new to bonsai first jbp

[petegreg]

Consider Pinus nigra as well. It's called black pine, 2 needles per sheet, but not japanese.

[Todd]

so embarrassing...

The nursery owner said it was black pine I just assumed that it was Japanese not knowing there was a pinus nigra. Sorry guys. Now im off to research black pine lol. Thanks petegreg.

[petegreg]

Contacting the seller might be the best solution. The first picture - as for needles and habitus votes for p. nigra. The second one - the branches, especially new grown shoots look like p. thunbergii. And I am not talking about lots of species varieties, that are visualy different from one to another. But they are usually grafted. So let us know the result...

[petegreg]

Here are the pics of my pines just taken:
1. Pinus thunbergii 'banchocho'
2. Pinus nigra 'pigmea'

On the detailed pic of JBP needles I can see some similarity with that yours. That's my 1st JBP as well, showing 2nd flush of growth after mid-summer heavy prunning. Now it's the end of summer here in my country. Atfer 1-2 seasons I will see if I do it well. If you don't identify your pine, you will find the truth after applying JBP prunning techniques, you will see how it will respond.