My Nellie's participation in the JBP Contest

[my nellie]

... ...But I will be starting over a second round... ...I will post photos in the next days.

Here they are
Seeds from Germany through Amazone (around 50 seeds)
Soaked in lukewarm water for three whole days
Planted on May 25th in individual pots as well as group planting in bigger containers. 2 seeds per each individual pot.
Different substrate used, such as :
- Quartz sand (medium/fine)+charcoal
- River sand+pumice+charcoal
- River sand+medium acadama+charcoal
- Seramis+medium acadama+river sand+charcoal
- My used bonsai substrate (pumice+seramis+organic)+charcoal+quartz sand
I can distinguish differences of substrate by using strands of various color yarn tied on the pots.
Positioned under dappled sun all day long.

 

[Anthony]

Birth 5 to 10 days later.
Fingers crossed.
Keep the images coming.
Best of luck
Anthony

 

[my nellie]

Thank you very much!

 

[my nellie]

First seeds to germinate starting on 08 May and new seedlings coming almost every day

 

[Anthony]

!!!!!Crowd goes WILD!!!!!!!!

Go, go, go
Cheering committee

 

[my nellie]

Thanks for your support, committee members!

 

[Clicio]

Thanks for your support, committee members!

Θαυμάσια, συγχαρητήρια!

 

[my nellie]

Muito obrigado pelo seu tipo de pensamento!

I have fear for auto translation, though...

 

[Clicio]

Muito obrigado pelo seu tipo de pensamento!

Let's put it right: "Muito obrigadA (because you are a woman.)".
But I got the advantage here, of having lived in Athens for 6 years. Congratulations anyway, para poli orea!

 

[my nellie]

Let's put it right: "Muito obrigadA (because you are a woman.)"

Yes, this is obvious! I should have thought of it and put it correctly...

I look forward to your participation, Clicio from South

 

[my nellie]

12 seeds have germinated so far.
One of them had an accident... I found it uprooted but it was still fresh so I put it back into the soil.

 

[markyscott]

It would appear that you may have had an encounter with the minority groups inhabiting cultural pockets of the eastern seaboard. Leftovers of bygone days. I will bow to your superior wisdom and worldly knowledge, but only ever so slightly. As a salute to my southern neighbours i will lift a Guinness and try to figure out how Pines grow faster in the Great White North.

Mmmmm. Poutine. With bacon. I didn’t know how much I needed one of these in my life. Served in BC, by the way.



S

 

[River's Edge]

Mmmmm. Poutine. With bacon. I didn’t know how much I needed one of these in my life. Served in BC, by the way.

View attachment 202100

S

Must be on the dark side of BC ( Vancouver ) I finally got my cholesterol into the normal range for the first time in a decade. Not sure that cheese, fries, gravy are back on the menu yet. I think this is another one of those things i am allowed to look at but not touch!

 

[LanceMac10]

Home of the 5lb poutine challenge. Get the steak-tip poutine.


Good luck with the sprouts @my nellie . I 'm not participating, but observing progress. Go seeds!!

 

[my nellie]

Good luck with the sprouts @my nellie . I 'm not participating, but observing progress. Go seeds!!

Thank you very much!
Looks like apart from starting Pine seeds for the very fist time, I am also getting educated about poutine which is the first time I hear about

By the way, only 9 seedlings are sound and safe up to now.
I water them every now and then with a peroxide dilution (as by @0soyoung ) and I give them liquid fertilizer (seaweed) plus some grains of organic slow releasing around their roots.
But I'm hesitant to cut their tap root now because temperatures here are so high (36-38 C) even if I keep them in shade afterwards I'm reluctant... Chicken!

 

[River's Edge]

Thank you very much!
Looks like apart from starting Pine seeds for the very fist time, I am also getting educated about poutine which is the first time I hear about

By the way, only 9 seedlings are sound and safe up to now.
I water them every now and then with a peroxide dilution (as by @0soyoung ) and I give them liquid fertilizer (seaweed) plus some grains of organic slow releasing around their roots.
But I'm hesitant to cut their tap root now because temperatures here are so high (36-38 C) even if I keep them in shade afterwards I'm reluctant... Chicken!

Not chicken, smart. Good choice on your part in my opinion. Lots of years to work on roots with developing JBP. Stem cutting technique is just one approach, plenty of wonderful JBP show trees created without that step.
Those temperatures make caring for seedlings quite a challenge. Good Luck

 

[my nellie]

Thank you for your kind words, Frank!

... ...Those temperatures make caring for seedlings quite a challenge. Good Luck

Yes, indeed!
And I am really amazed on mine, because I sowed the seeds very late and they germinated in really hot weather. But those 9 are still looking OK

By the way, I'm interested to know more about your view on sacrifice leader/apex.
I saw in another thread (it is about seedling cutting) photos of your red and black pine seedlings and I would like to know the reason why you are keeping the side shoots instead of keeping only the central shoot.
Thank you in advance.

 

[River's Edge]

Thank you for your kind words, Frank!Yes, indeed!
And I am really amazed on mine, because I sowed the seeds very late and they germinated in really hot weather. But those 9 are still looking OK

By the way, I'm interested to know more about your view on sacrifice leader/apex.
I saw in another thread (it is about seedling cutting) photos of your red and black pine seedlings and I would like to know the reason why you are keeping the side shoots instead of keeping only the central shoot.
Thank you in advance.

Good Question. Most field growing techniques emphasize the trunk to the extent that often lower branches are either not kept or not encouraged in the growth pattern. I am deliberately keeping and encouraging as much lower foliage as possible during the development of my pines. I ask my students to pose some of the following questions to decide if a branch may be useful before removing it.
1. Might it become part of the design?
2. Can it be used to enhance the tree? Thicken a portion of the trunk, help heal a scar, maintain a stronger growth pattern for example.
3. Will it be useful later after cut back as a sacrifice leader when trying to create more taper or movement?

When i have purchased pines for Bonsai in the past they too often were missing branches or had them in poor position. In the development process it is too easy to get excited about rapid growth and extension at the expense of form and retaining design options. So my choice is deliberate to slow down growth at times with techniques that encourage back budding and branch development lower down on the trunk. Also to apply techniques to balance growth, protect the lower branches and encourage their development. Lower branches often die off due to being shaded out by upper foliage. Typically i only remove a lower branch if it is going to create a problem with the trunk such as bar branching, multiple branches in a whorl. I do tend to make a decision on a branch or sacrifice leader when it reaches a certain size to make healing the scar easier. I also retain smaller local branches to aid in the healing process even if i know they will be removed later on.
The sacrifice leader on an API ally dominant conifer contributes the most to trunk size. Sacrifice branches contribute the most to movement and taper development or thickening the branch for design, also the portion of the tree below the sacrifice branch. Small branches left beside a scar aid in the rapid healing of the scar. Here is a picture that depicts the approach i am using for development. It is for a smaller tree but the concept is adaptable. I hope my comments are useful, the process is involved and takes many steps along the way during the first five or ten years in particular. Pines back bud more readily when they are younger so creating additional branching naturally without grafting is easier to accomplish in the beginning stages.

 

[my nellie]

@Riversedgebonsai Thank you very much for your time, Sir.
Your comments are detailed and useful.

 

[River's Edge]

@Riversedgebonsai Thank you very much for your time, Sir.
Your comments are detailed and useful.

Your welcome, enjoy the journey, the results often arrive later than we expect.