Hi all I am new to the forums but been reading and studying a while. I have ten trees and many cutting I care for, I was gifted a JBP for fathers day. I was not there to pick it out, so my wife made a $140 decision on her own with no knowledge on what to look for in nursery material. Well she picked a decent looking "seven year old" JBP to her that had a lot of styling to it....oh boy does it.
The wires have been left on for years around the trunk and were almost halfway grown over the wire in a spot or two. Lucky for me they were two different size wires so they were easy to remove. However, the trunk is deeply scared...like where the wire was its the size of your pinky and the rest the size of a quarter or more. I am aware they leave the wire in some trees esp grafts of white pines onto JBP...but I didn't want the wire in there for peace of mind.
I got the wire off as soon as I could! I have no plans to touch the plant till next fall at the soonest with the exception of feeding it a lot of N and repotting it this fall into a much bigger pot as it is in a shallow 1 gallon pot, this should allow it to grow freely as I will be gone from the U.S. for the next year. After that it will just grow....possibly for two years or more at which point I might start some training of the branches.
Is there anything else I can do to help this tree along to looking half decent in my life time?
Also the nursery sent her home with a basket full of akadama, pumice and lava rock...they told her it can only be planted in that material...when I repot do I need to use that or what do you suggest...Im sorry I know this is a loaded question. But thinking my wife and son will be here to water them...what if they miss a day in this hot Texas heat. I have already told them they might have to suck it up and water daily.
I will post a pic in a few days when I get home.
The wires have been left on for years around the trunk and were almost halfway grown over the wire in a spot or two. Lucky for me they were two different size wires so they were easy to remove. However, the trunk is deeply scared...like where the wire was its the size of your pinky and the rest the size of a quarter or more. I am aware they leave the wire in some trees esp grafts of white pines onto JBP...but I didn't want the wire in there for peace of mind.
I got the wire off as soon as I could! I have no plans to touch the plant till next fall at the soonest with the exception of feeding it a lot of N and repotting it this fall into a much bigger pot as it is in a shallow 1 gallon pot, this should allow it to grow freely as I will be gone from the U.S. for the next year. After that it will just grow....possibly for two years or more at which point I might start some training of the branches.
Is there anything else I can do to help this tree along to looking half decent in my life time?
Also the nursery sent her home with a basket full of akadama, pumice and lava rock...they told her it can only be planted in that material...when I repot do I need to use that or what do you suggest...Im sorry I know this is a loaded question. But thinking my wife and son will be here to water them...what if they miss a day in this hot Texas heat. I have already told them they might have to suck it up and water daily.
I will post a pic in a few days when I get home.