Japanese Black Pine "Yatsubusa" pruning

James W.

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Pruned to a sacrifice and a branch. There is actually a back up branch left, too, but it is small.
Took a little more off than what I had anticipated, still less than 1/2 removed. Not as bad as the pictures make it look.
And removed some buds at terminals.
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Leo in N E Illinois

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Bulges, knots and reverse taper are issues with Yatsubusa pines. BUT if in the long term, the segment of trunk you are looking at, if the plan is to increase the diameter by 50% or more, then you have plenty of time to correct reverse taper by controlling growth. So for a young tree, say one inch diameter trunk, if the goal is 2 or more inches diameter, reverse taper is a trivial problem. Easy to take care of as the tree develops. If the goal is a 2 inch diameter trunk, and you are already at 1.75 inches, then it is almost too late to correct zones of reverse taper. So on trees approaching later stages of maturity reverse taper is a big issue.

On very young trees, reverse taper is a non issue.

Read about balancing growth, which is something done as a tree is transitioned from pre-bonsai to exhibition ready. The techniques of balancing foliage are identical to the techniques of controlling growth to cure reverse taper. It is not a difficult problem in trees that still need to add caliper before being considered "ready for display".
 

0soyoung

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Bulges, knots and reverse taper are issues with Yatsubusa pines.
So, I must ask, why wouldn't one want to make this a feature. Great corkers are generally crappy bonsai designs, but the make the bark have an awesome impact. Why wouldn't one go somewhat story book with a Yatsubusa design instead of trying to make it look like a refined tree in Adair's collection?
 

James W.

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So, I must ask, why wouldn't one want to make this a feature. Great corkers are generally crappy bonsai designs, but the make the bark have an awesome impact. Why wouldn't one go somewhat story book with a Yatsubusa design instead of trying to make it look like a refined tree in Adair's collection?
Most likely I will try to make it look 'refined' then when I am done I will quote this post and say "I meant to do that"
 

Adair M

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So, I must ask, why wouldn't one want to make this a feature. Great corkers are generally crappy bonsai designs, but the make the bark have an awesome impact. Why wouldn't one go somewhat story book with a Yatsubusa design instead of trying to make it look like a refined tree in Adair's collection?
Actually, most corkers make for poor bonsai. I consider them a “novelty” tree. Grow them for the interesting bark, but don’t expect it to win any awards. I have seen a few that don’t have reverse taper, but not many. I used to have a couple of them, but not any more.

You can have a refined Yatsabusa.
 

James W.

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It looks like “pine tip moth” damage. A moth lays an egg and it bores its way down into the branch.
They do that during the winter? I thought that was a spring/summer thing.
I guess if an egg got laid last fall and the worm did a little damage before frost I wouldn't notice it until now, maybe.
 

Adair M

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They do that during the winter? I thought that was a spring/summer thing.
I guess if an egg got laid last fall and the worm did a little damage before frost I wouldn't notice it until now, maybe.
Yeah, pine tip moth is mostly a summer problem.

But, that’s what it LOOKS like.
There may be something else going on.
 

James W.

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Yeah, pine tip moth is mostly a summer problem.

But, that’s what it LOOKS like.
There may be something else going on.
Last fall I tried to thin out the buds by cutting out about half of them. Could I have damaged the tip? Or left it open to infection of some sort?
 

PeaceLoveBonsai

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Hey James,

I have been following this thread since the beginning. I purchased a similar 3 year graft of a Yatsubusa from Brent last year. I decided (based on some of the info in this thread) to essentially do nothing but water and fertilize last year. When I was getting some of my trees out last weekend I noticed some burn on my Yatsubusa. Thought I would share since we are in similar climates and have similar trees. I feel what you have is more than burn. But I’m no expert.

Notice the green around the buds. Wish we saw something like that with yours.

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Hope that helps and keep us posted.


Real quick, are all the buds showing the same distress or did some buds survive intact?

I’m hoping it’s not a case of too much too soon to the tree.

Also, born and raised outside of Wichita, go Shockers!
 

James W.

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Hey James,

I have been following this thread since the beginning. I purchased a similar 3 year graft of a Yatsubusa from Brent last year. I decided (based on some of the info in this thread) to essentially do nothing but water and fertilize last year. When I was getting some of my trees out last weekend I noticed some burn on my Yatsubusa. Thought I would share since we are in similar climates and have similar trees. I feel what you have is more than burn. But I’m no expert.

Notice the green around the buds. Wish we saw something like that with yours.

View attachment 285404View attachment 285405View attachment 285406
Hope that helps and keep us posted.


Real quick, are all the buds showing the same distress or did some buds survive intact?

I’m hoping it’s not a case of too much too soon to the tree.

Also, born and raised outside of Wichita, go Shockers!
Only that one terminal is affected and the buds are mushy. The rest of the tree has loads of buds and back budding all over the tree. Some needles showing distress like yours, not as much.
One thing I have noticed about this tree is that it has never really gotten dark green like the other JBPs. I assumed that was a charactaristic of the cultivar. How does yours color up in the summer?
 

PeaceLoveBonsai

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Only that one terminal is affected and the buds are mushy. The rest of the tree has loads of buds and back budding all over the tree. Some needles showing distress like yours, not as much.
One thing I have noticed about this tree is that it has never really gotten dark green like the other JBPs. I assumed that was a charactaristic of the cultivar. How does yours color up in the summer?

Well, that’s very good news. Hopefully the remaining buds come in nice and strong this spring.

As for color, I don’t remember it being any more or less green than the other pines on my bench. I’ll try to take some photos this summer and keep you updated.

Good luck with yours!
 

sunspire

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Just wanted to say, I got a yatsubusa that looked just like yours from Brent at Evergreen. I thought it would be fine in some snow and colder temperatures like my other black pines, but sure enough, about a month later it looked just like this. I think it's cold damage. Most sources say JBP grow best in zone 6-9, and I'm in zone 5.
 

James W.

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The damage was from Nantucket pine tip moth but I did not figure it out until the fall. Other species of pine tip moth have a season when you have to protect your trees, this moth lays eggs from spring until frost. I did not know I had to be vigilant all the time for these little monsters so more kept eating the buds off my little tree and it did not live through the summer. Now all my pines get a systemic insecticide and I have no more problems with Nantucket pine tip moths.
 

Pine_nut

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That’s a bummer! Glad you figured it out though. What are the signs that it has this moth infestation?
 
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