Adventurous buds - Pine tree

Skinnygoomba

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I have been watching my JBP's push new growth this spring with great enthusiasm. However, I've started to wonder when I should expect adventurous buds to begin forming on branches that were cut back last fall?
 

CamdenJim

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Adventitious buds can form anywhere unexpected, or "in an unusual anatomical position."
Glad I'm not made that way :p
 

Adair M

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Adventitious buds are the dormant "secondary" buds that are at the base of the spring candle. They're normally stimulated to grow when we decandle (cut off the spring candles near the base of the candle) in early summer.

Along a JBP branch, there will be nodes where in prior years new candles emerged. At those nodes, there are dormant adventious buds that just had never been stimulated to grow. But they can be, and they may grow in the future.

There are also dormant needle buds along the branches, between the nodes. These are much weaker.

So, we try to "activate" the dormant adventitious buds when we want "back budding".

The question is, "How"?

First off, the tree must be healthy. Feed heavily. Have it in good soil.

Then, expose the old wood to the sun. The most effective way is "wiring it out". When we wire pines, invariably we bend newer growth down, which opens up the foliage which allows sunlight in to the interior of the tree. Wiring also stretches the bark structure which allows sunlight into the live portion of the cambium, which stimulates it to grow buds.

The second thing we can do is interrupt the auxin. Auxin is a hormone created by the growing candle tips. It flows from the tips down to the roots. A strong auxin flow signals the tree that growing conditions are good, and it stimulates root growth.

It also suppresses the development of backbudding. The strong candle wants all the plants energy, sends auxin down the line demanding roots to grow to support it, and suppresses competition for that energy by inhibiting backbudding.

So, when we decandle in early summer, there is a sudden stop in the auxin flow. "The King is dead!" The strong leader is gone! The tree responds by trying to replace the leader as quickly as possible.

If only that one leader candle were removed, the tree would go to the next strongest candle, and let it get all the energy. But if ALL the spring candles are removed simultaneously (or nearly simultaneously), the tree responds in "panic mode" and tries to activate as many new buds as it can.

Usually, when we decandle there are "new" adventious buds right at the base of the decapitated spring candles that emerge first. But sometimes, older ones that have been waiting a couple years will emerge, too. If conditions are right. (Fertilizer, sun, etc.)

My experience has been that wiring out in fall, then decandling the following summer will stimulate good back budding the following winter.

So, in short, it takes a couple years!
 

Paradox

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Same here, but I suspect the temps here are still much cooler than NJ.

You cant really expect branch buds to happen, you just need to follow the steps Adair oulined and hope you get lucky.
 

Skinnygoomba

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Thanks Adair! Awesome information!

These are all pre-bonsai, I wired them this past fall and put them into 17"x17" containers filled with soil mix. I also pulled needles and trimmed long branches this past fall. They're putting out strong growth, but I think I will post photos before decandling this early summer, I'm nervous that I am going to exhaust the trees.

Sandy, that is true; we're still mid 60's for the most part. Cool enough at night that I havent felt brave enough to put my tropicals outside yet.
 
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Adair M

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Fertilize heavily. During the spring to build strength for decandling.
 

Adair M

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It helps to understand why JBP can do this...

JBP is native to Southern Japan where cyclones (hurricanes) happen. Cyclone season is in the summer, when the new candles have grown, set needles, but before they've hardened off, so the new growth is still rather fragile. The cyclone winds can easily break off the young growth.

The JBP has adapted a defense mechanism, the adventitious buds, to be able to survive post cyclone. We take advantage of this ability when training them for bonsai.

The "summer candles" that are produced will have shorter needles, shorter internodes, and little to any barren "neck" on their candles. The "neck" is the lower portion of the spring candle between where it emerges from last year's growth and the first needle. This neck area has no buds. There will never be anything popping there, so reducing or eliminating the neck aids greatly when trying to create ramification.

I know of three pines where decandling works: JBP, JRP, and our native Virginia Pine. It does NOT work on any 5 needle pines.
 

Skinnygoomba

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So far I have loaded up the pots with Dr Earth and green dream organics. I have dyna-gro and was thinking about watering with it daily, but did not know if I should start doing so yet. Thanks for the help, as always. I feel that after a couple seasons of seeing results, and how what I do effects them, I will have a better understanding. At current it's been a lot of reading and physical work, but not soo much witnessing. This spring has been exciting so far because I've been seeing how last years changes have effected the plants.

If you don't mind offering the walk-though, I'd like to post up some shots of the tree when it's time for decandling to get your thoughts before proceeding.

Have you noticed that plants put into the ground seem to lag for a year, or grow slowly for a year, then go wild the following year? I have one pine in the ground, and while it's doing well, it's not growing at the speed of the potted ones. I have a young maple and it seemed to do little last year, but is really going wild this year....but I'm not sure if it has something more to do with improved care, since I've been studying a lot in the past year.
 

Adair M

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For more on decandling see Jonas's blog BonsaiTonight. He has very detailed instructions and photos.

As to in ground growing starting slower... Just a guess on my part, but inorganic bonsai soil is very open, which makes it easy for roots to grow. In the ground, the roots have to grow in whatever's there. It may not be as easy for roots to get established in the ground as in a bonsai pot with optimal soil.
 

Smoke

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I tried the purple adventurous bud once, no adventure, I wasn't impressed.
 

Smoke

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For more on decandling see Jonas's blog BonsaiTonight. He has very detailed instructions and photos.

As to in ground growing starting slower... Just a guess on my part, but inorganic bonsai soil is very open, which makes it easy for roots to grow. In the ground, the roots have to grow in whatever's there. It may not be as easy for roots to get established in the ground as in a bonsai pot with optimal soil.
I would think air is the biggest improvement in potted versus ground.
 

sorce

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Congrats feller!

A new Goomba!

Pics or it didn't happen!

Sorce
 

sorce

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You were sharpening that knife to cut the cord? Lol

Sorce
 

Bunjeh

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Adventurous, adventitious, adventious,..all this time I thought is was advantageous.
 

Skinnygoomba

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Thanks everyone! New goomba is a happy camper, he is in the room with my tropicals all the time.

You were sharpening that knife to cut the cord? Lol

Sorce

LOL....oddly enough the cord cutting scissors have a similar feel to bonsai scissors. I was right at home making the cut.

Congratulations!!! You need to have a little thread for the baby letting everyone know.

Thank you!......this is it.... surprise! :p
 
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