Couple questions on single flush pine.

[sorce]

It depends on how much those branches are interfering/going to interfere with your design.

If not too much design interference too soon, report first, allow a recovery, then chop.

If soon cut now, and wait to repot.

The one I had go big needle from a major whack is going on year 3 post whack, and I'm just getting comfortable thinking about Repotting.

With your climate possibly weakening the tree, adjust accordingly.

Sorce

 

[sorce]

Since that one already has good light exposure to the interior, I'd cut nothing and repot first.

You can probly repot now. Having the rest of the year to grow roots.

Sorce

 

[maroun.c]

Since that one already has good light exposure to the interior, I'd cut nothing and repot first.

You can probly repot now. Having the rest of the year to grow roots.

Sorce

Very much tempted to repot now as then I'll avoid soil issues which killed other pines I had. Might do a half bare root now and a second one in late feb if tree is looking good this way at least tree would be in good soil and in a bonsai pot in late feb, then I'd cut off branches and wire end of growing season next year in around Nov. Does this sound like a good plan ?

 

[sorce]

Except for the HBR. I'm not a believer.

Sorce

 

[maroun.c]

Except for the HBR. I'm not a believer.

Sorce

You mean to do a full bare root or delay the end half till one year after initial hbr?

 

[sorce]

You mean to do a full bare root or delay the end half till one year after initial hbr?

deep deep question.

I wouldn't full bare root due to your tree obtaining capabilities being so few, its too risky.

Following Vance's method, the shin, or core stays intact, which is what keeps the tree alive. If leaving that clayish muddy core intact hasn't killed any of Vance's trees in a length of time so long to have beared witness to climate shifts, I reckon it's safe. I'd bet safer.

Here, with a greater access to mugo, I might decide to Full bare root that at a 50/50 chance of survival, because the soil would be way better, and those buds on top of multiple buds at the tips, to me, says its healthy enough to take it.
I also note you must have been taking good care of it too or it wouldn't have so many buds.

But it also seems to have been ditching old interior foliage, like its healthiest with its healthy new roots and pushes big, but the backroots, as it were, suffer and find it hard to keep old foliage green and interior productive.

In your climate, I would guess a second flush of growth, maybe juvenile, will be possible, and unfortunately, a "sign of health" when in reality it is a sign of confusion, which is unhealthy.

so you may want to purposefully prune at a time to promote and fully grow a second flush of growth, or prune to highly discourage a second flush, perhaps pruning while dormant, in order to keep it a good rythym.

Meh, sorryfor the odd type, on the PC.

Sorce

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Mugo require a sharp cold winter. They are most healthy if they get 3 months where daytime high temperatures do not rise over 4 C. Night time lows can be as cold as -32 C, (yes negative 32 C). Mugo come from middle and high elevations of northern European mountains, near the tree line. Think skiing 8 months a year. That is mugo habitat.

Mugo are surprisingly adaptable, you might be okay, but you are borderline as to whether mugo will thrive or die.

Your hot dry summer may be as big a problem as warm winter's. Temperatures over 42 C will definitely stress the tree. Shade during bouts of 40+ C weather is essential.

If it were my tree, I would repot this autumn, sometime after the brutal heat of summer has broken, within a few weeks of the autumn equinox. Repot to the "shin" or half bare root, what ever you are comfortable with. Then allow the tree 12 months to recover. I do not repot any tree more often than once every two or three years. I never repot any tree at only 12 months interval.

If you get good growth in spring, you can do some pruning after the summer solstice. If new growth is sparse, just let it grow. You can do more the following year.

Your best time for pruning is after summer solstice.

Fertilizer mugo in early development frequently and at "normal" to somewhat dilute strength from spring thru autumn. Trees in refinement are best fertilized in autumn only. Your tree is a decade away from refinement.

Read Vance's tutorial on how to handle mugo. Remember, your climate is very different from the author's, much of your summer is too hot to work on mugo. Save summer work for early autumn. You have 3 months of growing season after the autumn equinox, so you can use the months of September and October to do your "late summer work". November and December for "autumn work".

Hope this makes sense.
Trying to translate how to adjust advice to your climate.

 

[0soyoung]

Mugo require a sharp cold winter. They are most healthy if they get 3 months where daytime high temperatures do not rise over 4 C. Night time lows can be as cold as -32 C, (yes negative 32 C). Mugo come from middle and high elevations of northern European mountains, near the tree line. Think skiing 8 months a year. That is mugo habitat.

I'm in a USDA zone 8 and can attest to mugos being every bit as healthy here as in zone 5 areas I lived in for decades. Even though it is quite mild where I am now, in terms of cold, chilling time (at less that 40F/5C) is in excess of 1,000 hours annually. Loosely speaking, mugos will thrive where Douglas fir occur naturally. There are other zone 8 places like Birmingham, AL that even though they get as cold as here or colder in winter, the accumulated number of chilling hours is insufficient --> mugo do no do well.

 

[Adair M]

Gets pretty cold and rainy temp down to 8-15 degrees celsius during winter Dec- Feb but we do get few sunny days in winter. Temp.might drop to.below 5 degrees celsius on cold stormy days and rarely below 0.donu think this will be ok ?

This is what, a Mugo Pine? They grow in the Swiss Alps, right? How cold does it get there?

 

[Japonicus]

Tutorial - Compiled Vance Wood on Mugo Pines

Compiled Posts by Vance Wood on Mugo Pines UPDATED 5/20/2018 Vance, I have gathered posts you made on B-Nut over the years from the archives. I have consolidated this info below. I appreciate your sharing your years of experience with this...

www.bonsainut.com

Mugo is the most easy to care for of any pine I've had, I'm within its' grow zone.
With the help of the above tutorial Lazylightningny put together, if you follow it
somewhat closely, you cannot go wrong. Slow, but easy tree to care for, in a mugo friendly climate.

I think @Adair M should put together such a tutorial on JWP.

 

[Adair M]

Tutorial - Compiled Vance Wood on Mugo Pines

Compiled Posts by Vance Wood on Mugo Pines UPDATED 5/20/2018 Vance, I have gathered posts you made on B-Nut over the years from the archives. I have consolidated this info below. I appreciate your sharing your years of experience with this...

www.bonsainut.com

Mugo is the most easy to care for of any pine I've had, I'm within its' grow zone.
With the help of the above tutorial Lazylightningny put together, if you follow it
somewhat closely, you cannot go wrong. Slow, but easy tree to care for, in a mugo friendly climate.

I think @Adair M should put together such a tutorial on JWP.

There’s a good bit of variance in the various cultivars of JWP that makes them a bit trickier.

I believe that a solid foundation of understanding JBP makes learning all other pines easy.

 

[maroun.c]

This is what, a Mugo Pine? They grow in the Swiss Alps, right? How cold does it get there?

That's a concern as the lowest temp we typically get are around 5 degrees Celsius (few days below that) and also few sunny days in between cold days. Any idea at what temp mugo will go dormant as I remember reading that trees that fail to go dormant will weather away after 3 years. Any idea if that's the case or at what temp mugo will go dormant. I'll make sure to have in the shade in winter so that sunny days dont wake it up.
Again tree wont freeze anyway so sap wont freeze and damage the cambium so not sure if this helps.

 

[maroun.c]

Tutorial - Compiled Vance Wood on Mugo Pines

Compiled Posts by Vance Wood on Mugo Pines UPDATED 5/20/2018 Vance, I have gathered posts you made on B-Nut over the years from the archives. I have consolidated this info below. I appreciate your sharing your years of experience with this...

www.bonsainut.com

Mugo is the most easy to care for of any pine I've had, I'm within its' grow zone.
With the help of the above tutorial Lazylightningny put together, if you follow it
somewhat closely, you cannot go wrong. Slow, but easy tree to care for, in a mugo friendly climate.

I think @Adair M should put together such a tutorial on JWP.

That is exactly what I have been looking for. Thank you for sharing. Super informative.

 

[Japonicus]

There’s a good bit of variance in the various cultivars of JWP that makes them a bit trickier.

I believe that a solid foundation of understanding JBP makes learning all other pines easy.

You're not getting out of it that easy. Now ya have to do a tutorial on JBP too
and that's really not a bad thing for the forum. Consider it community service.

 

[Adair M]

You're not getting out of it that easy. Now ya have to do a tutorial on JBP too
and that's really not a bad thing for the forum. Consider it community service.

I just wrote an epistle on Half Bare Rooting on another thread. Whew! That was exhausting!

 

[maroun.c]

I just wrote an epistle on Half Bare Rooting on another thread. Whew! That was exhausting!

Yes he did. Actually that would make.a nice template for jwp and JBP )))
Thanks again for that post @Adair M

 

[Mike Corazzi]

And at no time is a pine ever decandled.

I'm beginning to think this is the right info for ..my.. trees.
This year I decandled by cutting them back. Nipped down to leaving some older needles to feed the remains.

The double flush JBPs have done a variety of things. SOME of them made new little bud bundles. Not necessarily at every cut. One of them only budded on TWO branches.
A couple responded with new bud bunches on most branches.

The SINGLE flush I have is the Scots.
This is it at the beginning of the year. It DOES have some candles even if small and sort of hidden.



After decandling same way (not removing...just reducing)...
it has thrown about three halfass buds and remained kinda scraggly looking.




NEXT year I think I will halt LONG candles on the double flushers by not clipping but by twisting off before they harden. Maybe leave more nascent lil needles to develop into buds but not be nearly gone.

On the Scots, I think I should twist WHATEVER candles VERY MINIMALLY for same reason.
Leave more material to ...develop... over the season.

I just don't know. I do know I'm disappointed in what transpired this year.
The candle reduction was supervised by our bonsai group and the ones THEY have look way better.

Anyhow, if NO decandling is the way to go, that's what I may do. However I will NOT let them get 6-8" long before stopping them.

Don't judge picture 2 by color. It's still green but my pic is fadey.

 

[Estonio]

You have 3 months of growing season after the autumn equinox, so you can use the months of September and October to do your "late summer work". November and December for "autumn work".

Hope this makes sense.
Trying to translate how to adjust advice to your climate

Hello,

This is also very interesting topic for me, I'm glad I'm reading this post since I have read several times the Vance's guide and I was about to do some work during the summer but people here told me to wait till winter to do hard wiring and branch pruning. Possibly because they are more JBP and Scots pine' experts and have little experience with Mugos as we are not in best climate for mugos either here in Barcelona. Having said that, we have a minimum of - 3 Celsius for some days and max of 34 Celsius also for some days. Now we are in (16-26) night and day.
Considering your time conversion, how should I adapt and when do you think would be best time for me to do hard wiring and branch pruning? Note: I have repotted early spring removing only top 1/3 part of upper soil, I cleaned old needles and it grew new needles during the year.

Sorry to jump in with the question not sure if I should open a different post to talk about same topic is being covered already here.

Thanks a lot

 

[leatherback]

I'm beginning to think this is the right info for ..my.. trees.

timing and health.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I don't know how different your climate in Spain is from climate in Lebanon, I would think the timing for both areas to be fairly similar. So since you know the differences, you will have to make your own adjustments to your specific calendar.

After growth has stopped extending, that is the beginning of the time period where wiring becomes safe. During active growth the cambium tears loose more easily than during times when growth is not as active. You can wire through winter, but should stop wiring weeks before new growth begins in spring. There is a pretty wide range of time where wiring is safe to do.

Pruning is better when the tree is not dormant. That way wound healing can begin, and buds can develop so that they are fully formed before spring, so they can start growing in the first spring after the pruning. Winter pruning is too late to get new buds to grow the first spring, but you will get good response the second spring.

Scots pine is somewhat similar to mugo. There is overlap in timing as to when things can be done. Your club is not "wrong", but you can shift things more toward Vance's calendar