AusBonsai

hey everyone

i got given this pine?

any ideas on what it is?

looks like 3 needles per, so im going with radiata

Yep, radiata

I concur - P.radiata.
they look like 1 or 2 year old seedlings and I'd say you actually have 4 in that pot.

thanks for the feed back guys

shibui there are 4 very long leggy seedlings in there the longest being almost 1m
i was thinking of binding them together and twisting them into something interesting if i can
any idea's

cheers
matt

I don't think pines unite quite as quickly as some other species but it could be worth a try. plenty of bending to bring the height down a bit. The top of the shorter ones can become the branches of the combined tree. that will give some taper. Might be worth keeping one on its own and twisting and bending the trunk a bit to try to create a good literati pine and just put the 3 others together.

thanks for the advice shibui i think that sounds like a plan

cheers
matt

would this time of year be ok to separate the 4 into individual pots and start bending?

Probably not too late in Sydney. Radiata is pretty tough and I think could be repotted at any time of the year. Just to be safe, don't take off too many roots at this stage. No problem bending trees at this time.

It could also be a red pine,grey bark[when young],very flexible,light green foliage,sparse.Crush some needles, or make a wound, if it smells,lightly,not like a radiata,could be a red.It also depends where you got it from.It is not easily available, but a bonsai nursey may have had some seeds.If it is collected from the side of the road,radiata!.mountainman.

thanks for the feed back guys much appreciated

cheers
matt

so i got around to working on these 4 today, it was quite an interesting re-pot

so it looks like these 4 have been in tube pots for quite a while! i got given them for free and since ive owned them they have been very loose in the pot they were in, which made me think they didn't have much root or haven't been in this pot for very long, i started removing the soil from the pot and the 4 just fell out, (well that wasn't so hard haha) i re-potted them and started wiring ive wired 3 of the 4 and am happy with the out come i think they need some more tweaking but ill let them sit and see how it goes for a while i think, i was inspired by stevens post on a twisted mini and jow's post on japanese stock and thought i would give it a go, it was lots of fun

any advice or thoughts on what ive done or should do is more than welcome!!
cheers
matt

Hi Matty-j.
thanks for sharing. Never worked with Radiatas. But If they respond in a similar way with 2 needles pines, I have a suggestion.
Get your scissors out and trim all your lower needles to about 2-4mm above the sheaf. Leave some needles untouched around the top of the branch. I tend to leave about 8, which surrounds the end of the branch. Don't do it to the weaker branches at this stage. Beginning of autumn late autumn I think is the ideal time to do this.
It helps create back-budding. And by the length of your pines, I think your going to need that back-budding.

Your first 2 pines after wiring) are very confusing in the photo. The bottom 2 much better looking to me. I use a lot of raffia when wiring my pines. They grow in spurts all year, and its very easy to get left with wire marks on your branches if your not watching them carefully. Again, .

Noticed mountainman and shibuis, total bonsai experience, 60 plus years + combined...holy smokes!! Hope they agree with my advice. If not, I'd love to hear/read what they would suggest for your on-going care.

Good luck with your new stock., gotta go. Moto GP in Spain just kicking off. Yesterday qualies were a ripper!!
woody

Looks like these are probably rejects from one of the commercial growers of radiata. They have been left in the trays a bit too long to be commercially saleable but will grow anyway once repotted as you can see from the one that has already started to produce new roots.

I agree with Woody that the first one looks a bit severe - when the trunk thickens all that twisted trunk will probably eventually merge into a large lump on a thiner base. I think I would have gone for something between that and the others which i personally think the bends are too gentle but who can tell - There is a long way to go from here to mature bonsai.
Enjoy the journey

Great stuff Matt! Nothing to lose and you've gone for it! I agree that the double looks a bit....not right...can't put my finger on it...but then probably better than I would have done.

Two singles look a bit more traditional and very cool! Keep us posted on their progress...as said, they have a long way to go!