AusBonsai

I have had this JBP for a while now and it has just been watered and fertilised and nothing else because my knowledge on pines is non existent! I do own Leon from Bonsai Souths book on pines which is very good and easy to read.

I have seen some posts on here about pines recently and have been inspired to start this pines training. At this point in time I want to thicken the trunk quite a lot. I am intending this pine to stay as a Shohin but would like it to have a powerful base and trunk. I want to repot this into a much bigger plastic pot, I won't be removing and roots only teasing out the outer edges and Nebari to start its development.

1st question, it says on the wiki that it is ok to repot in Autumn would it be ok to repot into a large pot now? I will be keeping it simple and using Ray's mix for the potting medium.

2nd question, I need to remove some branches in the mid section they are all coming from the 1 point and it is starting to thicken, is it ok to do this now if i intend to repot it as well?

3rd question, I was thinking of putting some wire onto the trunk to get some movement now, and also some wire onto the sacrifice branch to ensure light is reaching the lower buds, is this ok to do now with the other work I intend to do or is it getting a bit to much to do at the one time?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Cheers
Matt

Hi Matt,

I'm a noob with JBP as well.
To answer your question regarding repotting in Autumn, I spoke to Ray Nesci and even Alex Bennett of Bonsai Art. They both told me to repot in Winter time when they aren't growing as much.
It does depend on the weather condition and your pines are still growing at this stage. You could take a chance by repotting now but it also does have its Disadvantages and Advantages with Autumn/Winter repotting.

1. As for repotting in a bigger pot, you up the pot size by 2x.
2. A image would be a good idea for others to have a better understanding on the exact location
3. Sacrifice branches, you would let the branch it self to grow till you are satisfied and no point in wiring since it will eventually be removed. You can position it with some wires towards the light source.
A good idea to wire the trunk for movement as well


Will let other members to guide you as well, since I only know so much and learning still

Hey matty

I'll do my best to offer some guidance

1st question

Yes should be ok to slip pot now with a little root disturbance, pines are growing roots at the moment so a little disturbance won't hurt and it will give it time to recover before winter rather than setting it back just before it is about to take off in spring

2nd question
The more work you do the more stress a repot will place on the tree but you won't be pruning the roots if at all so shouldn't hurt it too much, it may not be necessary to remove any branches at all though. If you intend on keeping this tree as a shohin then I assume you wont be using this part of the trunk in the final design, therefore if that area of multiple branches thickens it wont matter.

Others may correct me here if necessary but may way of thinking is keep the areas of the tree that you wish to keep for your final design under control, and start to develop the shape and the branching of what you are keeping, and let the rest of the tree run. It will aid in the overall strength of the tree and help put on thickness in the trunk (think of it as a large sacrifice branch), and then when the time comes just cut it off. This means getting shape into the trunk area you will be using either with wire (question 3) or by selecting a new leader, and making sure that the branches down low that you will use in the end don't get long and leggy by using the refinement techniques pines require (summer candle cutting and autumn needle work etc)

Question 3

Either wire to shape, or build taper and movement with trunk chops and new leaders. Let the sacrifice branch run, it should get itself out of the way in time I would think. As far as developing a powerful trunk, this tree has a way to go. I would assume that this tree is about 4-5 yrs old judging by the internodes I can see on the trunk and branches. For reference the pine I just posted up earlier today was field grown and is around 20yrs old. That is the time it takes to build that kind of Thickness and bark in the ground (and this tree was grown with thickness front of mind), a pot will be much slower. The taper and movement on this tree was built using trunk chopping so there's an idea of the results using that method

Don't let this dishearten you though, you don't need a trunk that thick, just use the above as a bit of a guide for your timeframe.

Hope this helps, I'm sure you will get more info from others on here to help you on your way

Kerrin

One of the most important aspects of pine bonsai is a quality nebari. Rather than slip potting now, I would suggest a 1/2 or 1/3 bare root in late winter. You will then know where the best roots lie and can focus on this being the front. I would rake out the soil surface to get an idea of the surface roots and fertilise and let the tree continue to grow.

I would wire the trunk for strong low movement now, remembering that if you want shohin approximately only the first 2 inches of the trunk will be used everything else will be removed. Don't remove the upper growth, it will aid thickening. A good link below:

http://www.bssf.org/articles-and-storie ... velopment/

Thanks for all the feedback everyone, much appreciated!

I will take Scotts advice and rake out surface roots and put a large bend in the lower section and repot in late winter.

Cheers
Matt