Pinus thunbergiana 'kotobuki'

[YukiShiro]

yes you can pluck some of those off if they have the red bands on them, if they are just yellowing without any red bands on them you might be giving the plant too much water

 

[aml1014]

yes you can pluck some of those off if they have the red bands on them, if they are just yellowing without any red bands on them you might be giving the plant too much water

I'm watering once a day and we have high 90 degree Temps and very low humidity and very high uv radiation. It's under 50% shade cloth because I fear putting it in nm full sun after coming from OR would burn it badly. It's in what appears to be boon mix so it drains freely. Maybe it wants more sun?

Aaron

 

[Adair M]

Are they old needles? Old needles turning yellow is just what they do before the tree skiffs them off

New needles, 2016 needles, shouldn't be turning yellow. If they are, it needs more sun, and/or less water.

 

[aml1014]

Are they old needles? Old needles turning yellow is just what they do before the tree skiffs them off

New needles, 2016 needles, shouldn't be turning yellow. If they are, it needs more sun, and/or less water.

It's actually needles from 2014 it appears when tracking the growth segments back. This year's and last year's are healthy it's just those 3rd year ones that are acting up. I'm just not used to yellow needles in summer only fall.

Aaron

 

[Adair M]

That's absolutely normal for 2+ year old needles to be turning yellow.

You could pull them if you want. Or wait until they fall off on their own.

 

[aml1014]

Today I cut the old needles and realized quickly what @Adair M meant when he said they are brittle. I attempted to put a little more Bend in the trunk which I did but the trunk did start cracking even with such subtle change. I also pruned out extra branches up top and singled out a sacrifice branch to use for thickening the trunk. The rest of the tree will begin work next summer with decandling. Here's the tree.
I did a small virtual but my phone won't upload it here unfortunately so you need to use your imagination.
I plan on using the lowest left branch as the first branch then the smaller branch mod way up as the second branch. The branch wired to the right is the sceifice and the other branch to the left will become the new trunk line. I want to put this in a 12"×12" grow box next spring and leave it there for about 5 or 6 years to thicken, while the sacrifice grows I will keep the keeper sections decandled and wired out.

Aaron

P.S. yes I'm setting up Halloween already lol

 

[johnwong]

These have naturally shorter needles, which drives their popularity. I have found, however, that the branches are easily broken when wiring, and the branches are easily broken off where they are attached to the trunk. Makes them more like JRP.

They're a dwarf variety which means they're slower growing than regular JBP.

I have found that if you decandle them, they produce many, many new shoots at the point where you decandle do. Whereas a regular JBP might push out 3 new candles from that spot, these push out 10 or 12! The problem is, since it pushes out so many, none really develop. You just get a stub, with a bazillion little candles, each 1/2 long with 1/2 inch long needles.

So, the trick is after you decandle, once the new shoots develop, thin down to two new shoots. Early in the growth process. I usually wait until the needles have hardened off in the late fall. That doesn't work well with this variety.

And I would only decandle every other year.

Yours is very young, you probably don't need to worry about decandling for a while. Either make a grow box, or use a colander.

Good luck with it.

(I prefer regular JBP over all the special cultivars. Seed from Mikawa seems to produce good trees.)

#48
I have a 20cm young seedling kotobuki. I realised the between branches distance is quite far. What should I do to encourage branch growth? Or should I wait until I have my desired height?