Mi Nishiki Cork Bark Japanese Black Pine

fredtruck

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In the past, when I've posted about this tree, I always did it in threads that concerned a number of trees. Now I'm starting a thread on this tree alone.

I got this Mi Nishiki corker in 2002 from Brent as a 4 year old cutting. The tree is now 17 years old. In all that time, it has never presented any significant problem other than styling issues. The style I finally settled on, a root over rock, was also designed to follow the rules by breaking them; that is, I wanted to follow the rules and create an unconventional result.

The rules I'm talking about are the 1st branch, 2nd branch, back branch rules. My Mi Nishiki has only 3 branches. What makes the tree a little different is that the trunk is bent like an inverted capital "L," with all three branches on the horizontal part of the "L."

The needles are very short right now, just over an inch long. I'm not feeding the tree now, in an attempt to keep the needles short. They'll grow some, but I'm hoping to control that. I may have to cut back a bit on water. I'm not sure yet.

The corking has been very slow, but very steady. This tree doesn't produce huge wings like some cultivars do. Instead, it produces ridges, but the ridges are slowly expanding. I expect that in 5 to 10 years, the corking will be complete. This cork is not very fragile, at least yet. There was one small part I had to glue back on, but I've been very pleased so far at how rugged it is.ul mi nishiki 8-11-15-2 blk.jpg
 

Arcto

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What kind of rock? It really screams for attention down there.
 

fredtruck

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I have no idea what kind of rock it is. I can't even remember how I got it. The roots have a hole there. I stuck the rock in and it worked fine.
 

JoeR

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I like the bark so far. I am not a fan of the cork bark varieties that form huge wings that create reverse taper.
 

fredtruck

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Unless something goes horribly wrong, there won't be any reverse taper on this tree. That's because it isn't grafted. It was grown from a cutting. It's on its own roots.
 

JoeR

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Unless something goes horribly wrong, there won't be any reverse taper on this tree. That's because it isn't grafted. It was grown from a cutting. It's on its own roots.
Thats was I meant to say, I like this one more than the others I see because corkbark pines often have reverse taper while this one doesnt.

Oh a cutting grown pine, cool. Do you know of any tutorials on taking cuttings from pines?
 

fredtruck

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No, I don't. I do know that it is very difficult to do and requires a special setup, at least to do lots of them. Beyond that, I don't know.
 

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JudyB

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Interesting concept for the branching. Future plans? Or just finish it to this silhouette?
 

fredtruck

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I would say my future plans include trying to control the silhouette. Unusual for a corker, the Mi Nishiki back buds so prolifically that inside a year's time it becomes really congested. Thinning this tree out is a major project. I could probably cut the candles once a year rather than every other year, but so far, I haven't done that. Everything else in my plans requires waiting until the tree is completely corked, waiting for the tree to develop cork on the back side, waiting...waiting...
 

erb.75

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i feel like I want this tree to be slanting more toward the left. just got that feeling immediately after seeing it
 

JoeR

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Alain

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What kind of rock? It really screams for attention down there.
I have no idea what kind of rock it is. I can't even remember how I got it. The roots have a hole there. I stuck the rock in and it worked fine.

Are we speaking of the blue and white 'rock' here?

If so first of all doesn't seem a rock to me be more some mineral association.
Very hard to say because we can't see it well but looks like calcite + fluorite (the calcite would be the white part, the fluorite the blue one)
I may be able to help on this one as I'm a geologist however I'll need a better picture :)

Otherwise I really love the cork looking bark! :cool:
 

JudyB

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Thanks for expanding on your plans, I'm always interested in how to work with a very limited branch structure. Something about the simplicity of 3 branches (I have a c.myrtle with 3) appeals to me, I guess that's why I'm drawn to literati as well. Not that it's easy or uncomplicated, just a very clean structure to view. Negative space has always intrigued me.
 

fredtruck

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Most cork bark JBPs don't have a simple structure. The reason is that most artists feel that the trees are weaker than the species, so a lot of needles are needed to keep the tree going. With the Mi Nishiki, I lucked out as it produces tons of needles with very little encouragement. I've seen pictures of cork bark JBPs that are very minimal in foliage, but they are in the minority.
 
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Are we speaking of the blue and white 'rock' here?

If so first of all doesn't seem a rock to me be more some mineral association.
Very hard to say because we can't see it well but looks like calcite + fluorite (the calcite would be the white part, the fluorite the blue one)
I may be able to help on this one as I'm a geologist however I'll need a better picture :)

Otherwise I really love the cork looking bark! :cool:

This M'effing tree is thriving on the magick crystal lol....
 

Alain

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Ok so seems I was wrong... :)

It looks like it's actually a rock, called 'pegmatite'
They are the dykes of end of crystallization of magmas (i.e. when the magma crystallize - cool down - at the end the most volatile fluids are the only think remaining and forms a network of dykes). They are always coarse grained and contain lot of very big and interesting minerals (on top of quartz, because they are full of quartz) like tourmaline, beryls, big micas etc... Lot of world-class mineral's deposits are found in pegmatites.
In yours the white is certainly not calcite as I though but feldspath, for the blue I have no idea :)
Here are 2 pictures I found on the web, one of the dyke in a granite and another one of a close-up that actually looks like yours.

Yep, I'm pretty sure it's that however - and i hope you won't mind - I took the liberty to post your picture on my facebook page. I have some buddies that are actually much better than me at recognizing hand samples (I always sucked at it :) ) and might know better, even tell me that I was wrong again ;)
 

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fredtruck

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Thanks, Alain. This is very interesting information. I think I got this rock at a rock shop. I used it before in another bonsai as a snow-capped mountain range, but I dropped the rock and it broke. It's been in the roots of the Mi Nishiki for quite a few years now and is doing well.
 
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