Do I pluck needles from Japanese Red Pine?

[aredsfan]

I ordered this seedling back in the spring. In mid July I clipped the candle, and got alot of back budding. Now do I still need to pluck the old needles, and if so when? andy

 

[aredsfan]

more pics

Here are some pics of the jrp.

 

[darrellw]

Red pine can be treated much like JBP, but your tree is quite a ways away from needing that kind of care. Just let it grow now, you have a lot of new branches started, but it just needs to grow out now.

-Darrell

 

[aredsfan]

so they don't need to be plucked to allow more light in? That comes as the tree gets bigger?

 

[Chris Johnston]

Darrell is correct. Aside from your first candle cut, you won't be doing much candling for a while, either. I would wire this one to get some movement in the trunk. You can do that best in Feb. or March before it gets too active.

 

[aredsfan]

thanks guys.

 

[Graydon]

Hey Andy - is that growing in pure pine or fir bark? How's that working out? Seems to be in cute little pond baskets too. Cool.

 

[aredsfan]

I took and just pot slipped it into the pond basket. I have a small pond and some sitting around. Its a mixture of pine bark, and lava rock, with its original soil. I have all of 5 of my trees in the pond baskets. Seems to be doing well. We will see how it does through the winter. Im going to mulch around it. andy