THE PINE PROJECT

[Beech92]

Interested to know if you plan on keeping all those ground grown pines?
Some high potential material right there

[Ryceman3]

Interested to know if you plan on keeping all those ground grown pines?
Some high potential material right there

In short… yeah I plan on keeping them all for now. The main driver behind developing all these pines was a comp which involved developing JBP from seed over a 6 year period. I’ll need to move some on at some stage (again) as spatial constraints dictate, but it won’t be the front runners in the comp I grew them for. I like the pot grown ones almost as much though, not as far along in terms of girth but at least as good in other ways… if I had the room they would all hang around for a bit longer.

[Ryceman3]

In the name of "completeness" I have got around to posting some photos of the repotting I did on the Austrian Black and Scots Pines a couple of weeks ago. These aren't as vigorous growers as the JBP, but there is definitely progression occurring ... just a little more patience required.
First up, the Austrian Black Pines.

PN-RP AB_1.jpg

PN-RP AB_2.jpg

PN-RP AB_3.jpg

PN-RP AB_4.jpg

[Ryceman3]

Followed by The Scots Pines. The pictures for these and the Austrians above are examples, I repotted about 6 of each type and these were about average in terms of development for the species.

SCP-RP AB_1.jpg

SCP-RP AB_2.jpg

SCP-RP AB_3.jpg

SCP-RP AB_4.jpg

[Markis114]

More repotting today - this time Japanese Red Pine and some Scots Pine.
Again, for comparison I have included shots of the stem cut vs traditional root prune trees. The JRP were in a similar state to the JBP in terms of root ramification and growth, so I was very happy with these in both forms of root work ...
IMG_4577.jpg
IMG_4578.jpg
I think I actually took a little more off than that before I repotted but as you can see the spread was pretty sweet so a good outcome here.

IMG_4579.jpg
IMG_4580.jpg
Again - nice spread and a pretty finely ramified set of roots, lots to work with there.

As for the Scots Pine I found the roots on the 10 or so I repotted to be the coarsest and less ramified of all the pines I am growing. There was lots of long root extension and less roots (but thicker) than the others, so after being spoilt with the others I was a bit "meh..." with these. Nothing disastrous by any stretch but there is more work to be done to get them more "bonsai" under the soil.
IMG_4582.jpg
IMG_4584.jpg
I really cut back a lot harder on these to encourage those roots to ramify. I thought I took a pic of a traditional but it appears not ...
I still have more to do so will get one when I get around to them. Unfortunately at the moment I am in the middle of a rain delay (and I have a work deadline looming) so might be a few days away. I have a lot of candle extension happening so I want to get onto it sooner rather than later.
Too much to do!

I like your bonsais. Yes, the root system is pretty good. I'm just a beginner in this business, I guess I'm doing everything right))

[Ryceman3]

It's been 7 weeks or so since I dug up the ground grown pines, and with candles extending and generally looking healthy I thought I would put some work in again today. Trunk girth is pretty much at the size I want, so to rein that in I am removing the sacrifices and thinning out to something more structured and to let light in to ensure health in the shoots remains. The aim from here is to get on with building a good branching structure, so it's a change in direction/focus for these ones. Here's the first cab off the rank.

JBP Comp AB_4.jpg

JBP Comp AB_3.jpg

JBP Comp AB_1.jpg

JBP Comp AB_2.jpg

[Ryceman3]

Another one that I had a look at ... same methodology as the first.

JBP Comp B AB_4.jpg

JBP Comp B AB_3.jpg

JBP Comp B AB_2.jpg

JBP Comp B AB_1.jpg

JBP Comp B AB_6.jpg

[Keels]

JBP Comp B AB_6.jpg

Oh man thats so fat. And i love a fat base. Ive been trying to develop similar material but your way ahead where I'm at. killin it mate

[Ryceman3]

Finished cutting back the ground grown pines this morning, just a photo with all 4 to keep this thread up to date.
Think the one far right in the photo is my favourite right now.

JBP Comp-ALL AB.jpg

[terryb]

Finished cutting back the ground grown pines this morning, just a photo with all 4 to keep this thread up to date.
Think the one far right in the photo is my favourite right now.

Nice compact growth R3

[Daluke]

Looking good!

What’s the bonsai hieroglyphic. Down arrow - planted? Up arrow - lifted?

[Ryceman3]

What’s the bonsai hieroglyphic. Down arrow - planted? Up arrow - lifted?

Kind of… basically it stands for “into the ground”, followed by “back into” a pot.
It’s really just my own shorthand that helps me to keep track, there’s nothing scientific about it!

[BirchMan]

So, let me get this straight. They're about 3 years from seed...
Phenomenal result.

[Ibuki Tappai]

Hi, I am a newbie that started with JBP's seeds in march, started following this thread because it's so interesting and informative.
Your results are outstanding

On a spanish channel someone showed results of double mekiri, telling me depends on various factors (a hint gave to me is do late hagari) and in a distant future will try for sure, in my actual country (northern Italy, don't know if its possible).
Since you've shown a great ability with cultivation, does anybody have tried to do mekiri 2 times in a single season? Thank you!

[Ryceman3]

Since you've shown a great ability with cultivation, does anybody have tried to do mekiri 2 times in a single season? Thank you!

Hi Ibuki,
Sorry ... just saw this post so aplogies for the delayed response.
I haven't tried to decandle (mekiri) twice in one growing season. I believe it is possible, but in my climate I think this would not result in a favourable result over several growing seasons. Maybe in places where it remains hotter for longer this might be a viable option. I do get a double flush of growth on black pines that are not decandled (in development) quite frequently.
I'm not too sure how hagari relates ... my understanding of hagari relates to defoliation ... a process that isn't possible on pines.
Hope that helps.