Dalmatian Black Pine #1

[Walter Pall]

This species is extremely rare. The last picture is a virtual. If I find the right pot it will look like this in April 2019.

 

[Walter Pall]

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[Walter Pall]

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[Potawatomi13]

Love rare trees and great start.

 

[Walter Pall]

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[peterbone]

Where did this rare tree come from? Did someone collect it from the wild?

 

[Walter Pall]

Where did this rare tree come from? Did someone collect it from the wild?

It came form a nursery.

 

[peterbone]

OK. A nursery in Croatia? I see that they only grow in a few locations in Croatia. Interesting read about them here.
https://gohvarblog.com/2016/03/21/saving-the-dalmatian-black-pine/

 

[Walter Pall]

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[Lazylightningny]

Walter, it's nice to see your progressions from nursery material. For those of us who can't afford primo collected material, this is very encouraging. I really like the slab it's in now; nicely evokes the feeling of the tree in it's natural setting.

Please tell us how you handled the roots from purchase in the nursery pot to repotting into a bonsai pot with modern substrate. Was it done in stages? How many years between handling the roots each time? Etc.

 

[Walter Pall]

The roots were never cut. I just somehow stuff them into the new container. Roots on conifers should only be cut if absolutely necessary.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

It has such short needles! Do you treat it as a single flush pine?

 

[Lazylightningny]

The roots were never cut. I just somehow stuff them into the new container. Roots on conifers should only be cut if absolutely necessary.

How did you go from nursery soil to bonsai soil?

 

[bonhe]

OK. A nursery in Croatia? I see that they only grow in a few locations in Croatia. Interesting read about them here.
https://gohvarblog.com/2016/03/21/saving-the-dalmatian-black-pine/

Thanks for the link. It is very interesting that it looks similar to Huangshan pine. Now I understand why American Conifer Society states Huangshan pine is similar to Pinus thunbergii and Pinus nigra

Hi Mr Pall, the tree has been developing very well.
Thụ Thoại

 

[Walter Pall]

How did you go from nursery soil to bonsai soil?

No problem, shaking out nursery substrate, stuffing everything into a smaller pot and filling with bonsai substrate.

 

[Lazylightningny]

No problem, shaking out nursery substrate, stuffing everything into a smaller pot and filling with bonsai substrate.

When you say shaking it out, are you literally shaking it, or working it carefully, bare rooting with a chopstick? I mean, you can't get rid of all the nursery substrate by shaking the tree. Or am I infringing on a trade secret?

 

[Walter Pall]

You seem tho think that nursery substrate is something very special. It can be anything, whatever the nursery is using. In Europe they they often use gravel for pines This can be shaken out and replaced by modern substrate. Good substrates can be just shaken out even after many years. That's one of the big advantages. No need to carefully bare rooting. t can be done in less than a minute.

 

[Lazylightningny]

You seem tho think that nursery substrate is something very special. It can be anything, whatever the nursery is using. In Europe they they often use gravel for pines This can be shaken out and replaced by modern substrate. Good substrates can be just shaken out even after many years. That's one of the big advantages. No need to carefully bare rooting. t can be done in less than a minute.

Ok, I understand. Because here in the States, the nurseries use a very water-holding organic mix, and it's important to get the plant out of that substrate as soon as possible. Sometimes the mixture will have more pine bark in it, but there's no nursery substrate here that can be shaken out that I've ever seen. Sounds like the nurseries in Europe are a little more forward-thinking than here. Thanks for your comments.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

And in some cases they are balled in burlap in field soil which can be anything from sandy loam to clay—try shaking that out!

 

[Vance Wood]

I am sure I am wrong on some level but I have come to discover over the years that the ideas about soil and a host of other issues are not as critical as they once seemed. As I have said around here for many years repotting in summer is not out of the question for a host of trees, and the use of organics is not out of the question as some think. You have to open your mind and shut your mouth, and let others tell you what they have done. It is when they fail that you start to question their practices. Walter has some wonderful ideas unconventional and wonderful--worth trying and asking questions about.