J.B.pine videos -------- opinions
- Thread starter Anthony
- Start date
Anthony, I have watched these videos many, many times! My pines get this dense, and the processes you see, are exactly how I do my pines.
The fellow you see in the video was the grandfather of Boon’s teacher.
Thank you for posting these!
The fellow you see in the video was the grandfather of Boon’s teacher.
Thank you for posting these!
There are some things you need to be aware of when watching this video:
These are fully mature, developed, and refined trees. These techniques are NOT appropriate for trees undergoing growth or development. These are refinement and maintenance of refinement!
I see people with “stick in a pot” JBP pulling needles, when what they really need is every needle working for them!
And, also, the term they use for decandling is “bud pinching”, or “pinching the buds”. As you can see what happens is he is cutting off all the new growth. Not just the bud. And he’s doing that on July 10, so the “buds” have already gone thru the candle phase, and produced needles.
I think Mike Frary’s terminology of “shoot removal” is the most accurate sand descriptive, but here in the US, we call it “decandling”.
Also, to clarify, in the second video, he speaks of pulling needles, leaving 3, or 4, or 5 needles in different parts of the tree. Well... that’s PAIRS of needles. And leaving that few is pretty aggressive! Remember, that’s on a very refined bonsai that has lots and lots of twigs. On younger, less ramified material, that would starve the tree! I have about 2 dozen JBP, and only 4 or 5 are that highly ramified. And while I could pull needles that thin, I prefer to keep 5 to 9 pairs. 5 at the top, 7 in the middle, and 9 down low.
As you can see, maintenance of highly refined JBP is a lot of work!
I
These are fully mature, developed, and refined trees. These techniques are NOT appropriate for trees undergoing growth or development. These are refinement and maintenance of refinement!
I see people with “stick in a pot” JBP pulling needles, when what they really need is every needle working for them!
And, also, the term they use for decandling is “bud pinching”, or “pinching the buds”. As you can see what happens is he is cutting off all the new growth. Not just the bud. And he’s doing that on July 10, so the “buds” have already gone thru the candle phase, and produced needles.
I think Mike Frary’s terminology of “shoot removal” is the most accurate sand descriptive, but here in the US, we call it “decandling”.
Also, to clarify, in the second video, he speaks of pulling needles, leaving 3, or 4, or 5 needles in different parts of the tree. Well... that’s PAIRS of needles. And leaving that few is pretty aggressive! Remember, that’s on a very refined bonsai that has lots and lots of twigs. On younger, less ramified material, that would starve the tree! I have about 2 dozen JBP, and only 4 or 5 are that highly ramified. And while I could pull needles that thin, I prefer to keep 5 to 9 pairs. 5 at the top, 7 in the middle, and 9 down low.
As you can see, maintenance of highly refined JBP is a lot of work!
I
cmeg1
Imperial Masterpiece
I have been watching these too,several times!
cmeg1
Imperial Masterpiece
Also like the ones in clay pots letting the branches grow for trunk thickening....awesome stuff
Another comment: these videos were made in the 1980’s. A few things have changed: on the repotting video, it is no longer considered the best way to do the initial watering by immersing the pot in a tub of water. It’s better to water from the top until the water runs clear.
Also, DO note hiw he taps the pot with his fist to settle the soil. That works VERY well.
And they use the term “red soil”. That’s akadama! Lol!!!
Also, DO note hiw he taps the pot with his fist to settle the soil. That works VERY well.
And they use the term “red soil”. That’s akadama! Lol!!!
Anthony
Imperial Masterpiece
Sifu,
I am very grateful, for the explanatory comments.
Lends a great deal of clarity.
Hopefully some day. some day..............................................
Thankfully,
Anthony
I am very grateful, for the explanatory comments.
Lends a great deal of clarity.
Hopefully some day. some day..............................................
Thankfully,
Anthony
The tree they use for the thinning demonstration is a very famous tree, named “Fudo”. Boon worked on that tree many times in the past. That crossing root in the front was very controversial. It’s an obvious flaw that would be easy to correct by simply removing it. Mr. Suzuki refused to do it.
After he passed away, his son removed it.
It’s been nearly 40 years since that video was made, and the tree continues to improve. I’ll see if Boon has a more recent picture.
my nellie
Masterpiece
Do you happen to know whether this tree has been named "Fudo" in honour of the legendary 800 y.o. sargentii Juniper of Mr. K. Murata?
I do not know the origins of the name. The JBP Fudo is a legendary tree in itself!
Brian Van Fleet
Pretty Fly for a Bonsai Guy
It’s in one of the Bonsai Today articles translated as “Calm”. I think the owner ground-layered those thin roots on.
Edit, yep. BT #53, good article on the tree over a long time, from its collection in 1961.
Last edited:
cmeg1
Imperial Masterpiece
I knew I heard that name somewhere lol
Back before My Ipad’s And phone I used to read and Re-read a pretty big stack of Bonsai Today’s.....over and over.
Then I picked up my Classical guitar in 2007, not much time to read anymore....except music of course.
Then there will be time for bonsai though.....wiring
Anthony
Imperial Masterpiece
Sifu [ @Adair M ]
here I can try to explain why/how we don't have to tie trees
in pots.
Watching the repotting sequence.
When we add the gravel/ compost mix. it is denser, as it is 7 to 9
parts gravel and the compost has a gluing action.
Plus, 1 week in bright light, no wind.
If a tree feels as though it could tip, which is rare. a slab of stone
or concrete/brick is placed at the counter point for a period of
time.
Doing a check into the past, it was seen that originally, the rest period
after repotting, [ not bare rooting ] was 2 weeks,
Next year we will return to 2 weeks.
We only bare root when a plant comes to us in loam type soil mixes.
Good Day
Anthony
here I can try to explain why/how we don't have to tie trees
in pots.
Watching the repotting sequence.
When we add the gravel/ compost mix. it is denser, as it is 7 to 9
parts gravel and the compost has a gluing action.
Plus, 1 week in bright light, no wind.
If a tree feels as though it could tip, which is rare. a slab of stone
or concrete/brick is placed at the counter point for a period of
time.
Doing a check into the past, it was seen that originally, the rest period
after repotting, [ not bare rooting ] was 2 weeks,
Next year we will return to 2 weeks.
We only bare root when a plant comes to us in loam type soil mixes.
Good Day
Anthony
Sorry, Anthony, all that is just an excuse for poor workmanship.
Anthony
Imperial Masterpiece
Anthony
Imperial Masterpiece
I think Sifu,
what makes the difference is our air temperature, it is between
90 to 70 deg F, and humidity is 80% with rain and as low as
45 % with no rain.On hills there are usually breezes.
No air conditioners in use here - a simple fan once in a while.
Additionally any highs over 90 deg.F only last 30 to 15 minutes.
So there is nothing to really stop regeneration of roots.
Plus we repot in the dry season [ no rain ] at the beginning
of an often 6 month period.
So we can control the watering.
In the later 70;s I experienced weather in summer, Houston,
Texas, in the 80's Miami and Philadelphia.
Ever wonder why I stick to Trinidad / England ?
Here is an early image of a little guy tied into his pot.
He now has quite a few more branches.
Good Day
Anthony
Pot will never be heavy enough to be stable.
what makes the difference is our air temperature, it is between
90 to 70 deg F, and humidity is 80% with rain and as low as
45 % with no rain.On hills there are usually breezes.
No air conditioners in use here - a simple fan once in a while.
Additionally any highs over 90 deg.F only last 30 to 15 minutes.
So there is nothing to really stop regeneration of roots.
Plus we repot in the dry season [ no rain ] at the beginning
of an often 6 month period.
So we can control the watering.
In the later 70;s I experienced weather in summer, Houston,
Texas, in the 80's Miami and Philadelphia.
Ever wonder why I stick to Trinidad / England ?
Here is an early image of a little guy tied into his pot.
He now has quite a few more branches.
Good Day
Anthony
Pot will never be heavy enough to be stable.
Tsk, tsk...
If you’re trying to do “Redneck bonsai”, you’ve got a LONG learning curve ahead of you!
It HAS to involve duct tape and/or WD-40, or even better, both!
Anthony
Imperial Masterpiece
Hah hah red neck bonsai, now that is new 
How about this other extreme -
Ling Nan Fukien tea.
Now remember our Island grown trees are gentle, informal and heavy of
canopy.
When I saw this, I wanted to take out the shoots jammed on
each other, open air spaces, and seal all wounds.
Fukien tea wood never becomes durable and I am not a fan of
epoxy.
In other words , Sifu, trees in Trinidad are different to those of
the US, China,Japan and so on.
So we have to evolve our locals into pleasing shapes.
Hopefully not we thing or redneck bonsai.
Thanks for commenting
Slow turtle,
Anthony
How about this other extreme -
Ling Nan Fukien tea.
Now remember our Island grown trees are gentle, informal and heavy of
canopy.
When I saw this, I wanted to take out the shoots jammed on
each other, open air spaces, and seal all wounds.
Fukien tea wood never becomes durable and I am not a fan of
epoxy.
In other words , Sifu, trees in Trinidad are different to those of
the US, China,Japan and so on.
So we have to evolve our locals into pleasing shapes.
Hopefully not we thing or redneck bonsai.
Thanks for commenting
Slow turtle,
Anthony
I don’t do Fukien Tea. Nor any tropicals. Even ficus.
I don’t do anything that requires a greenhouse.
The only thing I do that’s even close is olive. And even those, I have to bring inside when we get freezing weather.
Anthony, you started this thread to be about Japanese Black Pines. You are hijacking your own thread now changing to topic to tropical trees.
You can whatever you want with your native trees. They won’t grow here without a greenhouse, therefore, I’m not interested.
If you want to continue to discuss JBP, we can continue.
I don’t do anything that requires a greenhouse.
The only thing I do that’s even close is olive. And even those, I have to bring inside when we get freezing weather.
Anthony, you started this thread to be about Japanese Black Pines. You are hijacking your own thread now changing to topic to tropical trees.
You can whatever you want with your native trees. They won’t grow here without a greenhouse, therefore, I’m not interested.
If you want to continue to discuss JBP, we can continue.
