End of season update on some spring collections - Piñon Pine

Colorado

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Mine was doing so well I went ahead gave it an initial styling. Only removed a few branches completely un needed and left several that will eventually be cut. I didn’t want to remove too much at once. In particular the two lowest branches. Next spring will be year 2 in the pond basket so I will probs be repotting into an actual ceramic pot.
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Oh yeah! Looks awesome! Love this design!
 

Hartinez

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Oh yeah! Looks awesome! Love this design!
Thanks TJ! I couldn’t help myself! I did this a little over a month ago and within 2 weeks I had wire biting in. It’ll be interesting to see what the roots look like come spring.
 

Colorado

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Thanks TJ! I couldn’t help myself! I did this a little over a month ago and within 2 weeks I had wire biting in. It’ll be interesting to see what the roots look like come spring.

Yes I will be very interested about the roots! I am being conservative with mine 😬. It is super healthy this year but I was planning to give it one more year in the box just to play it safe!

But now I’m tempted to do a little work on it 🤠
 

Hartinez

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Yes I will be very interested about the roots! I am being conservative with mine 😬. It is super healthy this year but I was planning to give it one more year in the box just to play it safe!

But now I’m tempted to do a little work on it 🤠
The work I did was awfullly minimal. I know they say wiring is stressful to the tree but it went down as smooth as I could have asked for, and I removed such a small amount of foliage. I feel like you could as long as you kept it simple! Just set structure and no Mas.
 

Hartinez

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First repot! Roots looked great. Lots of michroriza especially inside the rootball. I had been planning this arrangement on this lava rock I dished out. I also included some hedgehog cactus from the same area and this is all native mosses from the same area. A second styling will happen sometime this year as long as it’s ready.22E63350-3102-4929-A888-00A7005CD4BA.jpeg82E03FD2-FF3F-4171-A38C-7669B3BD6B34.jpegFB3D79F1-40ED-4C4D-ACD0-F99A03DBB94F.jpegF30E65D6-5272-406A-B308-CB08FB259A44.jpeg
 

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jevanlewis

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I'd like to join the Pinyon party! (I think it's a Pinyon. Can you all help me confirm?)

I collected this in late September of 2021 in Wyoming (under permit). It was growing in pure pine duff in a rock pocket. I had to cut a massive tap root that was 6' long, but it had lots of feeder roots closer to the base that I was able to keep. I potted it into straight pumice, but the pot is probably 60% original roots+duff. I'd like to repot to replace some of the duff and large roots with more pumice, but I think I will give it one more year to strengthen.

Regarding design, the biggest challenge is the legginess. I could see myself removing either one of the large horizontal branches, but I could also see a design that keeps both. Also, this one will need several jins.

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ShadyStump

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I'd like to join the Pinyon party! (I think it's a Pinyon. Can you all help me confirm?)

I collected this in late September of 2021 in Wyoming (under permit). It was growing in pure pine duff in a rock pocket. I had to cut a massive tap root that was 6' long, but it had lots of feeder roots closer to the base that I was able to keep. I potted it into straight pumice, but the pot is probably 60% original roots+duff. I'd like to repot to replace some of the duff and large roots with more pumice, but I think I will give it one more year to strengthen.

Regarding design, the biggest challenge is the legginess. I could see myself removing either one of the large horizontal branches, but I could also see a design that keeps both. Also, this one will need several jins.

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Yup, pinus edulus, two needle piñon pine.
I have actually seen these things in the wild pushing new buds from the trunk! I wouldn't go so far as to place a bet on it happening, but it's a thing for sure. As far as conifers go, they bud back very well.

I've had horrible luck with them, mostly due to crap geology - those long running roots will go 10 or 20 feet into a tiny rock crevice around here - but also lackluster after care, and the new dog.
 

jevanlewis

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Yup, pinus edulus, two needle piñon pine.
I have actually seen these things in the wild pushing new buds from the trunk! I wouldn't go so far as to place a bet on it happening, but it's a thing for sure. As far as conifers go, they bud back very well.

I've had horrible luck with them, mostly due to crap geology - those long running roots will go 10 or 20 feet into a tiny rock crevice around here - but also lackluster after care, and the new dog.

Great info. Thank you. Did backbudding require heavy pruning (always leaving some needles on the branch, of course)?
 

ShadyStump

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Great info. Thank you. Did backbudding require heavy pruning (always leaving some needles on the branch, of course)?
Like I said, terrible luck, so I can't give much detail. You certainly don't want to treat it like a deciduous, pruning hard and expecting new growth to pop all over. And absolutely DO NOT remove all your new candles. That will kill a pine outright.
I can say back budding is a matter of a very healthy and vigorous tree with roots that outpace the top growth. I believe there's a strategy to getting them to back bud reliably.

There are a couple of guys in the Rocky Mountain Bonsai Society that put together a fairly comprehensive treatise on pinus edulus. I found it on the RMBS website once, then got a new phone and haven't been able to find it again. Maybe you'll have better luck.
 
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