Pitch pine keep or, is it just dead?

[Erok]

Hey guys,

I got this little pitch pine hiking in early spring. I collected it potted it with bonsai mix soil. A layer of pea gravel in the bottom and chucks of lava rock. 3 months on it slowly turned reddish brown (see pic) .

I thought at first I gave it to much water then not enough. Fungal infection? Bad collection technique? Getting full sun everyday.

My question is, Is this guy dead and if not what should I try next.

 

[19Mateo83]

Maybe that’s why they call it a “pitch” pine…at least this one…It looks crispy man. I don’t think it’s coming back. But…. I have no experience with pines, but I do have experience with dead trees

 

[Erok]

The bell tolls for old pitchy.

 

[sorce]

Pull them roots out and take a pic!

Welcome to Crazy!

I'd guess too dry if it even had enough root.

Second guess, blue pot.
This is the only pine color that will look good in that pot, so enjoy that!

Sorce

 

[Shogun610]

Hey guys,

I got this little pitch pine hiking in early spring. I collected it potted it with bonsai mix soil. A layer of pea gravel in the bottom and chucks of lava rock. 3 months on it slowly turned reddish brown (see pic) .

I thought at first I gave it to much water then not enough. Fungal infection? Bad collection technique? Getting full sun everyday.

My question is, Is this guy dead and if not what should I try next.
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Bad technique, for collected material like pitch pine , it’s bed to use pure pumice and a wooden box or a plastic nursery container or flat to hold the roots in with pumice and it’s original soil Because when you collect pine you keep as much root, soil and little root disturbance as possible.

 

[Paradox]

It's dead Jim

 

[Mike Corazzi]

Could try spray paint.

 

[Erok]

Thanks everyone. Sucks

 

[19Mateo83]

Don’t worry, it happens to the best of us.

 

[ShadyStump]

I DO have experience with pines- mostly killing them- and I'm with @Shogun610 on cause of death.
Poor collection technique.

Like he said, as much root as humanly possible, disturbing the root and it's native soil as little as possible. Another tip would be timing: late winter, early spring, before new candles push. Get it right before it wakes up from winter, and it wakes up in a new place and just goes about it's routine. Cool weather, but not freezing. I used to attempt collecting in fall, but they never made it past June without looking like yours. Here are in June, and my 2 latest piñons both seem to be doing much better than I've ever seen. Time will tell for sure.

Try again next year, but keep an eye out for deciduous trees you like until then.

 

[Diggumsmack2]

Unfortunately dead trees is the process we all go through. Think positive, you've learned one or more things on this one, you won't do on the next tree.

If it were easy, everyone would be a bonsai master.

 

[BonjourBonsai]

I echo @ShadyStump . Get as many fine roots as possible. IMO, Pitch pines that grow in sand like to send long horizontal roots with the fine roots only at the end. It's those fine roots that the tree needs. If you get enough for them for the tree to survive a season and plant it in an open mix (I used turface, perlite and pine bark), it will happily grow many roots the next season.

Pitch Pine (pinus rigida) wiring and styling - thoughts please

Collected this pitch pine from Cape Cod in June. It's been doing well and sent up some new growth right from the base. I wired the trunk today before the weather turns cold. I'm thinking about where to cut the trunk in the spring. The trunk at soil level is about 3/4 inch thick. Any...

www.bonsainut.com

 

[rockm]

The red color indicates to me the tree died of shock and likely coasted on reserves post-collection. I've seen this happen with Virginia Pine. The color is typical of trees that were collected at the wrong time and have had major roots severed in the process -- First hand experience, sorry to say...It's VERY difficult to collect pines out of sandy/clay soils, as the trees tend to send out loooong roots in such poor soils. I've seen roots that extend 25 feet with no feeder roots until the end. It's one reason I gave up on collecting Virginia Pine.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

She's a goner. Wait for 4th of July, light it on fire, and launch it over a lake while playing Taps on stadium speakers. Your neighbors will love you.

 

[Erok]

Guys, thanks for the encouragement and brutal honesty. I appreciate it. Its tough love.


I’m definitely NOT going to give up on Pitch pine. Going to keep searching for a perfect yamadori. I got hasty this time around, i collected in early April and it was growing in a tough spot wedged in soil between granite and cortz. I can make a wood planter myself, I got carpentry skills. Oh, and pumace it up too.

I got some other trees going on that Im going to let grow awhile scots pine, jp maple, American hornbeam, white pine, other pitch pine(that look fantastic) sawtooth oak, red oak, sugar maple, a small grove of AH. and a shit load of American beech on my property I might chop when the time is right.

Im at the beginning of a dream. I might not see the end of my creations but, I want to give them all a good fighting chance. Hopefully, someone in my family will take an interest so I can pass them on.

Again, I appreciate the advice and knowledge shared here. Thank you all.

 

[rockm]

Guys, thanks for the encouragement and brutal honesty. I appreciate it. Its tough love.


I’m definitely NOT going to give up on Pitch pine. Going to keep searching for a perfect yamadori. I got hasty this time around, i collected in early April and it was growing in a tough spot wedged in soil between granite and cortz. I can make a wood planter myself, I got carpentry skills. Oh, and pumace it up too.

I got some other trees going on that Im going to let grow awhile scots pine, jp maple, American hornbeam, white pine, other pitch pine(that look fantastic) sawtooth oak, red oak, sugar maple, a small grove of AH. and a shit load of American beech on my property I might chop when the time is right.

Im at the beginning of a dream. I might not see the end of my creations but, I want to give them all a good fighting chance. Hopefully, someone in my family will take an interest so I can pass them on.

Again, I appreciate the advice and knowledge shared here. Thank you all.

You will not find a perfect yamadori. They don't exist. What you will find after some trial and error, is how to ID collectible trees--both esthetically and horticulturally. The intersection between those two is very very VERY small, less than 1 percent.

Collecting bonsai material really isn't a great path for someone starting out. It leads to a lot of what happened to the pitch pine. You will kill most everything you collect in the first few years as you learn how to provide aftercare and regular care for what you have. Keep that in mind when you go out looking, pass up excellent material and dig the same species NEXT to that ideal tree. Come back for the great one in a decade.

Also, having been at this for 30 years with kids that have become adults in that time, don't expect, or hope, they will take an interest. If they do, that's terrific. They probably won't, most likely as dad's hobbies are "uncool" or dorky (just the way it is). Grow your trees as YOU want, not in anticipation of passing them on. The God's Honest truth--if they're halfway decent when you pass on, they might get sold in a club sale, maybe--IF you're a active member of a club. If not, they will pass on just after you. What will be left is the pots, which will likely find their way into a yard sale. If you want to enrich the bonsai world, get good pots, sell them off in you estate sale for what you paid for them, or less. A few lucky bonsaiists who come across them will be thrilled...

 

[19Mateo83]

Hopefully you will find a tree that won’t die, like this thread… now…In essence that crispy little pitch pine will live forever well done!

 

[Diggumsmack2]

.....maybe--IF you're a active member of a club. If not, they will pass on just after you.

Oh how many times has a bonsai enthusiast said to themselves "not my collection, not this group of trees!!! They are too special" and yet I'd bet you couldn't count how many times this eb and flow has occurred. Enthusiast passes and so does his or her collection. Too much to take care of, call relatives, visit funeral home, talk to lawyer/s.......tree collection gets shifted to least important of all things and poof brown leaves for all!

 

[Erok]

Maybe this is the wrong group for me. I’m don’t look at it as a moneymaker. I like the art of dwarfing a tree and creating a miniature.
Seems like there is a lot of pessimism here. I don’t care much for that.
As Groucho Marx once said. “ I wouldn’t be a member of any club that would except me as a member.”
Thanks for the info, think I’ll stick to the books.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Pitch it.