New to pines

[Cools]

Hi all,

I am new to bonsai and have got my first two pines this winter, one collected (radiata) and one bought (mugo I believe)
So far I haven't done much except a basic prune to a general shape. My radiata only has a few branches and I need to get it to back bud more on the trunk.

My question is; what should I be doing to them this growing season re. Candle pinching and new shoot pruning. I would like more branching and greater ramification on existing branches. The general height of both I am happy with. There is lots of info about pruning established trees but not so much on trees in training.

thanks ...

Coolsy

[dansai]

Mogo I can't help you with, but regards the P. radiata, how long since collection? If it hasn't been long, less than 12 months, i'ld be letting it grow all this season without pruning and feeding well to let it gain vigour and prune hard next winter by cutting into last years growth that still has healthy needles if it's strong and you want it to bud closer to the trunk. You may be lucky and get a bud on the trunk depending on how old it is.

A picture would help us give better advice.

Welcome to Bonsai and the forum

[CraigM]

Not an expert on Mugo, busy with a couple at present. I was advised not to style and repot in the same growing season, if you do too much in the same season the tree will suffer, and good chance of killing the tree.

[kcpoole]

I treat pines during growth stages pretty much like every thing else.
Fertilise well get good growth and health first, then cut back branches to get budding closer in if possible. Pines will not usually back bud much ( if at all) so you must only go back as far as some existing needles so to force the buds to shoot.
I cut buck mine (JBP and Radiata) in spring / summer to force them to backshoot while they are actively growing

With Pines, if you want branches where there are none, usually you will have to graft some on.
Thread, approach, bud grafting are all options to consider to achieve that objective.

Ken

[mjhc]

I feed like crazy until a month before candle cut and then hold out for a little while after that. It helps keep the needles small as well as the tree healthy. Leave needles where you want branches to pop up and be very careful around needles as you can knock off a bud easily. But, like everything in this game, time is the key. Like all of us, you'll learn more season after season and know how far you can push the envelope. Good luck.

[Cools]

Ok I have some photos on my phone but can't find out how to post them :s can someone help me ?

[Cools]

small pine.jpg

radiata pine.jpg

pine buds.jpg

ok so i have figured it out in a round about way. anyway here are my pines. please feel free to suggest styles, ideas and techniques to use this season.

[kcpoole]

If mine, the Radiata that look like a pencil I would wire all the way to the base then Make it look like a pretzel.
check out the threads on Growing like Japanese.

The JBP would cut back all 3 branches to a few needles to try to force budding back toward the stump. Then let some of them go as sacrifice branches and some to design the tree from, but that depends on how much you get to pop out.

Ken

[Jarad]

This is the thread Ken was talking about:
How to grow good bonsai stock like the Japanese nurseries

How big would you like them? And have you picked a particular style?

[Cools]

Thanks for the input guys.

Ken... I am going to bend the pine up tonight. Do you have any tips on how to bend the main trunk? It's about as thick as my thumb at the base and I want to try and get a good bend down really low. Should I use guide wires as well as trunk wiring? And should I make the branches look like a pretzel too? I was thinking about making the radiata an informal upright about 400 or 500mm tall.

Also with the smaller pine should I cut back the tip to a few needles or the whole branch? There are sparse needles all along the main branch. The design I was aiming for with this one was a semi cascade. I was hoping the smallest upright branch in time would become apically dominant.

Either way I am looking forward to seeing how these puppies go in a few seasons time.

Cools

[kcpoole]

Still supple enough just to wire and bend i think

[Cools]

bent pine.jpg

thanks for the advice guys...

here is some progress on my radiata which i did over the weekend. the raffia may not have been needed but i felt better to be safe than sorry.

there is still a long straight bit at the top which i will rectify after this initial round of bending. I havent yet bent the branches either as i figured one thing at a time, also because i gave it a tip prune and i didnt want to risk knocking off more needles bending the branches.

fingers crossed i get some back budding... lots of food sun and water now for a while.

what do you guys think?