growing pines from young stock

[Matthew]

hi guys recently i planted about 50 6inch japanese black pine into my grow beds . I started half a dozen 4 years ago and sold all but 2 which i still have . Thought id share my thoughts on them. Both of these black pines have only been container grown i up potted twice in the four years from 10 inch than into there current twelve inch pots. Both had a large sacrifice branch grown to develop the trunk width which i believe is a necessity when growing black pine or shimpaku junipers . ive seen some with sacifices at 8 feet tall that a mate of mine use to grow. The little informal upright had a sacifice branch near 4 foot high b4 i cut it off and the cascading around a metre. this year will be concerntrating on branch development and energy distibution. ive began snapping candles where the branches have the required thickness and others i let go to thicken. Next spring both will get bonsai pots. Im hoping to get the informal down to shohin size in time sorry about the pics but its WET outside. also included a pic or 2 of candle size which has been quiet even this year

cascade black pine candle size.JPG

shohin black pine candles.JPG

candle length.JPG

candle length 2.JPG

informal black pine second year development.JPG

[Matthew]

ill see if i can find a old pic to of the sacifices and one were the cut is healing nicely. I have footage on my handicam of my mates large ones just wondering if i can convert somehow to post it?

[Mojo Moyogi]

Hi Noah, best way to get video footage up is to put them on YouTube and post links here.

Like the pines by the way and the rain

Cheers,
Mojo

[Levuccio]

Love it. Any way you would have some cuttings/seeds that you would be willing to give away/sell by any chance?

Cheers

Levuccio

[craigw60]

G'day Noah, really nice work your pines are looking great. With the new ones your starting keep some with the sacrifice branches for much longer and you will get some serious taper, and try to keep the sacrifice branches really low
Great work
Craigw

[Matthew]

G'day Noah, really nice work your pines are looking great. With the new ones your starting keep some with the sacrifice branches for much longer and you will get some serious taper, and try to keep the sacrifice branches really low
Great work
Craigw

Craig i agree. I was alittle impatient to cut them off , another few years on would of done wonders......anyway the next batch i plan to leave on for as long as possible .

[Matthew]

here is one of the 2 pines as today, it is progressing well and i think another 2 seasons at this rate ill have something nice, ive included a pic of the sacrifice branch wound almost healed and a early shot 2009. height it sits on 200mm i did get movement in apex as well

rsz_shohin_black_pinefeb11.jpg

rsz_sacrifice_branch_wound_almost_healed.jpg

front larger pine.jpg

[craigw60]

Hi Noah, you pines are looking really good, healthy and vigorous.
Craigw

[woody]

[quote="noah78"]here is one of the 2 pines as today, it is progressing well and i think another 2 seasons at this rate ill have something nice, ive included a pic of the sacrifice branch wound almost healed and a early shot 2009. height it sits on 200mm i did get movement in apex as well

Hi Noah, love em. saying you've got something 'really nice', is kind of like saying the Grand Canyon is ok. IMO anyway.
I would love to know what your feeding regemin is And do you use any cut putty
thanks for showing us these beauties.
Woody

[Matthew]

Craig thanks for the encouragement, there is a branch im developing on the upper left of the tree on a curve i cut it back a few weeks ago as it had thickened enough buds are popping and i selected 2 as secondary future branches.
Woody my pines get feed simular to most my trees except the get less in summer and more in spring and autumn. the resume is osmocote every 3-4 months not during winter , liquid fert with POWERFEED every 7-10 days maybe less if i remember in spring and powerfeed and bloom buster for root development every 7-10 days during the first 2 months or untill the tree slow down on its growth. Full sun is a must for pines here and if above 30 i try to mist once or twice a day if im around. watering i let dryout alittle more than junipers but this year with the rain they have stayed alittle wetter but i havent seen any nil efeects so far. I use cut putty if i have it on me otherwise i dont but if cutting a large branch i will cut alittle longer to allow for dieback. if you have it you should proberly use it.

[Woody11]

Nice work Noah. Love the movement you're getting with your trees. It's hard to buy anything close to this quality in any bonsai nursery.

Just curious. Where are you sourcing your raw JBP stock from? Thus far I've only been able to get stock back in Brisbane that is unfortunately too old to get the bare bones structure right especially for shohin i.e. trunk taper, tight structure. Consequently I've had to resort to growing my own seedling stock. I was lucky to get some seeds last year, but that was a complete fluke (BTW they do actually look like JBP seedlings now with two-needle pine characteristics. I was worried they would end up being radiata pine or some timber pine hybrid).

[Matthew]

I was getting my young pine stock from cambewarra bonsai on the south coast NSW when i was living in rockhampton. I now find my young pine stock and most of my newly aquired stock through shibui bonsai nursery ( a member here) i look for something young enough to bend quite heavily. As the plant grows these bends will smooth out alot so you get flowing movement, look for something with branches especially ones very low for sacrifice branches. For growing on i buy either 4-6 inch.

[woody]

Thnaks heaps there Noah, appreciate the info. Looks like I need to wack more fert on mine than I have been. Should be interesting to see how much the growth rate increases.
Woody

[cutejai]

Hi Noah

wow, nice, real nice. especially like the nebari.

I just purchased a young JBP without any nebari, so just wondering how to grow it out like yours. does it help leaving a low sacrificed branch? would you mind sharing your secret?

and what about all the keeper branches? do you just cut the candles to maintain it like below article?

http://bonsaikc.com/advanced-techniques/needle-therapy/

appreciate for any input.

[Matthew]

What a great article, thanks for that My technique is simular, ive had to experiment with the timing for cutting as ive only been in NE vic for one year. this year i did them mid-late janurary which maybe alittle late for my area not to sure but all candles i cut have buds which have opened quite small atm. The technique here not only gives you smaller needles if done correctly but as the article saids youll get more buds and better raamification which i have seen this season with that shohin pine. The sacirifce branches are necassary in developing trunk girth as black pine will take alot of time to thicken without them. they need to be as low as possible and if your got several the better. You need to wire the trees early to get some movement in as black pine will naturally grow quite straight unless some force ( wind, snow , animal or man) has altered it. once stiff branches and trunks can be difficult to bend.As the trunk and sacrifice branches are growing you need to select some small branches to become your future ones for the tree and a future leader down the track as you will have to cut for taper at some point i imagine. .these need to be maintained ( wired, pruned and thinned) as if they get too leggy getting growth back in close can be a issue. I have seen alot of mature pines with fantastic trunks and lovely bark falling with long branches and growth only at the tips. getting a good nebari on pines is the same as most other trees to be bonsai, remove downward growing roots under the tree whilst encouraging side lateral ones . Doing this as young as possible will solve problems down the track.