Candle cutting length

[jaz419]

Question about candles

so, if you leave a candle to fully develop... it eventually turns into a branch, correct?

say I have a candle that’s 6” long. Can I cut it to 3” and have that develop into a branch at the new cut length? Or does cutting it in half kill the candle and stop it from becoming a branch?

 

[sorce]

It kind of matters what kind of pine.

If it has buds or buds out after you cut it, it will live and become a branch.
If not, it may die to where there are buds or branches further back.

Sorce

 

[jaz419]

It kind of matters what kind of pine.

If it has buds or buds out after you cut it, it will live and become a branch.
If not, it may die to where there are buds or branches further back.

Sorce

It is a pitch pine

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

If you cut a candle in half, you may get buds at the cut, but more likely at the base. Next year, you may get adventitious buds along the needles of the candle you cut in half.

 

[Shibui]

Many pines have a bar 'neck' as the lower part of a candle. The bare part will not bud but buds are reasonably reliable from the needles of JBP. I use the break a candle to add to a tree but limit the length of the extension provided the bare section is not too long. In many cases it is better to cut the entire candle and use the new shoots that will grow from the base because they are shorter and do not have the bare section.
i do not grow pitch pine so not familiar with its idiosyncrasies.
Pictures are always good to understand exactly what your words mean because sometimes your terminology will be interpreted differently by others.

 

[jaz419]

Many pines have a bar 'neck' as the lower part of a candle. The bare part will not bud but buds are reasonably reliable from the needles of JBP. I use the break a candle to add to a tree but limit the length of the extension provided the bare section is not too long. In many cases it is better to cut the entire candle and use the new shoots that will grow from the base because they are shorter and do not have the bare section.
i do not grow pitch pine so not familiar with its idiosyncrasies.
Pictures are always good to understand exactly what your words mean because sometimes your terminology will be interpreted differently by others.

Ok good to know. There is definitely a bare spot at the lower part of the candle.

just trying to decide how to shape the tree and if setting candle length to whatever I wanted was an option. But probably not so much.

 

[sorce]

probably not so much.

Can you test it on an unneeded part?

You might find your tree responds the same reliably which is another useful tool in the belt.

There is no aesthetically equal alternative to what you propose, so if it works it works!

Hell, there won't be an aesthetically equal look if it Fails, and maybe that you find useful for your desired outcome.

Sorce