Fonz's Black Pine contest entry

Gianfranco

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Baked Danish clay mixed with some Kiryu, lava and zeolyte.
My next mix will probably be 40/40/20 akadama/pumice/lava
Thank you Fonz, I am trying to avoid akadama/ japanese soils in my new mixes, I think experimenting how DE/ baked danish clay will perform instead (I've ordered some Sanicat Pink , lets see)
 

Fonz

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So I guess this is the end of growing season #2 in my part of the world.
I just sold 35 JBP's that didn't make it to the last round. All good pine seedlings but too much to grow with my limited space. Now I have 33 left that will go into year 3.
Since I live in Western Europe the are a lot smaller (but denser) than other people's pines in this contest. Still I'm pleased with the results so far.
Most of them are about 7-9 inches in height.

1. The "winner" batch. The ones in the clay pots are Mikawa's. No stem-cuttings done on them. Going to let them grow to be bigger trees.

P1050251.JPG

2. My best one, the one I showed you in the previous post. Notice the increase in needle density.

P1050249.JPG

3. Another one in which I already put a bend. Sacrifice branch is starting to elongate.

P1050248.JPG

4. Not sure why I took a picture of this one. Probably because digital images don't cost a thing :p

P1050244.JPG
 

rollwithak

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So I guess this is the end of growing season #2 in my part of the world.
I just sold 35 JBP's that didn't make it to the last round. All good pine seedlings but too much to grow with my limited space. Now I have 33 left that will go into year 3.
Since I live in Western Europe the are a lot smaller (but denser) than other people's pines in this contest. Still I'm pleased with the results so far.
Most of them are about 7-9 inches in height.

1. The "winner" batch. The ones in the clay pots are Mikawa's. No stem-cuttings done on them. Going to let them grow to be bigger trees.

View attachment 267389

2. My best one, the one I showed you in the previous post. Notice the increase in needle density.

View attachment 267393

3. Another one in which I already put a bend. Sacrifice branch is starting to elongate.

View attachment 267395

4. Not sure why I took a picture of this one. Probably because digital images don't cost a thing :p

View attachment 267397

Wicked plants man! Happy to see such results were achieved.
 

rollwithak

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Ok, next batch arrived. This one came from TreeSeeds.com. I ordered 50 seeds but got a bag with 700-800 seeds it seems. I guess the guys over at treeseeds.com are getting tired of counting all those JBP seeds we are ordering for the contest :)

This is what was in the enveloppe:
View attachment 167810

I started counting them. Got to 100 (what's in the bag) and then gave up. F*cking A!
View attachment 167811


That’s funny! I specifically asked for the instructions in the “delivery instruction space it provides, and they DIDNT send me the instructions LOL LOL LOL
 

rollwithak

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Ok, 60 days after I put my first batch in the fridge it's now time to sow them.

Ofcourse I made another silly blog post about how I put seeds in some soil: https://shumibonsai.wordpress.com/2018/03/03/japanese-black-pine-from-seed-2018-sowing-the-seeds/

Since last night there was some snow it's better to keep the trays indoors for some more weeks. Temperatures should go up to 12°C/54°F as of today but still...

Seeds out of the fridge
24 from seedrack.com
70 from treeseedonline.com
139 from eBay seller pandoragarden
View attachment 180014

Seeds in the ground:
View attachment 180015View attachment 180016


Do any of the seeds sprout little buds while soaking in the paper towel for 2 months?
 

rollwithak

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I took the 9 strongest looking seedlings from my first batch and did the cutting thingy today. The rest has to wait for another week or so...

View attachment 189561

Can you explain "the cutting thing" I was under the impression that these were all grown from seed, but I'm realizing now that you are talking about cuttings. Feel free to shoot me a private message if you don't want to fill your post with this topic.
 

Fonz

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So would you say your cuttings or seedlings were the strongest?
The ones I didn't cut grew a bit stronger in the first season since they didnt have to put their energy in producing new roots. Now I can't really tell the difference.
 

rollwithak

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Ok, 60 days after I put my first batch in the fridge it's now time to sow them.

Ofcourse I made another silly blog post about how I put seeds in some soil: https://shumibonsai.wordpress.com/2018/03/03/japanese-black-pine-from-seed-2018-sowing-the-seeds/

Since last night there was some snow it's better to keep the trays indoors for some more weeks. Temperatures should go up to 12°C/54°F as of today but still...

Seeds out of the fridge
24 from seedrack.com
70 from treeseedonline.com
139 from eBay seller pandoragarden
View attachment 180014

Seeds in the ground:
View attachment 180015View attachment 180016
I'm curious, i know in your blog you showed that you used your bonsai mix under the sand.... Is it imparitive to use that for this stage of the process or is there a cheaper option one could use? Especially if I plan on making cuttings out of these....
 

Fonz

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I'm curious, i know in your blog you showed that you used your bonsai mix under the sand.... Is it imparitive to use that for this stage of the process or is there a cheaper option one could use? Especially if I plan on making cuttings out of these....
For another batch I used a standard seedling starter potting soil bought at the local plant shop. They turned out just fine too :)
 

Fonz

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Alright, the last couple of days I spent 10 hours in total repotting my trees for the contest. 22 with twisted trunks, 4 with no wire and 1 neagari. 27 in total.

P1050682.JPG

Wire is starting to bite in good on a couple ones already. Might redo the wiring so the lower part of the trunk fattens too (Thanx for the tip @dirk hoorelbeke ).

P1050685.JPG

I also did 1 neagari project. Tried a couple last year with 1 year old seedlings but those failed. Maybe a 2 year old seedling is a bit stronger.

P1050686.JPG
 
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