Need advice on JBP care

[chief_nobody]

Recently acquired this JBP from a friend and need advice on what to do for care and maintenance, and decandling? I am in zone USDA zone 8b and the tree is around 15 years old.

 

[JudyB]

Nice name, chief.
I don't think you need to do anything to this tree this year, but feed it well, and give it lots of sun. It needs to GROW.... But you do have a nice trunk there, with some great little curves. I would study the JBP threads on this site, Look up Brian Van Fleet, he's got some great threads on how to manage JBP. Great step by steps on his blog...
Nebari Bonsai - google that and good reading.
Welcome btw...

 

[chief_nobody]

Thanks JudyB! I'v been a lurker here for a while and thought I should finally ask for some advice on a tree I still don't know much about. Ill be sure to look up your reading and reference suggestions. When you say give it lots of sun, I have it under some sunshade cloth right now with a majority of my other trees.. doing it right for the JBP? The mojave desert sun right now can be pretty powerful.

 

[JudyB]

Well, hopefully someone with climatic experience like your's will join in the convo. I thought full sun was best for JBP, but could be that afternoon part shade in your clime will be good. There's also a book that Bonsai Today/Stone Lantern put out called Pines. Stone lantern carries it, it's reasonably priced, and would be a good pickup for you.

Stop lurking, and join the crew!

 

[chief_nobody]

You had me at nice name chief! Ill be contributing any desert wasteland growing knowledge (how much is debatable) for sure.. In regards to the sun again, it does get some morning sun unfiltered and by 11-12 it is under the shade cover. Here's a picture if your interested of what my setup looks like as of right now.

Thanks again JudyB, Off to hunt some pine books.

 

[augustine]

check out bonsaitonight.com for some great recent threads

 

[Beng]

Your zone 8b is nothing like Brooklyn and the east coasts zone 8. We had more rain in June then you all get most of the year.

Perhaps someone from Arizona or Vegas exp can chime in. The sun out there is strong but if you can keep the pine from becoming bone dry it should do fine in full sun.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Can't tell you proper siting in your area, but JBP is always associated with full sun, overall fairly dry soil between watering, and plenty of fertilizer.

The top priority on this tree should be growth. It needs more foliage, more buds, more strength. Don't decandle this tree; it is not strong enough, and not the right technique for this stage. My blog site has a couple articles about developing this JBP using sacrifice branches and final branches, it may be helpful.

Pines can be rewarding, but pines in this condition are what gives them the reputation of being hard to work with.

 

[Adair M]

I completely agree with Brian's assessment.

 

[chief_nobody]

Mr. Fleet and Adair, thanks! I am slowly working through more JBP information (including yours) since Judy B first replied to this post. Your lengthy JBP photo essay was really cool by the way.

 

[JudyB]

anybody in desert zone 8?

I keep hoping someone with climate similar to yours will take a look, and answer that sun question...

 

[YukiShiro]

I'm not familiar with your climate zones, but if you give me the avg max and min for spring and summer and annual rainfall i may be able to help. I know of guys that grow black pine in the hottest part of our country. fwiw I grow my pines in full sun with summer temps going up to 42 celcius, all my pines are in black containers(not one ready for a bonsai pot yet) and all of them seem to be fine. I want to add that i use 30% organic material(sieved composted pine bark) in my soil mix... organics help with water retention and as the contained water is turned to vapor by the heat it exchanges some heat and keeps the roots cool...if you will be using a completely inorganic mix you can stack the surface of the soil with spagnum moss to preserve moisture inside the soil

Herman

 

[chief_nobody]

Thanks for the input Herman. My JBP has been doing very well in the full sun since this thread started, the temperature even got up to 46 C a few days last week. On a different note, might I ask what you (and anyone else that wishes to reply) fertilize with specifically and what kind of schedule you use?

 

[YukiShiro]

i think that will depend on what soil the pines are in and what you plan to use for fertilizer. I am switching over to organics this coming season, fish emulsion concentrate which i dilute and a product called nitrosol which is made from bloodmeal, bonemeal and hoof and horn meal. im going to alternate these two every 2nd sunday and when the pines start to take off i'll do it every sunday. I guess an american hobbyist will be able to offer better advice about what products to use and such...

glad your pines are doing great

Herman