Collecting loblolly pines

[DeepSouthBonsai]

I am brand new to pines. I moved to an area in Mississippi covered in loblollies. So I figure that while they may not be the most coveted species for bonsai, this is the perfect opportunity to learn the ropes. i recently read to treat loblollies like JBP, and I figure I could always get a nice JBP material later after I learn.

I am curious to hear the best practices for collecting pines. I have never collected a conifer and could use all the advice I can get!

Specific questions:

Bet time to collect?
How much rootball to leave if any? It rains a lot here, and I have not had good luck with junipers in organic bc of this. I do worry about there being a mucky center of mud and clay.
What substrate should I use on newly collected pine?

Thank you!

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I can only speak for my own type of pines since I don't know loblolly at all, but the best advice I can give you is the following:
1. Try a couple smaller and younger trees first. Leave the coolest ones for when you have the skillset to do proper pre-, during- and aftercare.
2. Best time is spring.
3. You leave as much rootball as possible, Mauro Stemberger has a lot of digging short videos and you can look those up and see what's more or less ideal in size. American yamadori diggers make videos too, it's good to have a look at those as well.
4. Look for soil pockets with organic soil, collecting pines from sand or straight rocks is virtually impossible. Accept the fact that you'll see 1000 trees and maybe find one that will be collectable.
5. Accept the fact that you might start a dig and find out halfway that the roots shoot off to one side, or that you find something else that inhibits a proper and safe extraction, and that you can't collect a tree you've been digging at for an hour. This happens. The choice is yours to murder it, or leave it be in the wild. 'Sunk cost fallacy' comes to mind, and it's a real phenomenon. Be aware of this.
6. Make sure you have enough wood and building materials to build a custom box for the root ball and that you have enough pumice to fill that pot twice. Pumice is the preferred soil for collected trees. The box and soil are a huge factor that influence your success.
7. Read up on aftercare for your desired species.

 

[DeepSouthBonsai]

Thanks

I can only speak for my own type of pines since I don't know loblolly at all, but the best advice I can give you is the following:
1. Try a couple smaller and younger trees first. Leave the coolest ones for when you have the skillset to do proper pre-, during- and aftercare.
2. Best time is spring.
3. You leave as much rootball as possible, Mauro Stemberger has a lot of digging short videos and you can look those up and see what's more or less ideal in size. American yamadori diggers make videos too, it's good to have a look at those as well.
4. Look for soil pockets with organic soil, collecting pines from sand or straight rocks is virtually impossible. Accept the fact that you'll see 1000 trees and maybe find one that will be collectable.
5. Accept the fact that you might start a dig and find out halfway that the roots shoot off to one side, or that you find something else that inhibits a proper and safe extraction, and that you can't collect a tree you've been digging at for an hour. This happens. The choice is yours to murder it, or leave it be in the wild. 'Sunk cost fallacy' comes to mind, and it's a real phenomenon. Be aware of this.
6. Make sure you have enough wood and building materials to build a custom box for the root ball and that you have enough pumice to fill that pot twice. Pumice is the preferred soil for collected trees. The box and soil are a huge factor that influence your success.
7. Read up on aftercare for your desired species.

Thanks for your reply! It sounds like you are used to pines being in sand/rock. The area I live in is actually very moist clay soil. There isn’t much sand or rock at all! Hopefully this means a better success rate I basically live in a pine forest on two acres and I have literally hundreds of pine seedlings at all times. Really appreciate your input.

 

[Srt8madness]

This is the one species and task I know well, I've spent the past two years collecting loblollys. They're just like any other pine, you need roots in native soil. They will almost certainly die if you bare root, it's just too hot. Younger trees (<4 yrs) can be collected smack dab in the middle of summer, it isn't the best time, but if you get the opportunity, it is possible.

I've only actually seen a couple of collectable older specimens and they weren't able to be accessed we're swimming in lobs too. Best place to find younger stock is more of a field setting where they still have lower branching. In forests they get tall and skinny real quick.

Back to the rootball, it may be a pain if it's muck but the tree has been living in it so far. Same process as any, collect, recover, half bare root, and so on. I use whatever I have on hand to surround the rootball (mostly bark based), or on younger trees just stick em back in the ground on my property.

 

[DeepSouthBonsai]

This is the one species and task I know well, I've spent the past two years collecting loblollys. They're just like any other pine, you need roots in native soil. They will almost certainly die if you bare root, it's just too hot. Younger trees (<4 yrs) can be collected smack dab in the middle of summer, it isn't the best time, but if you get the opportunity, it is possible.

I've only actually seen a couple of collectable older specimens and they weren't able to be accessed we're swimming in lobs too. Best place to find younger stock is more of a field setting where they still have lower branching. In forests they get tall and skinny real quick.

Back to the rootball, it may be a pain if it's muck but the tree has been living in it so far. Same process as any, collect, recover, half bare root, and so on. I use whatever I have on hand to surround the rootball (mostly bark based), or on younger trees just stick em back in the ground on my property.

Thanks so much for the info.

This is my own land and fortunately I have a couple open areas so some have low branching. I mostly have seedlings but some larger material that still seems collectible. I assume you can collect any size within reason so long there is a suitable root ball and low enough branching?

I am new to conifer and haven’t had any luck with it so far. Mainly bc all mine came in very organic soil and it rains a lot. I think they stayed too wet. So naturally I am worried for the same outcome if the loblollies stay in muck which they will have to for a while.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Get pumice for making your own potting media. Often out west newly collected trees spend a few years in 100% pumice. It drains well, yet allows good drainage. Perlite can be used if you can find the coarse particle size, average 1/4 inch diameter or larger. It is not available everywhere, try marijuana grow supply shops. Pumice is preferred.

Either media can be used, as much as 100% for newly collected trees.

Pumice and perlite drain well enough that excess rain should just drain away.