Search results

What does it mean to fertilize with CO2? I’ve read recommendations from sea kelp liquid fertilizer to no fertilizer at all for the first few months until the first true leaves appear. I don’t have a greenhouse or space to do a major operation. I just have a grow light shelf I keep in my...

@cmeg1 How long you keep the (JBP?) seedlings indoors under growlights? I’m going to start a batch of JWP and other pine seedlings and would like to get a head start on these indoors under growlights, too, early next spring if it doesn’t bother them. How do you handle fungal infections?

Nice! We’ll have to compare notes since I also collected a VA pine in Sept and am pretty sure it’ll fair well over the winter here.

So, even for the Shortleaf pines? I’m just wondering because I’m about to start some from seed and was curious whether those future seedlings will need extra protection compared to VA pines or pitch pines.

Question about winter care for these native NJ pines: What kind of winter protection do you provide, if any? Would any of these pines need more protection than others? I live in northern VA (7b). I have limited outdoor space, so my plan is to place all my trees on the ground against the...

A bit late to this thread. Are any of those seedlings still around? What’s the status?

Any updates? I’ll be stratifying my own batch of JWP seeds in a month or so. I’m still thinking about what to do for potting and soil. I know there’s a lot of ways to do this, but I need something that’ll make it easier to manage watering yet is great for sensitive JWP roots. What seedling mix...

I hear you and I actually find the genetic variability factor to be as fascinating and fun. I guess to play on that saying from Forest Gump: life is like a batch of Japanese white pine seeds; you never know what you’re gonna get. And you also make a good point about the variety of JWP...

That’s a fair response to my comment! However, my concern about needle length in this context was not out of concern about current design. Like you said, this would only be a concern when we’re stying well-developed or finished trees. My comment was based on what I’ve read in International...

Your trees look pretty healthy though. It looks like some of those seedlings have long-ish needles and long internodes. You might want to consider grafting foliage from cultivars with more compact growth characteristics.

I should note, I wish I had chosen better verbs in that last message. I try to avoid anthropomorphizing plants because it can contribute to the horticultural confusion discussed above. In a nutshell, JWP roots thrive in an airy yet moist environment, which we can provide them with coarse...

I think general horticultural advice in the bonsai hobby can be contradictory for lots of species. I’ve been growing non-grafted JWP for 15 years and will also agree that JWP prefer moist conditions, but not wet. But it might not be clear how to achieve this in practice. What I’ve found is...

This is great information. I live in zone 7b, so Feb would still be mid-winter. I’d love to get a head start on the growing season if I can. Would grow lights in a home office room be okay for the first 2-3 months until the last frost? Or would the unseasonal warmth be an issue? I use these grow...

I too collected JWP seeds from a JWP stand in a nearby park. They’ve successfully gone through the viability water test—these sank like rocks. They’re in a small ziplock bag with sphagnum moss at the moment. How should they be stored before stratification? I don’t have a greenhouse and wasn’t...

Man, now I wish I had purchased more young JWP seedlings from Julian Adams when he had them available. He’s no longer selling them and I’ve killed half of them over the years I’ve tried to grow them under a range of circumstances. They really aren’t as ‘weak’ as people say they are. Unless of...

That’s cool you could identify those motifs in bonsai pots. I’m fascinated with how cultural influences over centuries are reflected in local aesthetic and material culture. Fun fact: Leather boots in traditional China, such as those boots in that image, originated from Mongol-ruled Yuan...

Here is my Sichuan peppercorn (Zanthoxylum simulans). I styled it a month ago with @lieuz who noticed it in my patio when it was just a straight stick. I pushed it’s limit to get tighter, irregular bends, which resulted in lots of tears along the length of the trunk. I’m experimenting with...

I’m glad you’re giving this species a shot. I’ve started to really like Virginia pines and collected last month. I need to post a photo. I think your first one shows the most promise, as I can tell it’s already beginning to show signs of mature bark at the base. I don’t know what the nebari...

Re-activating this threat: I was 37 when you posted this thread. I’d still plant my favorite species: Japanese White Pine, Japanese Red Pine, Korean Hornbeam, (American) Red Spruce, pitch pine, and a few more others that don’t come to mind atm. I’ve actually tried growing some of these from...

Any update on this one? It looks like the graft (if there is one) is so low it’s almost hidden.

Correction: I have experience collecting a red spruce in Sept and a pitch pine in late August years ago, both of which responded very well. I’ve been lucky with the recent weather here in northern VA—warm days with occasional rain. I’ll let you guys know if it doesn’t make it but so far with...

So, I ended up collecting a small VA pine seedling as an experiment last weekend. I’ve collected a red spruce in last Sept and a pitch pine in last August, so I felt confident that if I could find enough feeder roots near the trunk that it would do fine. I’ve been obsessively reading about how...

Do you have any collection tips for specifically Virginia pine? I have my eye on one that’s growing in a humus-rich soil and looks fairly old. I’d like to collect next spring.

Wow what a base! Where did you collect it?

Any updates? I’d be interested to see how they’ve been developing and if you can apply single or double flush pine bonsai techniques to them.