Florida Slash pine Pinus elliottii

Native Tree12

Yamadori
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I am jumping in with slash pine I found some nice one gallon at a nursery ..Yes a plastic storage bin pine forest.I read a few of the older forums ..I gave them a little hair cut ..No shaping, some root teasing My objective
is to keep them alive for now IMG_2517.jpgIMG_2516.jpg
 

Leo in N E Illinois

The Professor
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This pine, P. elliottii has very long needles. It is in the same sub-genus as loblolly pine, and pitch pine, but has longer needles than both of them. Because of needle length, they will be difficult to make a convincing bonsai. But if you enjoy growing them, keeping them healthy is "good training" for working with better species for bonsai, such as Pitch pine, P. rigida, or even Loblolly pine, P. taeda. You could trim the needles to just 2 inches, doing so will always leave brown needle tips, but it will allow you to "see" how they would look styled as pine bonsai. Or you could leave them wild and bushy, the way they naturally grow. I like that P. ellioti develops corky bark on fairly young trees. This is an interesting trait.
 

Native Tree12

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Thank you Leo ..Yeah i had a chance to get these and took it .I understand other shorter needle varities are better ..Loblolly pine is not around here ,,I did give them a haircut I will probably also remove the candles after they grow some .I will cut more after they are in the pot a bit ..I will probably even try laying one on its side in a more dramatic fashion ..Yes the bark is nice ..
I really do appreciate the comments of the fuller look ..who knows where I go with them ..Like I said start by keeping them alive

That is one of the reasons I really Like Peter Chan he thinks of the trees by not over trimming

We also have the sand pine that does not like to be transplanted but with shorter needles ..I am kind of kicking myself I had a chance to get a a sand pine top grafted onto a slash pine root stock
it looked amazing a couple yrs ago
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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In Florida, Japanese black pine usually do well. They tolerate some salt spray, and they do not need a lot of "winter chill" to have healthy spring growth. Our Florida members can talk about how far south into Florida you can grow JBP. The JBP is the "gold standard" for pines to use for bonsai. If you decide they do well in your area, why not try JBP.

It is always fun to "test" or "play with" native species, even if they are not particularly suited for bonsai.
 

Native Tree12

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Thanks Leo ..Yeah I was looking at the pines more this am ..comparing them to the ones I have in the yard ,If I could drop a branch or two ..shorten the needles
create a little pad effect ? who knows how they will take the trimming thats why I'm going slow .. it may look ok

I wish I had taken a pic of the Sand pine ..slash pine root stock combo ..it was fantastic ..the slash pine definitely has a shorter needle

Yes I love the JBP ..being south of Tampa I thought it would be much to warm for them. I will look at them some more ..but I am also still working on two Bald cypress and a simpson stopper
that needs trimming ..

Thank you for the info and ideas ..I'll see how it goes ..
 

Native Tree12

Yamadori
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In Florida, Japanese black pine usually do well. They tolerate some salt spray, and they do not need a lot of "winter chill" to have healthy spring growth. Our Florida members can talk about how far south into Florida you can grow JBP. The JBP is the "gold standard" for pines to use for bonsai. If you decide they do well in your area, why not try JBP.

It is always fun to "test" or "play with" native species, even if they are not particularly suited for bonsai.

Hi Leo
Well a few weeks later the slash pine did look to respond favorably to the trimming of the needles ..so I planted 2 of them in my yard and kept a third thats is kind of an odd size and growth and Ill see how that one does in its new position I place it ..So the early test for me was a negative for slash pine..obviously this is my own reaction to what I saw, and I had room in my yard for 2 more IMG_2638.jpg
 

Potawatomi13

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Different genes. Check to see if it had its pants on😜? Looks like a grass clump. Woody grass.
 

Native Tree12

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Yeah..the way I took the pic makes it worse ..It definitely has a trunk a curved one at that ..I am resisting trimming to expose more of it keeping what branches it has to help it ..
 

Leo in N E Illinois

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A number of long needle pines go through a phase as a seedling where they really are shaggy, and have a grassy look. Like grass on a stick. In fact for the Longleaf pine, I think it is officially called the "grass stage". "Cousin It" look is perfectly normal for seedling pine with long needles. Developing branches and ramification will change this. I was teasing more than critisizing.
 

Native Tree12

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A number of long needle pines go through a phase as a seedling where they really are shaggy, and have a grassy look. Like grass on a stick. In fact for the Longleaf pine, I think it is officially called the "grass stage". "Cousin It" look is perfectly normal for seedling pine with long needles. Developing branches and ramification will change this. I was teasing more than critisizing.


No problem I enjoyed the cousin it comment ..Yes Longleaf are beautiful trees ..they are trying to replant them every where ..I just donated to Florida state parks for longleaf restoration last month


 
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