Japanese Black Pine Assistance

[Fluffyyyzzz]

Hi Everyone,

I will start this off with a disclaimer, I am very new to creating and working on my own bonsai.

I've bought a few nursery stock trees that I am practicing on but came across a trident maple on market place and the very cool dude threw im a free JBP when I've told him I've been looking for one and am struggling to find one.

Basically the just of my post is to maybe please ask for some advice on what can be done and repotting as I will explain. I think the tree is about 2-3 years old and it's starting to produce buds. Just to take into account I am in South Africa and currently in the heart of summer. I have heard of decandling which apparently promotes new grows and branches but I also don't want a "short" tree and would like to get it to decent size. Do I need to decandle as you can see there are quite a few buds.

Secondly, the pot apparently hasn't been dropped or anything but it's cracked and he mentioned it could be the roots. I'm not sure as I'm to scared to check because I've fallen for this little dude. If I were to slip repot into a bigger pot at this time of year would it cause any lasting damage or slow down the growth during the next season.

Lastly, I want to find out if it is okay to wire a JBP now as I just want to get a bit more shape into it before it becomes more difficult to do so.

 

[The Barber]

I'd just pull the root ball out of the pot and epoxy the crack and then pop the tree back in.

 

[bwaynef]

You don't need to do much of anything right now. Decandling promotes ramification and shorter internodes (and backbudding), but you can accomplish that while also allowing the trunk to thicken by letting that tall branch to run. In the fall (early dormancy), wire the trunk and position that tall branch so it doesn't shade what's below.

I'd repot in the spring and sort the roots then. Use inorganic, well-draining soil. Ordinarily you don't bareroot pines, but I don't think a tree this young would have any problems handling it.

Also, you might want to look up Terry Erasmus who I believe hails from South Africa.

 

[TrevorLarsen]

I would just start watching YouTube there is a ton of info about black pines, also they are quite strong trees so they can take a lot of work if you do it right.

 

[Bonsai Forest]

Japanese Black Pine Bonsai

Learn everything there is to know about Japanese Black Pine Bonsai, their origin, care information, where you can purchase one of your own, and more.

bonsaimirai.com

 

[SeanS]

Hi Everyone,

I will start this off with a disclaimer, I am very new to creating and working on my own bonsai.

I've bought a few nursery stock trees that I am practicing on but came across a trident maple on market place and the very cool dude threw im a free JBP when I've told him I've been looking for one and am struggling to find one.

Basically the just of my post is to maybe please ask for some advice on what can be done and repotting as I will explain. I think the tree is about 2-3 years old and it's starting to produce buds. Just to take into account I am in South Africa and currently in the heart of summer. I have heard of decandling which apparently promotes new grows and branches but I also don't want a "short" tree and would like to get it to decent size. Do I need to decandle as you can see there are quite a few buds.

Secondly, the pot apparently hasn't been dropped or anything but it's cracked and he mentioned it could be the roots. I'm not sure as I'm to scared to check because I've fallen for this little dude. If I were to slip repot into a bigger pot at this time of year would it cause any lasting damage or slow down the growth during the next season.

Lastly, I want to find out if it is okay to wire a JBP now as I just want to get a bit more shape into it before it becomes more difficult to do so.

@Fluffyyyzzz where in SA are you? Maybe I could help you out if you’re in JHB.

Right now you want to fertilize the tree a lot, water it and give it as much sun as you possibly can. Let it grow. In autumn/early winter you can wire the trunk and put some movement into it. The buds you’re seeing now are either a 2nd growth spurt or the buds being set up for next season. However the fact that they’re already starting to show some green indicate they’ll probably extend and grow this season. Some of mine are doing the same, especially on the sacrifice branches that I didn’t decandle. A young, vigorous JBP will sometimes put on a 2nd flush even without decandling.
You don’t want to decandle your little pine, that’s a technique for creating more fine shoots as you mentioned. Right now you just want to grow and thicken the trunk so hold off on decandline for now.

 

[Shibui]

Agree with @SeanS Decandling is a technique for much later in development. It is used to promote ramification and small shoots. Early in development you want to promote growth and trunk thickening which means getting plenty of growth. This one still has plenty of needles down low so can be allowed to grow for now and chopped next year or the year after.

The crack in the pot is not a problem until the pot falls apart. I'd leave it until a better repotting time in late winter or spring then take the opportunity to check, rearrange and prune the roots to set up for a better nebari in future when you swap the pot and potting mix.

 

[Fluffyyyzzz]

@Fluffyyyzzz where in SA are you? Maybe I could help you out if you’re in JHB.

Right now you want to fertilize the tree a lot, water it and give it as much sun as you possibly can. Let it grow. In autumn/early winter you can wire the trunk and put some movement into it. The buds you’re seeing now are either a 2nd growth spurt or the buds being set up for next season. However the fact that they’re already starting to show some green indicate they’ll probably extend and grow this season. Some of mine are doing the same, especially on the sacrifice branches that I didn’t decandle. A young, vigorous JBP will sometimes put on a 2nd flush even without decandling.
You don’t want to decandle your little pine, that’s a technique for creating more fine shoots as you mentioned. Right now you just want to grow and thicken the trunk so hold off on decandline for now.

Hey, I'm JHB Randburg, I think you helped me as well on my other post.

Any help would be wonderful, that is the thing, when I've looked up things and done some research but it's always on a "mature" tree and when I see smaller seedling they do the decandling to achieve a much smaller tree.

So for the time being I will just let it grow and do it's thing and most importantly just to keep it alive.

 

[Fluffyyyzzz]

Agree with @SeanS Decandling is a technique for much later in development. It is used to promote ramification and small shoots. Early in development you want to promote growth and trunk thickening which means getting plenty of growth. This one still has plenty of needles down low so can be allowed to grow for now and chopped next year or the year after.

The crack in the pot is not a problem until the pot falls apart. I'd leave it until a better repotting time in late winter or spring then take the opportunity to check, rearrange and prune the roots to set up for a better nebari in future when you swap the pot and potting mix.

Okay perfect, then I will let it grow, as much as I want to start working on it just done want to hack away without a reason. Need to constantly remind myself that this is not a quick process.

 

[Fluffyyyzzz]

You don't need to do much of anything right now. Decandling promotes ramification and shorter internodes (and backbudding), but you can accomplish that while also allowing the trunk to thicken by letting that tall branch to run. In the fall (early dormancy), wire the trunk and position that tall branch so it doesn't shade what's below.

I'd repot in the spring and sort the roots then. Use inorganic, well-draining soil. Ordinarily you don't bareroot pines, but I don't think a tree this young would have any problems handling it.

Also, you might want to look up Terry Erasmus who I believe hails from South Africa.

I'll definitely have a look and look out Terry. Thank you very much.

 

[Srt8madness]

Okay perfect, then I will let it grow, as much as I want to start working on it just done want to hack away without a reason. Need to constantly remind myself that this is not a quick process.

When you log on, there is a picture of a pine (6 year black pine from seed contest). Click that then go to the corresponding threads of winner/runners up. These threads will show exactly what is done on material of this level, to create a nice tree. Even if you want a bigger one, the techniques are the same.

 

[eugenev2]

Hey, I'm JHB Randburg, I think you helped me as well on my other post.

Any help would be wonderful, that is the thing, when I've looked up things and done some research but it's always on a "mature" tree and when I see smaller seedling they do the decandling to achieve a much smaller tree.

So for the time being I will just let it grow and do it's thing and most importantly just to keep it alive.

Since you got some good advice already...
I've got to ask...give me the details on this guy/nursery that gives away free japanese black pines with purchases