Cut ‘em all off totally at the base
Wow! That’s amazing that they have regrown that much in so short a period of time!
So, I have to ask, why did you do it so early in the season? And, what was their state of development when you did it? Had they developed needles?
The reason I ask is I do it MUCH later in the growing season. Here in Georgia, I find that decandling works well to do it in mid to late June or into July. That gives the tree time to grow out it’s needles, and they actually “harden off”. That is, they stop growing.
Letting them grow out is important for the health of the tree. Why? The new growth produces lots of auxin. Auxin is the hormone that signals the roots that they should grow. It also suppresses secondary buds from developing. (The back budding you are wanting to have).
So, by decandling really early, the roots don’t get the chance to really grow strong. The tree doesn’t get the sugars that it would normally get, either. So, the tree begins the year in a weakened state. And now that the tree has “used it’s reserves” to push a second spring candle, it won’t have the strength to push back buds. And another thing is since the second flush is started so early in the year, there is a long growing season still ahead. Which gives the needles a long time to get long.
In short, removing candles early is totally ineffective! And can be detrimental to the health of the tree!
I suspect you may have gotten your information about JBP decandling from John Naka’s books, Techniques 1 and 2. Those books are TOTALLY OBSOLETE, when it comes to JBP needle management! Following the practices as illustrated in his books will produce weak, undeveloped JBP. I’m sorry to have to say it, but it’s true. Too many people follow those books as they would The Bible! Unfortunately, the decandling techniques we know of today were closely held family secrets in Japan at the time Naka published his books.
If you want to see the results of the modern decandling techniques, I suggest you review Brian Van Fleet’s ebook, or peruse Jonas Duprich’s excellent blog:
www.BonsaiTonight.com.
By discarding the old unsuccessful ways, and following the modern method, you could have the tree of your dreams in a matter of two or three years!