Lance's JBP....

Decandling is the "secret" to making JBP.

Needle pulling is an extra layer of refinement, but ineffective unless you're decandling.

It's coming, and not trying to re-invent the wheel.

When I got it.....





a little less than four years, which is about as long as I have been working with Pines. I'm learning on my own as that is my only means.
hard prune next June, is what I'll do.....

It's definitely in better health now. June is not the best time to do a hard cut back. Better in the fall.

I'll take this opportunity to remind you that I have been cutting growth back in fall. No candle pruning. Cutting all new growth. You suggested this as a "last ditch effort" for backbudding.
All those needles I left will be assessed, and if they look like they will provide backbudding, then I'll cut back to them next June, similar to the time such things are "supposed" to be done.
Might this not be the same as "de-candling"?

Er, no.

The fall decandling, if done at all, is done once. And it's only done if you have been having unsatisfactory results from regular summer decandling. It's only used maybe 1% of the time. I have never had to try it on any of my trees, regular summer decandling combined with wiring the tree out has always worked for me.

@Adair M ,

just to say ------- thank you ------ for sharing
With much respect.
Good Day
Anthony

Anthony said:

@Adair M ,

just to say ------- thank you ------ for sharing
With much respect.
Good Day
Anthony

Click to expand...

I second this! @Adair M
Much good info!
Thank you!
Now all I need to do is find a JBP worth my time....next year probably.

@just.wing.it ,

get seed, follow the Bonsai Today Articles and enjoy.
Ground ground in colander, 3 inch trunks in about 5 years or less.
Good Luck
Anthony

Try Amazon for seeds, you can usually get 40 or so for little.
Check Bonsai Boy or Dallas bonsai for a Japanese seed pack ----- worth it.

Anthony said:

@just.wing.it ,

get seed, follow the Bonsai Articles and enjoy.
Ground ground in colander, 3 inch trunks in about 5 years or less.
Good Luck
Anthony

Try Amazon for seeds, you can usually get 40 or so for little.
Check Bonsai Boy or Dallas bonsai for a Japanese seed pack ----- worth it.

Click to expand...

Maybe I will...
You just let them run free?...to get 3" in 5 years?
Any pruning during that time?

just.wing.it said:

Maybe I will...
You just let them run free?...to get 3" in 5 years?
Any pruning during that time?

Click to expand...

Do some searches on the site. Yes, you can just let a black pine seedling run for five years, but the end result will probably not be good material for bonsai. The early focus is on:
(1) Developing radial roots
(2) Developing movement in the lower trunk
(3) Getting / maintaining as much low branching as possible

Here is one thread but there are tons

Bonsai Nut said:

Do some searches on the site. Yes, you can just let a black pine seedling run for five years, but the end result will probably not be good material for bonsai. The early focus is on:
(1) Developing radial roots
(2) Developing movement in the lower trunk
(3) Getting / maintaining as much low branching as possible

Here is one thread but there are tons

Click to expand...

Thank you sir!

@just.wing.it ,

what happens on our side is the J.B.pine naturally develops radial roots
and with a nudge here an there, they end up looking natural, and powerful.

There is a technique in Bonsai Today, where a chap shows how and when to cut
back for branching close to the first branch and how to restart.
AND as Sifu told me, tilt the plant for more movement.

The point is experiment.

Out of 40 seeds ----- 30 might germinate -------- 25 will probably be good for the
next stage.
15 to 10 will have good to excellent shapes and 10 to 5 will make the grade.

At 15 to 18 inches ----------- 5 will be enough and heavy.

You can repeat this 40 again and do over the next year, and you will probably
ultimately end up with another 5.

How many do you need 15 / 10 / 5 --------- more ?

In 10 years with every year, you will probably overload.
Exchange with others for other bonsai types.
Good Luck.
Anthony

The Bonsai Today articles work, and as I said we get lush, just to get the shorter needles.

Anthony said:

@just.wing.it ,

get seed, follow the Bonsai Today Articles and enjoy.
Ground ground in colander, 3 inch trunks in about 5 years or less.
Good Luck
Anthony

Try Amazon for seeds, you can usually get 40 or so for little.
Check Bonsai Boy or Dallas bonsai for a Japanese seed pack ----- worth it.

Click to expand...

The Bonsai Today method works, but you don't get 3 inch trunks in 5 years. The time it takes has always been misrepresented. That article was translated from Japanese to Spanish, and then from Spanish to English. Some translation errors occurred.

Adair M said:

The Bonsai Today method works, but you don't get 3 inch trunks in 5 years. The time it takes has always been misrepresented. That article was translated from Japanese to Spanish, and then from Spanish to English. Some translation errors occurred.

Click to expand...

I've been growing out JBP seedlings for about 5 years now (in pond baskets with a turface/pumice/lava mix) and my girthiest may be around 2 inches at soil level. I've got seedlings started this year that will be placed in pond baskets with Boon's mix next year, though.

@Adair M ,

Sifu,

here is the secret, the seeds coming from the Fujiyama Tool co. showed high variability in growth speed.
So half of them shot off like rockets and others were slower.

What you saw in the article was the author's cream of the crop.

The English sourced seed in the same sized earthenware clay pot as in the article,
did make 2 inches in 3 years. We stopped it after 2 inches because with extra
training, it was feared it would jump up to 4 inches.

Soil was and is still a simple mix of 5 mm silica based gravel and aged compost.
Information for use cam from older Bonsai books, which also explained that
the Japanese back then used what they had around them,

Pots measure as 12 to 16 inches wide, but internally are only 5 inches in depth.
We found that any deeper causes problems with water and even with a porous pot.

** Remember no one has your experience in training and refinement down here.**
So we have to move slowly and keep testing
Also remember our sun's strength, alters the candle response - 1/2 inch in length, not quite what you get.

Test showed that 30 to 36 inch single branch extension length gives 1 inch of trunk diameter.
Hope this explains.
Anthony

@Dav4 ,

oldest from seed is about 28/29 years from Japan.

Dav4 said:

I've been growing out JBP seedlings for about 5 years now (in pond baskets with a turface/pumice/lava mix) and my girthiest may be around 2 inches at soil level. I've got seedlings started this year that will be placed in pond baskets with Boon's mix next year, though.

Click to expand...

Do you bury your pond baskets?

just.wing.it said:

Do you bury your pond baskets?

Click to expand...

Burying the baskets negates their air root pruning benefit, so I don't see the point. They sit on my benches year round except for the coldest month or so each winter. I will say that the root ramification is pretty impressive in my current mix.

Dav4 said:

Burying the baskets negates their air root pruning benefit, so I don't see the point. They sit on my benches year round except for the coldest month or so each winter. I will say that the root ramification is pretty impressive in my current mix.

Click to expand...

That's the conclusion I came too also, as far as air pruning and such...
Thanks!

just.wing.it said:

I second this! @Adair M
Much good info!
Thank you!
Now all I need to do is find a JBP worth my time....next year probably.

Click to expand...

How about one of these?
I may sell some in the coming year.