I purchased a black pine in summer last year , it did great even through most of winter . However in the last month the needles went from a nice green to a pale green. Not sure what’s happening , it is on my porch which is surrounded by thick clear plastic. I’m in north bay Ontario worst place for winter but since spring has started to roll in my needles are as I explained turning pale I’ve only watered this tree once about a week ago , the soil is not overwatered as I check with my hygrometer so I’m at a loss . Some help would be greatly appreciated.
Black pine
- Thread starter Triumph
- Start date
Nybonsai12
Masterpiece
It’s dead. Sorry.
just.wing.it
Deadwood Head
Did it get too dry, you think? How cold does it get out there on the porch?
LanceMac10
Imperial Masterpiece
Adios. I'm familiar with this shade, sadly.
River's Edge
Imperial Masterpiece
The tree appears to have dried out , it is dead. Porch areas can experience swings in temperature that often cause trees to use more water in the winter than we expect. The sun can heat up porch areas that are enclosed very quickly. ( green house effect)
I actually watered it twice. Since December . It gets anywhere from -20 to -30 on my porch not really any fluctuations
River's Edge
Imperial Masterpiece
Well, watering depends on substrate, my inorganic mix dries out rather quickly, At those temperatures the tree would have been frozen the whole time! Those temperatures are well below the temperature range suggested for most black pine in a pot and with no water except once every couple of months! Freezing dries things out fairly quickly.
JBP is limited to -10 C as a general rule of thumb and that is in the ground. What type of black pine are you dealing with?
Paradox
Marine Bonsologist
Probably not enough. I water my trees in my garage every week to two weeks in the winter when they need it.
Usually every 2 weeks in December, January and February and every week starting some time in March as they start to wake up
Also as @River's Edge mentioned. -20 is below the tolerance range of Japanese Black Pine.
MFray, who lives in Michigan cant keep them because it gets too cold in the winter
Also, your profile says "North Bay". We are not going to remember where on Earth North Bay is.
For the best advice based on your location, please add "Ontario" to your profile
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sorce
Nonsense Rascal
Welcome to Crazy!
I want a Triumph.
Sorce
I want a Triumph.
Sorce
Appreciate the input , it was my first Japanese black pine, my other pines seem to be doing fine. They are not native to Ontario either and did the same watering and shelter, I guess I either store in my garage without heat and water more or don’t buy Japanese black pine.
Good day thanks for input , I use akadama some lava crushed, coarse sand for all my pines . More akadama then the others of coarse. Figured that mix would be suitable. I’m not very experienced in pine care so I try to use internet to get info on soil mix’s .
Thanks for reply, I guess I should have researched more on watering through winter in this ontario North Pole weather.
Cosmos
Shohin
North Bay’s weather is very cold, no doubt about that (my guess is USDA zone 4, more or less). Too cold for most Japanese species to overwinter in a location that gets anywhere near as cold as outside, with the possible exception of junipers. If you want to keep JBP in your climate (or mine), the best set-up by far is a cold greenhouse kept around 5 degrees all winter. You might not have anyone offering this service in your area.
If you want to work with pines, I second Adair M’s suggestions (you should be able to fine scots pines without any problem), but the even more obvious species for you is jack pine (pinus banksiana). You are right in the middle of jack pine country, these trees are unbelievable hardy (they can tolerate -40, -50 celsius), nice short needles. They can be quite tricky to collect however, you need to be gentle with the roots and keep as much foliage as you can. So I’d suggest you try to find an experienced collector who you could accompany, or even better, someone who can simply sell you a jack pine or two. They are not common in the nursery trade, sadly.
In your climate, it’d also be worth exploring larches, thuyas and spruce, all very hardy.
If you want to work with pines, I second Adair M’s suggestions (you should be able to fine scots pines without any problem), but the even more obvious species for you is jack pine (pinus banksiana). You are right in the middle of jack pine country, these trees are unbelievable hardy (they can tolerate -40, -50 celsius), nice short needles. They can be quite tricky to collect however, you need to be gentle with the roots and keep as much foliage as you can. So I’d suggest you try to find an experienced collector who you could accompany, or even better, someone who can simply sell you a jack pine or two. They are not common in the nursery trade, sadly.
In your climate, it’d also be worth exploring larches, thuyas and spruce, all very hardy.
MrWunderful
Omono
Thats a pretty “wet” mix for jbp, a Significant amount of people have success with 1:1:1 (akadama, pumice, lava). You might be missing that one piece of the oxygen puzzle with pumice.
These are the candle extensions we can get in our climate (longer and more mild than yours) but in a good 1:1:1
