My Ugly JBP Nursery Project

[Matt B]

The magic time of the year has arrived, and the work begins! This is the time to take this giant gift JBP stick and start it on the (long) path to greatness, but I dont have any experience with pines and I need some guidance.

I'm in Florida, and the last of the frost is gone. Buds are popping on this ugly stick, so I did my best to clean it up for photos. I gave it a haircut (which gave it that unique feeling of a dollar store plastic Christmas tree) so we can see the structure. I brushed back the soil to expose the nebari, which seems mildly interesting. The tree stands 50 or so inches from the soil, and it is just a long stick with virtually no features. The only defined branch low enough to be saved starts about 3 inches from the soil line. Moving up from there, the only other attribute is a clump of new buds about 12 inches up the trunk, but between the base of the tree and that clump, there is not much in the way of taper.

I see a few directions from here.

1) I can trunk chop at the lower branch, and use it as the new top.

2) A variation would be to bend the trunk to put the small branch more vertical and the main trunk horizontal, and chop the trunk off leaving several inches to eventually jin when the new leader catches up in thickness.

3) I can chop above the clump of buds and do something creative with that. This path seems tough because of the lack of taper, but maybe someone can think of a way to bend in some movement to draw focus away from that flaw.

What I eventually want is a mid-size tree, possibly 20-30 inches. I'm not locked into any style at this point, just open to suggestions.

Is it possible or advisable to do major root work to get it in a proper pot and trunk chop at the same time, or should I chop now and repot later?

 

[jevanlewis]

I'll take a shot at this before the experts weigh in...

Repotting: Assuming healthy roots, the first thing I would do is repot the tree (1/2 or 1/3 bare root) into a 100% inorganic mix into either an Anderson flat, grow box, or colander. As part of that process, you should take care of the surface roots that cross.

Trunk and branch development: I would develop the trunk, the next sacrifice leader, and more branching from the low branch. You'll want to develop the low buds on the trunk into compact growth with lots of ramification. As you mention above, I wouldn't keep the trunk above the first branch (other than as a sacrifice) because you'll struggle to get taper. I'm not sure on when to start reducing the existing sacrifice to transition to the next sacrifice. Anxious to hear from the pros to get their advice.

 

[Matt B]

So basically repot and cut the rootball flat, and eliminate thick downward roots. Comb out the outer 2/3rds of the rootball, leaving the original soil on the inner third. Dig out the crossing root and try to get it flat extending from the trunk. Chop above the clump of buds, and let all of the shoots grow out. Since I won't be using that whole part of the trunk, it doesn't matter if I get an area of reverse taper resembling a medieval mace, it just serves to further thicken the trunk. Should I try to bend the trunk at the area where the small branch joins, to eventually create a jin from the current trunk once the branch thickens and becomes the new leader? Or is that even possible?

So I'm to develop ramification of the lower branch, which will eventually become the new trunk. Since I haven't worked with pines before, am I correct in assuming that to create ramification, any area that has growing needles will serve to create new buds if I were to cut back to that point?

I won't be able to use a grow box or colander method, as I have limited space. I get enough heat about my jungle from my wife, and I don't wish to anger the HOA gods as well. This tree will have to go into a bonsai pot and join it's brethren on my new rack. I'll go a bit upsized on the pot to give it some legroom. I would assume my standard soil mix consisting of equal thirds of lava, pumice and pine bark will suffice?

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

So basically repot and cut the rootball flat, and eliminate thick downward roots. Comb out the outer 2/3rds of the rootball, leaving the original soil on the inner third. Dig out the crossing root and try to get it flat extending from the trunk. Chop above the clump of buds, and let all of the shoots grow out. Since I won't be using that whole part of the trunk, it doesn't matter if I get an area of reverse taper resembling a medieval mace, it just serves to further thicken the trunk. Should I try to bend the trunk at the area where the small branch joins, to eventually create a jin from the current trunk once the branch thickens and becomes the new leader? Or is that even possible?

So I'm to develop ramification of the lower branch, which will eventually become the new trunk. Since I haven't worked with pines before, am I correct in assuming that to create ramification, any area that has growing needles will serve to create new buds if I were to cut back to that point?

I won't be able to use a grow box or colander method, as I have limited space. I get enough heat about my jungle from my wife, and I don't wish to anger the HOA gods as well. This tree will have to go into a bonsai pot and join it's brethren on my new rack. I'll go a bit upsized on the pot to give it some legroom. I would assume my standard soil mix consisting of equal thirds of lava, pumice and pine bark will suffice?

This is basically correct. You should sort out the roots first and foremost. JBP roots can be coarse, and will fuse underground and form a ball, or if exposed, will stay thin and look weak. So the first step is to properly arrange the roots. Secure the tree well into the pot because it will need to grow tall and stability in the pot is critical to the health of the tree. Your soil mix should be fine, though I don’t use bark anymore.

Next, identify the style you’re working toward. Brent Walston puts it best, “pines are grown into a style”...or something close to that. You need a plan now to avoid a mess later. The bottom branch contains the next section of trunk, while the current leader should be viewed s a sacrifice branch. Search here or on Bonsai Tonight, or my site for using sacrifice branches.

Finally, those “final branches” do need to be kept healthy, but smaller and close to the trunk.

 

[sorce]

You should get the title changed.

It's like calling an ultrasound picture ugly.

Sorce

 

[Maiden69]

View attachment 353925

How old can a JBP be to were you wouldn't consider bare-rooting? I repotted one of my JBP last week where I did a half bare-root report, that tree was around 4-5 years old from a nursery (mosly long internodes with not so many branches), but I have 2 small 3 year old JBP that I got from Brent that I will be repotting soon, and was thinking about removing all the soil, if possible.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

How old can a JBP be to were you wouldn't consider bare-rooting? I repotted one of my JBP last week where I did a half bare-root report, that tree was around 4-5 years old from a nursery (mosly long internodes with not so many branches), but I have 2 small 3 year old JBP that I got from Brent that I will be repotting soon, and was thinking about removing all the soil, if possible.

Age has less to do with it than vitality. If a pine is growing strong, it can be bare-rooted. It is very stressful on the tree, so it should be avoided in practice. I have bare-rooted 3 JBP in the last few years due to the soil conditions, and they have all been fine, but 2 were coming out of the ground strong, and had field soil rotting the underside of the base so bad, I would have lost the tree had I not bare-rooted it. They were not candle-cut that summer either.

 

[Maiden69]

Age has less to do with it than vitality. If a pine is growing strong, it can be bare-rooted. It is very stressful on the tree, so it should be avoided in practice. I have bare-rooted 3 JBP in the last few years due to the soil conditions, and they have all been fine, but 2 were coming out of the ground strong, and had field soil rotting the underside of the base so bad, I would have lost the tree had I not bare-rooted it. They were not candle-cut that summer either.

Then I guess a half bare-root it is...

 

[Matt B]

Thanks for the advice. I guess I'll handle the repot and initial trunk chop above the clump of buds today. Does anyone know the answer to the question in my last post about ramification? How do I locate where buds will emerge when I make cuts on JBP? Is any place where needles exist a possible location where a bud can develop?

 

[Matt B]

A couple other questions:

Full sun after repot, or 2 weeks of shade?

Does everyone agree with a finer soil mix for JBP than other trees? I have 2 sizes I made when I mixed this batch last year. One is coarse, average particle size of 3/8, and a finer mix around 1/8. I usually use the coarse for all my bonsai, watering daily or every 2 days, unless they are very young seedlings which require more water retention. Any reason to use the finer mix for JBP?

 

[Enfield Snapper]

How do I locate where buds will emerge when I make cuts on JBP? Is any place where needles exist a possible location where a bud can develop?

I'm pretty new to bonsai in general so I can't speak much from experience, but here are a couple links that may be helpful.

Stimulating back buds on Japanese black pine - Bonsai Tonight

Description of techniques for stimulating the tree main types of buds on pine bonsai: terminal buds, adventitious buds, and needle buds.

bonsaitonight.com

Bonsai Development Series #22: cutback-decandling techniques for young pines - Bonsai Tonight

Tips for balancing vigor when using the cutback-decandling technique.

bonsaitonight.com

Oh, and this one. It's really long, but has a lot of valuable information in it.

A few pine seeds, 6 years later.

After reading Smoke's comments about wanting to see a mature tree that had been started from seed I thought I would post a few photos of my progress. Unfortunately, I can't actually supply a tree to satisfy his request but perhaps these progress photos will help a little. My first son was...

www.bonsainut.com

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

A couple other questions:

Full sun after repot, or 2 weeks of shade?

Does everyone agree with a finer soil mix for JBP than other trees? I have 2 sizes I made when I mixed this batch last year. One is coarse, average particle size of 3/8, and a finer mix around 1/8. I usually use the coarse for all my bonsai, watering daily or every 2 days, unless they are very young seedlings which require more water retention. Any reason to use the finer mix for JBP?

You’re going to have problems trying to do bonsai by committee...especially with soil mixes. Find someone who has trees you admire, and do what he or she does.

 

[Dav4]

My 0.02. Full sun post re-pot, and coarse mix for more rapid and vigorous growth.

 

[Matt B]

Thanks, Enfield. That was a lot of information!! Shame I couldn't find it on my own in my endless searching. I understand much more now about decandling and cutting back to stimulate growth.