JWP Nursery stock

[Leo in N E Illinois]

'Azuma' is my favorite cultivar. Yes, it is often listed as 'Pentafolia Azuma', which is a hangover from when Pinus parviflora was thought to be different somehow from Pinus pentafolia. Then it was realized they were the same species, and the P. parviflora was the older name with priority. Pinus pentafolia became a synonym.

At least for me, 'Azuma' produces many buds at each internode. It may even qualify as a true yatsubusa type. It also produces cones relatively early or easily. I like it as a JWP. Fairly blue in color too.

 

[Paradox]

Sure. I know that. But the subject tree doesn't look like the branches should be shaded out. Seems fairly open to me.

If youre implying it needs back budding near the trunk, yes that would be nice.
Lets take another look at the progression of this tree.
Take a look at the tree when I first bought it in 2013



Its pretty full and not much light getting into that interior.

Then after I repotted it in 2014,


I cut off a few branches to get some light in there but left it mostly alone to recover. I was still very new to keeping trees alive so wasnt sure of what to do with JWP.
Still not a lot of light getting in there, but more than before.

Japanese white pines were an enigma to me. I was afraid to work on this tree for the longest time, mainly due to not understanding how they should be treated.

I repotted the tree in 2016, cut off a few more branches then once again left it alone....lol . I should have wired it but didnt know how to do that.
So here it is in August 2017


Now the tree is thinned out enough that yes there is light getting inside. You can see that there are not any real pads at this point, but there are some good beginnings for pads. So I finally wired the tree in the fall of 2017, got thos branches bent down and spread out the precursers to the pads. I fed it like crazy in 2018 and it budded out all over the ends of the branches and low and behold I started to get some nice pad structure, by 2019.

August 2019:


The reason you're seeing that its "fairly open" is also because I just got done thinning needles on it last week.
2020: Its hard to see it in the pictures but some of those pads are getting quite wide compared to what they were only 2 years ago.


I feed it and it seems pretty happy and healthy.
It buds out a lot but it buds out mostly at the ends of the branches.
If you have some magical method to 100% force a Japanese White break buds on old wood, closer to the trunk where you exactly want them, by all means share it.

 

[Paradox]

Romano’s lazy! Lol!!!

Beside’s he’s a Shohin guy. Lol!!

LOL poor guy isnt even here to defend himself.

Maybe I could bribe him with some good Italian wine/beer and a cigar

 

[Paradox]

'Azuma' is my favorite cultivar. Yes, it is often listed as 'Pentafolia Azuma', which is a hangover from when Pinus parviflora was thought to be different somehow from Pinus pentafolia. Then it was realized they were the same species, and the P. parviflora was the older name with priority. Pinus pentafolia became a synonym.

At least for me, 'Azuma' produces many buds at each internode. It may even qualify as a true yatsubusa type. It also produces cones relatively early or easily. I like it as a JWP. Fairly blue in color too.

I agree, and Gary Wood's post was very informative to a bonsai noob like me that had no idea what I was looking at back then.
This tree was more blueish when I got it, as you can tell from the pictures. It seems to be more greenish at the moment.
I was shocked to find it in a landscape nursery. I bought 2 of them, this has turned out to be the better one.
As I said in the previous post, this tree does produce alot of buds, but they are near ends of the branches and yes often at internodes.
I have one spot where I wired up the end of a branch because there was a bud underneath that I want to cut back to. I wanted that little bud to get more sun so it would grow.
Maybe by the end of next year, it will be strong enough to take over.

 

[0soyoung]

I have an azuma too. Mine came from Dave Dewire and it remains a mystery what root stock he grafted it onto. I cannot rule out strobus. It certainly does produce a wealth of buds at some nodes. I'm looking forward to using many of these as scions to graft onto a few of my all too-numerous lodgepoles (practice, practice, practice ).

At least for me, 'Azuma' produces many buds at each internode.

I think you mean node. An internode is the stem between nodes.

 

[Adair M]

If youre implying it needs back budding near the trunk, yes that would be nice.
Lets take another look at the progression of this tree.
Take a look at the tree when I first bought it in 2013

View attachment 278810

Its pretty full and not much light getting into that interior.

Then after I repotted it in 2014,
View attachment 278811

I cut off a few branches to get some light in there but left it mostly alone to recover. I was still very new to keeping trees alive so wasnt sure of what to do with JWP.
Still not a lot of light getting in there, but more than before.

Japanese white pines were an enigma to me. I was afraid to work on this tree for the longest time, mainly due to not understanding how they should be treated.

I repotted the tree in 2016, cut off a few more branches then once again left it alone....lol . I should have wired it but didnt know how to do that.
So here it is in August 2017
View attachment 278812

Now the tree is thinned out enough that yes there is light getting inside. You can see that there are not any real pads at this point, but there are some good beginnings for pads. So I finally wired the tree in the fall of 2017, got thos branches bent down and spread out the precursers to the pads. I fed it like crazy in 2018 and it budded out all over the ends of the branches and low and behold I started to get some nice pad structure, by 2019.

August 2019:
View attachment 278813

The reason you're seeing that its "fairly open" is also because I just got done thinning needles on it last week.
2020: Its hard to see it in the pictures but some of those pads are getting quite wide compared to what they were only 2 years ago.
View attachment 278814

I feed it and it seems pretty happy and healthy.
It buds out a lot but it buds out mostly at the ends of the branches.
If you have some magical method to 100% force a Japanese White break buds on old wood, closer to the trunk where you exactly want them, by all means share it.

They can and will backbud, but not reliably. They will do it at old nodes if they’re exposed to the sun. Wiring them out is the best way.

Some JWP backbud more so than others.

 

[Paradox]

They can and will backbud, but not reliably. They will do it at old nodes if they’re exposed to the sun. Wiring them out is the best way.

Some JWP backbud more so than others.

I agree, but the key is "reliably".
This one has yet to bless me with buds back closer to the trunk. It loves to bud out near the ends, on 1-2 year old nodes.

Now that I've thinned it again and its all wired out, I'll feed it heavily and see what it does.

However it's been 3 years since I last repotted it so it might be due for that this year. If so, it will move from the Anderson flat to a wide, shallower training pot.

 

[Adair M]

They do best if NOT fed heavily in the spring. They set buds for the following year in summer and fall. So, withhold fertilizer in the spring. Then, give them fertilizer when they’re developing buds.

Also, if they grow strong during the spring, the tree “thinks” that producing spring foliage is all it needs. Producing back buds is a defense strategy, and the tree has no incentive to invoke its defenses if it’s growing strong!

A way to make it do so, is to let a leader bud grow out unchecked on each primary branch, and don’t pinch it back. Until mid summer. Then cut
it off entirely, as in cutting back to a previous sub branch. This will make the tree think it’s under attack, and will stimulate bud production.

 

[Paradox]

They do best if NOT fed heavily in the spring. They set buds for the following year in summer and fall. So, withhold fertilizer in the spring. Then, give them fertilizer when they’re developing buds.

Also, if they grow strong during the spring, the tree “thinks” that producing spring foliage is all it needs. Producing back buds is a defense strategy, and the tree has no incentive to invoke its defenses if it’s growing strong!

A way to make it do so, is to let a leader bud grow out unchecked on each primary branch, and don’t pinch it back. Until mid summer. Then cut
it off entirely, as in cutting back to a previous sub branch. This will make the tree think it’s under attack, and will stimulate bud production.

Yes I read your other comments regarding holding back fertilizer in the spring. I'm going to adopt that practice. I was told to feed pines in spring but perhaps that's for trees earlier in their development?

Gary did mention leaving one leader bud on each branch and cutting back in his post. I'll try those methods over the next couple of years and see how it responds.

Have you done any grafting on JWP?

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I have an azuma too. Mine came from Dave Dewire and it remains a mystery what root stock he grafted it onto. I cannot rule out strobus. It certainly does produce a wealth of buds at some nodes. I'm looking forward to using many of these as scions to graft onto a few of my all too-numerous lodgepoles (practice, practice, practice ). View attachment 278829


I think you mean node. An internode is the stem between nodes.

I did mean multiple buds at the NODES, Yes, you are right.

 

[Adair M]

Yes I read your other comments regarding holding back fertilizer in the spring. I'm going to adopt that practice. I was told to feed pines in spring but perhaps that's for trees earlier in their development?

Gary did mention leaving one leader bud on each branch and cutting back in his post. I'll try those methods over the next couple of years and see how it responds.

Have you done any grafting on JWP?

I have actually not done any grafting on JWP myself. Although I own several JWP that have been grafted in o EV way or another. They graft well, and if necessary, you could graft branches on where you need them.

I gave grafted many JBP.