11 Month Progress of Ponderosa Pine

[tmjudd1]

Pines are becoming my favorite, especially this Ponderosa Pine. I was a bit nervous about this species and how it would truly react to my region, especially during the long, hot summers, however. It seems to be really happy here.

As purchased 11 months ago;


As of today, 11 months later;

 

[Francesco84]

Awesome tree! Andy really has some world-class ponderosas! I just bought two from him!

Ponderosas def. need a period of dormancy that I am not sure you are going to get in Dallas though... Here is a relative thread with more info. Good luck! https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/can-you-grow-ponderosa-pines-in-hot-climates.23543/

 

[BunjaeKorea]

Can I give some pointers?

 

[Colorado]

I’m pretty skeptical that this will thrive, or even survive, in Dallas long term.

Hope I’m wrong. Good luck!

 

[arcina]

They do survive and thrive. We still get nights below 32 degrees (Ryan Neil says Ponderosa only need one night of dormancy to do well). We also get, in some cases, 2 flushes as they sometime pushed new needles in September. However, the most difficult part is the watering. People tend to kill high altitude pines in this area as they water them too much during the summer. Water is the killer of these trees. Douglas Fir, limber pine, scot pine, lodgepole will die here after few years. Pinyon pine, southwestern white pine, pitch pine, loblolly, chirihuahua pine do really well in this weather.

 

[arcina]

This is an example of one collected almost 5 years ago

ChoBonsai Yamadori

 

[tmjudd1]

I too was a bit skeptical about this species ability to thrive here, prior to my purchase. Andy told me that I was at the lower limits of latitude, in Dallas... but they indeed thrived here. After doing a bit more research, I located folks in the DFW area who could attest to that. I made the purchase and have been very pleased with the results. As for the cold night thing? I have a trick up my sleeve, should it be needed. It's a copper coiled 'chiller' system, a 'heat-exchanger', per se, that will circulate ice-water through the copper coils, surrounding the pot, to drop the temp at the root ball to darn near whatever temp I want to set it at so long as it is above freezing. I've not used it yet, but might do so if we have a warmer than normal winter this year. If I use it, it will only be used at night. During the daytime... the chiller will be in the off mode.

 

[Colorado]

I too was a bit skeptical about this species ability to thrive here, prior to my purchase. Andy told me that I was at the lower limits of latitude, in Dallas... but they indeed thrived here. After doing a bit more research, I located folks in the DFW area who could attest to that. I made the purchase and have been very pleased with the results. As for the cold night thing? I have a trick up my sleeve, should it be needed. It's a copper coiled 'chiller' system, a 'heat-exchanger', per se, that will circulate ice-water through the copper coils, surrounding the pot, to drop the temp at the root ball to darn near whatever temp I want to set it at so long as it is above freezing. I've not used it yet, but might do so if we have a warmer than normal winter this year. If I use it, it will only be used at night. During the daytime... the chiller will be in the off mode.

Haven’t heard of that one before. Now that is dedication!

Too much work for me to do something like that - more and more I’m just deciding to keep species that are hardy here. But I’ll be interested to see if that keeps your Pondy alive for 10+ years!

 

[tmjudd1]

Haven’t heard of that one before. Now that is dedication!

I wouldn't so much call it 'dedication'... more like "TINKERING!" Really not that big a deal. Not complicated at all. Anyone can do it with some copper tubing, a fish aquarium pump and a 5 gallon bucket/reservoir for the pump to live in. Folks like you, who live in cold winter climates surely would not need such a contraption as this, albeit. Folks like me just might! I too am curious as to how this Ponderosa pine will fare, during the long haul, in my region. When speaking to Andy, he was not so concerned with my winters as he was with our long, hot, humid summers. It was actually the long summer thing that inspired me to build a chiller, to cool things down, at night... until winter finally set in and effectively took over the controls on its own. It seems to be the root system that needs cooling down, not the foliage. I do not know this info to be 100% true. I'm just going on what I've read and what I've been told. That being said. I'm strictly working via 'empirical theory', at this point! That's all I have to go on. Observation and 'time' will become the eventual "Body of Truth." As stated, previously, I've yet to hook up a chiller system to this tree. No need. It's been doing exceptionally well, on its own... even during our long hot, humid summer. Nothing looks broke, so far... "Not gonna try to fix anything!" Gonna maintain the 'Status-Quo!"
We're just now getting lows dipping down to freezing temps, for an hour or so, here and there, every few days around sunrise. Daytime temps still rising up to the 40's-60's. It shouldn't be too long before "Ol' Man Winter" kicks the door open, bestows us with his frigid, cold breath... and finally decides to hang around for a while. "I'm ready and waiting!"