50 Year Old Scotts Pine From Roland Folse

[PeaceLoveBonsai]

A few years back, @Deep Sea Diver shared a link to an inventory sale for the Pacific Bonsai Museum.

(Link - https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/p...me-excess-inventory-sale-started-today.49846/)

The PBM was selling off some trees, many from Roland Folse.

I picked up this Scotts Pine and began working on the tree in 2022. Here’s a picture before initial styling.




Here is the tree after work:

I let the tree recover and also repotted into a vintage 1800s nanban pot that I acquired from Bjorn.

A few days ago I decided I wanted to get the tree set up for next year, so I decided to do some detail wiring. My hope is to open it up for backbuds and balance. Here’s is the after:



There is some funky yellowing on a few of the buds. I’m not 100% sure what it is, (if anyone has any idea, I’m open to suggestions). Here’s a close up of the yellow needles:



I wanted to learn more about the tree so I reached out to Mr Folse on Facebook. Although I haven’t been able to connect, I did find some old photos of the tree.

Here it is in 2013, at 42 years old:


And again I’m 2016.

What’s interesting to me is that Bjorn and I agreed on the front from 2013 without ever seeing these photos.

I’m hoping to get this tree compacted over time, but I’m happy with the process so far.

Now if I can just get that yellowing to go away, I’ll be all set!

 

[yashu]

That appears to be the same pot from 2013 that it currently resides in. If it hasn’t had a repot in 10+ years is it possible that compaction of soil and generally being root bound could be the source of your chlorosis?

 

[Hartinez]

That appears to be the same pot from 2013 that it currently resides in. If it hasn’t had a repot in 10+ years is it possible that compaction of soil and generally being root bound could be the source of your chlorosis?

Fortunately he did do a repot.

Unfortunately, I don’t know what the yellowing would be from. Is it an iron issue? Seems that more needles than those have a slight yellow tinge.

With that said. You’ve done an excellent job so far Greg. That initial “after” from 2022, is really nice. Love the jins you added.

 

[yashu]

Fortunately he did do a repot.

Oh geez… I read it and completely brain farted. I do really like the nanban too!

 

[Hartinez]

Oh geez… I read it and completely brain farted. I do really like the nanban too!

I do too. The Nanban is very fitting.

 

[Shogun610]

Man I would love to style pine like this , great tree … I liked those Jin’s as well, what made you decide to remove them?

Only constructive feedback I have is
I love the top crown of the tree , and the bottom branches are a bit more outward like a spruce … if you were to tweak bit more downward movement and down flowing to right .. then it would be awesome.. just wat I would do but then again It’s your tree. Really super picky of me to say but I have been guilty of it styling a pine like a spruce or a spruce like a pine

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Nice Job!. Looks like Roland’s tree has found a good home.

There are many things that could cause the yellowing… The simplest is overwatering. (Yet I think it’s deeper than this) So first thing, chock up one side of the pot.

Most of these are enumerated in this link.

What To Do If A Pine Tree Is Turning Yellow

When a pine tree is turning yellow, it could be due to natural needle loss, or it could be due to freeze damage, pests, watering issues or other problems that need to be corrected.

www.hunker.com

Add in Lophodermium Needle Cast (which likely may not apply) that really seems to affect Scot’s Pine.

Lovely as the pot is.. I believe it would be best to move the tree into a larger pot/box to get stronger and recover strength.

It’s been a personal observation large trees in small pots degrade slowly over time…. Until they are delicately balanced on a tight rope where their health can easily be negatively affected. The first signs are weakness and susceptibility to disease similar to that shown here.

Increasing the foliar mass might of nudged the tree over the line. Not enough space for the mass of viable roots needed to support the foliar mass thus yellowing…

Even at museums trees are moved into larger pots and boxes with roots intact (unless diseased or damaged) to grow strong.

Anyways just a couple thoughts.

Cheers
DSD sends

 

[PeaceLoveBonsai]

Fortunately he did do a repot.

Unfortunately, I don’t know what the yellowing would be from. Is it an iron issue? Seems that more needles than those have a slight yellow tinge.

With that said. You’ve done an excellent job so far Greg. That initial “after” from 2022, is really nice. Love the jins you added.

Thanks! I really like the compactness of that 2022 photo. Hopefully I can get it back there soon.

 

[PeaceLoveBonsai]

Man I would love to style pine like this , great tree … I liked those Jin’s as well, what made you decide to remove them?

Only constructive feedback I have is
I love the top crown of the tree , and the bottom branches are a bit more outward like a spruce … if you were to tweak bit more downward movement and down flowing to right .. then it would be awesome.. just wat I would do but then again It’s your tree. Really super picky of me to say but I have been guilty of it styling a pine like a spruce or a spruce like a pine

View attachment 510724

Interesting perspective. I’ll give that some thought.

I got rid of the jins b/c they were overbearing in this final rendition. And I see this tree getting compact over time, which means new jins, ones that are closer to the final design will present themselves.

 

[PeaceLoveBonsai]

Nice Job!. Looks like Roland’s tree has found a good home.

There are many things that could cause the yellowing… The simplest is overwatering. (Yet I think it’s deeper than this) So first thing, chock up one side of the pot.

Most of these are enumerated in this link.

What To Do If A Pine Tree Is Turning Yellow

When a pine tree is turning yellow, it could be due to natural needle loss, or it could be due to freeze damage, pests, watering issues or other problems that need to be corrected.

www.hunker.com

Add in Lophodermium Needle Cast (which likely may not apply) that really seems to affect Scot’s Pine.

Lovely as the pot is.. I believe it would be best to move the tree into a larger pot/box to get stronger and recover strength.

It’s been a personal observation large trees in small pots degrade slowly over time…. Until they are delicately balanced on a tight rope where their health can easily be negatively affected. The first signs are weakness and susceptibility to disease similar to that shown here.

Increasing the foliar mass might of nudged the tree over the line. Not enough space for the mass of viable roots needed to support the foliar mass thus yellowing…

Even at museums trees are moved into larger pots and boxes with roots intact (unless diseased or damaged) to grow strong.

Anyways just a couple thoughts.

Cheers
DSD sends

One of the reasons I wanted to chat with Roland is that there appears to be a really organic material inside the rock.

I was wondering if the organic material and the roots associated with that material might be getting too much water.

Appreciate the resources and comments. And I appreciate the heads up about the sale in the first place