JBP pine cone

[MGTT]

I’ve had a JBP for a many years, but it wasn’t until I had a few more that I finally got a cone (just one!). While it may be coincidental that it grew a cone when I got other JBP’s (more likely was the tree finally matured), I was happy to see it. I followed the advice on collecting it in Fall, and leaving it out to dry. Unfortunately, it never opened . On the other hand, I have a nice keepsake….

 

[Scorpius]

Very cool. My one jbp will have one cone next year and my JRP put out a ton of cones this year.

 

[Potawatomi13]

I’ve had a JBP for a many years, but it wasn’t until I had a few more that I finally got a cone (just one!). While it may be coincidental that it grew a cone when I got other JBP’s (more likely was the tree finally matured), I was happy to see it. I followed the advice on collecting it in Fall, and leaving it out to dry. Unfortunately, it never opened View attachment 463658. On the other hand, I have a nice keepsake….

Looks like unripe cone. Was it brown/dry/mature already? If not was not mature yet.

 

[Shibui]

Keep that cone indoors in warm, dry area. If it is mature enough it will open as it dries out. Immature cones often don't have the capacity to open. I try to leave cones on the trees until the scales start to open naturally before picking to make sure they are fully ripe.

 

[MaciekA]

I second @Shibui ’s advice. Keep it warm and dry and it’ll open. I collected a few baskets of JBP cones this year and many opened quickly, but some only opened later after the warm weather ended and I brought them indoors.

Once open seeds will easily shake out, but some will be “trivially” stuck (ie you can see they’re loose but they’ve hit an obstacle). Disassemble the entire cone from the bottom carefully and you can get em all.

 

[MGTT]

Well, I followed the Bonsai Tonight page which suggested gathering the cone while it was still green/slightly brown off the tree (early Oct in MI), and setting it aside in a warm/dry spot to open. I’ll keep this one ‘going’ to see if anything happens.

The tree will have more cones next Fall, so I’ll follow @Shibui ‘s advice of leaving them on the tree until they’re fully brown and starting to open.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[MaciekA]

I followed Jonas' advice as well -- good luck with this cone

 

[MGTT]

Unfortunately, last year’s pine cone never opened. I let it sit, and it turned fully brown, but didn’t open.

Hopefully I’ll have better luck this year. There are a number of cones maturing. And, I’ll definitely be following @Shibui ‘s advice and letting the cones mature further while on the tree.

I did notice something interesting, the cones on different branches are slightly different colors. It’s hard to tell from the pics, but the cones on the branch with the dual cones are a deeper/richer green vs the other branch with two cones. Those cones are more pale/yellow green.

 

[Albas]

Oh, that's very nice, how long it took?

 

[MGTT]

The cones formed last year (Spring) and will mature this Fall (~18 months).
I‘m not sure of the tree’s age, but I would estimate it’s about 20-30years old.

By the way, I won’t have any cones next year - every shoot was decandled this year.

 

[MGTT]

Interestingly, the cones on this tree never opened last year. I left them on the tree through the winter.
A couple fell off, but four remained on the tree.
I’ve noticed in the last week that two of the cones finally opened.
I’m not going to try and collect seeds - my in-ground experience with pines has been very poor in my area.
But, I’m definitely enjoying the open cones and will save them as knickknacks.