Help with Japanese black pine

[thomscot]

Hello,
It’s my first post and I hope this is the right place.

For my birthday someone gave me a beautiful 35 years old Japanese black pine (黒松 in Japanese. Ah, I live in Tokyo by the way).

Now... I don’t know anything about bonsai and I really don’t want to let this guy die.

I would like to ask you some general guidelines about how to take care of this tree. Forgive me if some questions sound terribly stupid.

1) Is it better to keep it indoor or outdoor? (I suppose outdoor).

2) My balcony faces east, and there is a lot of light until the afternoon. Is it ok to keep the tree under direct sunlight? Or better in the shadows?

3) Water. How much? How often? Directly on the roots or with a spray? Or both? How long can it stay without? Do I have to worry if I’m not home for more than 2 or 3 days? How to handle it in that case?

4) Any other important thing to know (at least for the basics) not covered above?

I attach a couple of photos to give an idea of the plant.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Welcome. This needs to stay outdoors all the time, in as much sun as you can give it.
Here is a resource on watering: https://www.bonsainut.com/resources/watering-bonsai-trees.10/
There is lots written here about JBP by me, @markyscott and @Adair M. Do a search. If you like our results, follow our steps. We three pretty closely agree on how to handle them, so you won’t get much conflicting information.

 

[coachspinks]

Hello,
It’s my first post and I hope this is the right place.

For my birthday someone gave me a beautiful 35 years old Japanese black pine (黒松 in Japanese. Ah, I live in Tokyo by the way).

Now... I don’t know anything about bonsai and I really don’t want to let this guy die.

I would like to ask you some general guidelines about how to take care of this tree. Forgive me if some questions sound terribly stupid.

1) Is it better to keep it indoor or outdoor? (I suppose outdoor).

2) My balcony faces east, and there is a lot of light until the afternoon. Is it ok to keep the tree under direct sunlight? Or better in the shadows?

3) Water. How much? How often? Directly on the roots or with a spray? Or both? How long can it stay without? Do I have to worry if I’m not home for more than 2 or 3 days? How to handle it in that case?

4) Any other important thing to know (at least for the basics) not covered above?

I attach a couple of photos to give an idea of the plant.

View attachment 231965View attachment 231966

Follow Brian's advice and if it is at all possible, find a local bonsai expert to help you out. Even if it is just on this one tree.

 

[Adair M]

Outside.
Full sun.
Water the roots. Daily.
If out of town for short period, move it to shade if hot weather so it doesn’t dry out. Out of town for long period, find someone to water it for you.
Take some classes on bonsai.

 

[R3x]

1. Outdoor. Definitely.
2. Sunlight. Trees/plants need sunlight to produce nutrition (sugars) by mean of photosynthesis. The other needed things are: water and carbon dioxide (from air).
3. When the substrate gets dry. With small containers like that probably daily. In the summer maybe twice daily. When you're away? There are auto-watering solutions - some as simple as upside-down turned plastic bottle. Try searching.
4. The tree will need some fertilizer. It will also need pruning/maintenance. Best probably if you look for someone who will first take care of it and teach you how to do it later.

 

[Nanuk]

Welcome. This needs to stay outdoors all the time, in as much sun as you can give it.
Here is a resource on watering: https://www.bonsainut.com/resources/watering-bonsai-trees.10/
There is lots written here about JBP by me, @markyscott and @Adair M. Do a search. If you like our results, follow our steps. We three pretty closely agree on how to handle them, so you won’t get much conflicting information.

Outside.
Full sun.
Water the roots. Daily.
If out of town for short period, move it to shade if hot weather so it doesn’t dry out. Out of town for long period, find someone to water it for you.
Take some classes on bonsai.

Listen to these guys and you won't go wrong.
Good luck with your tree.

 

[Dav4]

It would help to know where you are to fine tune any advise... please fill the info out so we all can see it. That's a very nice tree to be cutting your teeth with... let's do this right!

 

[R3x]

It would help to know where you are to fine tune any advise... please fill the info out so we all can see it. That's a very nice tree to be cutting your teeth with... let's do this right!

He says in his post he lives in Tokyo.

 

[Dav4]

He says in his post he lives in Tokyo.

Thanks, just saw that. He needs to put it in his profile, too...

 

[thomscot]

Thanks, just saw that. He needs to put it in his profile, too...

Yeah sorry will update the profile. I’m new to the forum and signed up just because I received this tree.

Anyway yeah, I’m in Tokyo so there are 4 well distinct seasons. Summers can be very hot and humid, and winters quite cold with occasional snows, but temperature hardly goes below zero.

As I also mentioned, my balcony faces East. I’m on the 9th floor with quite an open space in front so there is plenty of direct sunlight from d

 

[0soyoung]

Tokyo is a USDA hardiness zone 10
Kinda like San Francisco, though a bit warmer in summer.