If you've ever killed a tree, this might make you fell better

[Adair M]

Vance,

The attraction is the pretty needles. They're naturally short, and grow in tight little tufts.

Plus, we've all seen awesome pictures of 5 needle pines in Japan.

But, I agree with you. While I do have one, they're not my favorite species.

I teach JBP classes at Plant City bonsai. Many of the students show up at the workshop with JWP trees. They think "a pine is a pine". Of course that's not true.

But they avoid the JBP because of the needle length. When I show them my JBP that have shorter needles than their 5 needle pines, then they begin to pay attention.

Many still like the white color, you can't get that in a JBP.

The truth is, most have never seen a fully refined JBP. My trees are still not as refined as they should be, but they're on their way. They are, however, far more "refined" than the trees they see in the big box nursery, and at Plant City. My students will say, "oh, well, if I could buy one like THAT..." Then I tell them that I got my stock here at Plant City, and it looked just like "those over there" when I started!

Vance, I know you like the Mugos. JBP does really well here in our climate, and mugos don't. White pines prefer higher, dryer (less humid and less rainy) weather than we have. I'll continue to be an advocate for growing what does well in your climate. My climate is similar to Brian's. I'm a little higher in elevation, so I'm a little cooler. My JWP survives, but I can't say that it thrives.

 

[Vance Wood]

There is no question that the JWP is arguably the most beautiful of Pines in color and form but growing them is not so much for everyone.

 

[mrcasey]

JWP graft failure

My understanding from Neil's video and subsequent forum discussions is that only certain types of JWP scions on JBP rootstock will certainly fail. Ko Ko Noe is one example. Ryan went on to claim that seedling varieties such as Miyajima and Shikoku, if properly grafted, would not fail.

Casey

 

[iant]

Vance's critique of my post was correct. I actually do make decisions on my trees with posterity in mind. I misspoke. I just meant to say that if I had the option of graft or no graft I would choose no graft for aesthetic reasons and not for fear of the possibility of future graft failure.
Ian
p.s. I thought the video was for Zuisho grafts...

 

[0soyoung]

There is nothing in Brian's photos and explanations that indicates a graft failure. Graft failure is separation of the root stock and scion cambiums, so there would be a distinct offset ringing the outside of the tree if this was the problem. The fashion of the tree rapidly dying from the bottom up is indicates that the xylem has been jammed up as a damage response or the roots have suddenly died. So Brian's lessons learned seem to be correct, given the symptoms.

Nevertheless, I had a grafted 'Fire glow' japanese maple that I got to strongly back bud this spring. It seemed quite vibrant and healthy; was growing well and then suddenly collapsed. In the course of a week the leaves dried and dessicated but did not fall from the tree. In the course of the next two weeks, the bark above the graft turned black and all the axillary buds were gone. The bark on the root stock remained its original rough grey.

 

[Lazylightningny]

However, when I do see those trees at the nursery that are so beautiful and they have the $1000 plus price tags, I think about what might happen.
Rob

My wife would break my face, that's what would happen.

But seriously, thanks for posting this. I cringed when I saw the progression, and can't imagine losing something so beautiful and expensive. It was a great teaching point, though, and I hope I have learned something from it.