shape and a inch back to control the growth.

I note that there are 2 really long spindly branches, 1 at the top and the bottom / end. these look quite ugly as they have no foliage on them and stick up in the sky.
On the overhead shot you can clearly see them

I would possibly remove them both ( they are creating Bar branches anyway, and then wire the rest of the tree to put movement in each of the branches and to stop the "banana like" shape to them happening.
Trim the end of the branch tips back to encourage the tree to back shoot so the foliage stays closer to the trunk instead of out on the ends of the branches like pompoms

Ken

[paddles]

Are you a member of a club? I recommend joining a club... if you let us know what part of vic you are in, someone will suggest the nearest club to you...

[bki]

Thank you very much Ken. those are great pointers and i really appreciate them.
Paddles, thanks a lot for your suggestion. my only membership is ausbonsai. i have recently applied for membership with satsuki australia and i am in springvale, victoria.