A project JBP gets it’s first pot

Mellow Mullet

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Here it is after black plastic rope was applied, and Jackie was mounted, but before any bending

Poor Jackie.....

LOL, couldn't resist!

Thanks for sharing, the only black pine that I had I finally killed, I did not know much about them. I see now that I may have removed too many roots.

John
 

Cadillactaste

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Very nice indeed! You are the master...for sure. Love the pot it went into...and your projects looks fun to work. Looking forward to seeing more on them at a later date.
 

clem

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hello, @Adair M what do you think about developping the first branch as a half-cascade or cascade style ? It has a strong base so i think your tree could support the weight of a big first branch.
For this pine, i think a rectangular pot with edges flared towards the outside, with feet, would be good, imo!
 

Adair M

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hello, @Adair M what do you think about developping the first branch as a half-cascade or cascade style ? It has a strong base so i think your tree could support the weight of a big first branch.
For this pine, i think a rectangular pot with edges flared towards the outside, with feet, would be good, imo!
Clem, this is a training pot. A nice training pot, granted, but not it’s final pot.

I hadn’t considered a semi-cascade style, that’s interesting. Right now, I’m focused on getting foliage back close to the trunk.

I believe the “focus of interest” on this tree will always be on the trunk movement. A big cascade branch will lead the eye away from the trunk line, so I doubt I would do that. But thanks for the idea, it made me think of alternatives!
 

clem

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I believe the “focus of interest” on this tree will always be on the trunk movement. A big cascade branch will lead the eye away from the trunk line, so I doubt I would do that. But thanks for the idea, it made me think of alternatives!

I think you can have some trees with not only one interesting area (focal point) but i agree with you that a big cascading branche would make the tree heavier and attract the eyes. I think a first branch with movements and longer than now would be nice. Every taste is in Nature ;)
 

Wilson

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Good stuff as always Adair! The last tree in the series of photos of various projects looks wild, any thread on that one?
 

Chopsie

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That has great potential, love the line
I have always loved JBP, even more so nowadays as they cannot be imported legally in to the UK.
It’s why I am so happy to of got myself one recently
 

Adair M

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Good stuff as always Adair! The last tree in the series of photos of various projects looks wild, any thread on that one?
That’s a dwarf Scots pine. I’ve cut it back some, but it had some health issues that I’m letting it grow thru. I got in there and thinned buds. It “wants” to make about a dozen little shoots at each terminal rather than just making a few and growing those out longer. I think part of that was because of the fungal issues it had when I got it. But that’s behind it now.

It is wild. I could almost make a windswept out of it!

We’ll see. It’s on my bench in California.
 

Muchas_Plantas

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This tree:

View attachment 233275

Is due to get its first real bonsai pot.

I purchased it from Plant City about 5 years ago. They had purchased three JBP from Lone Pine nursery in California, and they had been dug, and shipped bare rooted to Georgia. Steve asked me to pot them for him when they came in. I cut down big plastic pots, and got them in some homemade Boon Mix (equal parts lava, pumice, and akadama). I bought this one. The other two were eventually purchased by my students.

After potting, I didn’t do anything but water and fertilize for a year. They had been bare rooted, and needed to recover.

After a year, I started cutting back the longest branches, hoping to induce backbudding. I put in a guy wire and put in the heavy bend, using a jack. The jack does the bending, the wire just takes up the slack.

After another year, I added a couple grafts.

A year later, I added two more grafts.

Last weekend, I took the opportunity to consult with Tyler Sherrard, and we did more cut backs. And I gave it this initial wiring/styling. We also used the guy wire to add more bend.

Back home, I decided to pot it. After a bit of futzing around, I was able to remove it from the cut down plastic pot:

View attachment 233276

View attachment 233277

All that white stuff is mychorrazzae. I didn’t add any when I potted it, and remember, it had been bare rooted! It just grew by itself.

I then proceeded to cut back some heavy roots. And seriously reduce the root ball. Back when I initially potted it, I didn’t cut any roots. Since it was straight out of the field, and bare rooted, I kept everything! Even roots I knew were too long. I just circled them in the plastic pot.

Today was the day to tame the roots! I scraped all the flat mat of roots off the bottom, and I was pleased to see no ugly downward roots! So I trimmed it flat. Going around the edges with my bent tip tweezers was a lot of work, but easy to work since the soil, Boon Mix, stays pretty open, even after 5 years. I cut back some heavy roots with my big root cutters and concave knob cutters.

The final root ball:

View attachment 233279

Now for the fun part!

Which pot?

View attachment 233278

Or...

View attachment 233280

I could use either.

I chose the larger pot because I had been pretty hard on the roots, and I wanted to get it grow. The smaller pot would make a good show pot in the future.

Here it is potted up:

View attachment 233281
I love lone pine! i live in Sonoma and go there all the time. they have sooo many rare trees in all sizes and a myriad of pots to chose from. pretty nice trident maples, bald cypress and san jose juniper finished bonsai as well. the staff is incredibly friendly
 

Adair M

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I love lone pine! i live in Sonoma and go there all the time. they have sooo many rare trees in all sizes and a myriad of pots to chose from. pretty nice trident maples, bald cypress and san jose juniper finished bonsai as well. the staff is incredibly friendly
The greenhouses full of all the little plants to make accents were fun, too!
 
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How big was the plastic pot it was in and how big was the pot you repotted it into. I want to repot that big pine I just bought in February but not sure how big I should be looking for. It is currently in a 16” round nursery container in roughly 9” of soil. Thanks in advance for the help @Adair M
 

Adair M

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How big was the plastic pot it was in and how big was the pot you repotted it into. I want to repot that big pine I just bought in February but not sure how big I should be looking for. It is currently in a 16” round nursery container in roughly 9” of soil. Thanks in advance for the help @Adair M
The plastic pot was maybe 16 inches across. About 4 inches deep. Current pot is 13 or 14 inches, oval, and 3 inches deep.
 

August44

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Adair...very nice tree and of course your work on it is great. I know nothing about grafting and have always thought that was beyond my realm, but maybe not. When grafting a branch on, does it have to be a branch from the same tree and how big of a branch can you successfully graft on? Thanks for help. Peter
 

Adair M

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When grafting to get more branches in the right place, I take scions from the same tree. One year old twigs.

When I’m “changing the foliage”, mataerial from other trees is used.
 
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Gosh, you’re in California! There’s lots more bonsai shops there than where I am!

You can probably do well at Johnny Utchita’s place, Grove Way Bonsai in Hayward.
Thanks haven’t been there yet. I’ve been able to find lots of great trees locally but not much at all for pots
 
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