EWP gets a new pot today

[Japonicus]

Yes this is the nebari from hell. I lost its sister from overworking it in 2019 had been in ground ~ 10 yrs on a tile.
This one just always had that ugly appeal to it, and has been in a pot most of its life.


Here in 2008 it was in the ground, but whether in a pot for the Winter I don't recall.
I had drawn on here to get some guidance via email + tele support with John Romano at the time.


a bit of difference in the bark over time...


...this was the trunk in '08


Then this is it going into today.






Ok so it's a mica pot, 17.5" mica pot at that, but it's the 1st bonsai pot it has ever been in.

Not going into a rain n wane @sorce but if I wait till the end of the month for the wane, I will have missed
the opportunity yet another year to do this.

 

[Japonicus]

Both of these dishes were full of the roots and soil I removed today.


I don't recall ever seeing mycorrhizae fungi like this before

 

[Orion_metalhead]

As a percentage, how much of the root ball did you remove in this repot?

 

[Potawatomi13]

Nice tree. Please continue good work.

 

[Potawatomi13]

I don't recall ever seeing mycorrhizae fungi like this before

Roots from weeds in pot? Have seen many of these personally.

 

[Japonicus]

As a percentage, how much of the root ball did you remove in this repot?

I knew I was missing taking a picture
I’m going to go with 65% maybe 70 at most. When raked out they fluff up a lot.
Didn’t need the concave cutter at all. Surprisingly the bottom 2/3 of the roots
had good moisture, top 1/3 was dry.

 

[Japonicus]

Roots from weeds in pot? Have seen many of these personally.

Similar to weed roots, but was even in the bottom of the pot.
I thought the same thing until I started cutting the bottom roots.
Notice the root ball on the bottom, above where I had just popped it out of the pot

 

[just.wing.it]

Pioneering the EWP!
Mine died last year.....over-worked as well.

The needles look quite short! Very cool!

 

[Japonicus]

Pioneering the EWP!
Mine died last year.....over-worked as well.

The needles look quite short! Very cool!

I'm sorry, didn't mean to be misleading. I failed to mention this is a dwarf cultivar
but which one I don't know. I probably didn't have them more than a year or 2 before my 1st pictures in '08.

WP in ground "style" too far gone ?

I'm not very good with pines at all, but they live. I lost my 1st pine, a BP to needle cast early this Summer and I get so confused on techniques that a workshop, no, many workshops, is the only way I'm ever going to learn techniques with confidence. There are no bonsai clubs/workshops near me...

www.bonsainut.com

Here's the thread ^ where I overworked the one in ground. The difference in girth is remarkable.
I am forever ashamed of killing that tree.
I said a prayer over this one, one week till waning moon now, hard freeze tonight and tomorrow.
Shoot, it's snowing now in the mid 30's winds to gust to up to 40 mph.
Repotting brings out my worst paranoia.

 

[Japonicus]

As a percentage, how much of the root ball did you remove in this repot?

Since I forgot to take a pic of that, this is the next best guestimate I can make.
From here I also raked and root hooked out the edges somewhat too, so 70-ish %.
Is that ok?

Still a bit of dirt in the crown I haven't felt safe enough to remove yet, but I did
rake it down some and removed what weeds I could.
@Potawatomi13 here you can see the mycorrhizae. I added a few handfuls of old soil back in and a few clumps
of the fungi hoping that inoculates it some.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

So you did your repot with this tree as the candles just started extending, right? Im looking to work mine this year after a year and a half rest from collection. Grew well last year.

 

[Japonicus]

So you did your repot with this tree as the candles just started extending, right? Im looking to work mine this year after a year and a half rest from collection. Grew well last year.

Yes, could have been 10 days earlier than when I did but still in the window.
Root tips turn white = safe window opened. This occurs 7-10 days before candles begin to extend.
Candles opening signals window closing. I've purchased another dwarf in the meantime.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Thanks! Still learning the timing for coniferous material.

 

[vancehanna]

Not bad for a natty EWP....I'll take if you're looking to unload her.

 

[vancehanna]

In the last weeks of needle reduction so here’s the near final layer of cut candles

 

[Japonicus]

Not bad for a natty EWP....I'll take if you're looking to unload her.

Thanks Vance. Sorry for the delayed response, not sure what happened
but I forgot to reply. No, this is not one I'm wanting to sell.

In the meantime since, I've potted up another dwarf EWP, 'Niagara Falls'
I got at Mountain Meadows nursery last year.





That was April, 17th this year...


...and again today. Candles continuing to extend.
So if EWP wasn't bad enough, this Niagara Falls has a weeping habit when left to itself.
Nothing I can do about the crazy back side roots except place a rock in front of
or mound the soil up to them.

 

[vancehanna]

Wow Japonicus! The first tree will make a fine bonsai one day. The second with the large graft will take a bit of carving and work to get the graft into a position where it blends better with the indigenous P. Strobus's trunk. But I'm confident it will be fine.
Today I removed the balance of the the candles at the top. This was after three weeks of waiting and shortening the top a few times. The lower branches and middle branches had finally produced equal size mini-buds approx 1~1.5mm so now the top branches and crown were removed. I'm trying a "new" idea in that to fill in more of the crown, some smaller appurtenant buds had popped on the bare branches so I've let them go hoping they won't get to long....cuz I'm hoping to show this girl this year.....

 

[Japonicus]

The second with the large graft will take a bit of carving and work to get the graft into a position where it blends better

Thanks Vance! I'm planning on long term for the bark to do this (blend).

It appears you're cutting the new shoot or late candle entirely at its base.
Must be you I recall speaking of doing this with EWP, I really don't recall the conversation.
I do remember Julian Adams telling me he uses Bloom Booster to help promote back budding
Summer through Fall though.
I just finished pinching the candles back on mine last week.
As with my JWP, I reduce down to the 25% mark if the branch and candle is strong.
But with the EWP, the new shoot continues to elongate, though partially stunted like 3" instead of 5" needles.
Some candles however, probably from back buds sport rather short needles for the species, <2".

Yours has always looked great, hope it does well in the show

 

[vancehanna]

The Naka Book shows some work done on transitions with scaring the trunk in the direction of the grain. I've done this quite successfully years ago on a JBP that is grafted. It is more vigorous than the understock on one 1/3 of the circumference and I've been scarring with a very sharp pointed knife. It is slowly fattening with this so I'd be careful in how much you do as it appears that the understock is a bit more robust than the scion above.

On the other note: Yes I completely remove the candle at the base when the time is right.

And thanks, hope she gets in.....

 

[Japonicus]

1st stage of work thif Fall after a bit of weeding. Just cleaned out dead needles for today.

The bottom right branch looks like it needs to go jin.
Will reassess that next Fall.
Might hold off after seeing how it looks thinned and wired and next years growth. Hope to remove and replace the current wire in a couple of weeks.