Pollen clusters on new candles

[Desert Dweller]

Some of my pines are developing pollen clusters on the new candles. I am currious as to whether I should remove these or let them run their course. I have had these before and have done nothing about them, however this year there appears to be quite a few more than normal. Is this any sort of health indicator or is it just something which happens due to weather or environment?

 

[JudyB]

I had a ton of them this year too, but my climate is far different than yours. I removed all of mine, as I want all the energy to go into the tree. I stressed my JBP pretty hard this year, but it seems fine, so I don't think it's a health thing...

 

[Vance Wood]

What kind of Pine are you dealing with?

 

[Dav4]

I had a ton of them this year too, but my climate is far different than yours. I removed all of mine, as I want all the energy to go into the tree. I stressed my JBP pretty hard this year, but it seems fine, so I don't think it's a health thing...

Yup...just rub them off.

 

[Desert Dweller]

These are Japanese Black Pines. I also have a Loblolly pine but it is not creating the pollen sacs.

 

[Eric Schrader]

My 2 cents - my trees made a lot of pollen cones this year but I leave them alone. By the time that they are open enough to emit pollen and be readily removable without damaging the candles the tree has already done all the work to produce them. My teacher always said leave them until they start to dry out and then rub them off - that way you wont damage the new shoots. Female cones are another story - they form on the tips of the new growth and should be gently twisted off. They will consume energy for two years while they mature and on a bonsai are unlikely to produce much viable seed anyway.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

My 2 cents - my trees made a lot of pollen cones this year but I leave them alone. By the time that they are open enough to emit pollen and be readily removable without damaging the candles the tree has already done all the work to produce them. My teacher always said leave them until they start to dry out and then rub them off - that way you wont damage the new shoots. Female cones are another story - they form on the tips of the new growth and should be gently twisted off. They will consume energy for two years while they mature and on a bonsai are unlikely to produce much viable seed anyway.

I've pretty much ignored them on mine too; somehow it doesn't seem like they really consume much energy. A couple JRP, white pine, and my tall Kyokko Yatsabusa have grown these. The KY set 2 cones last year, and are about marble-sized now. For interest and out of curiousity, I have left them on and they're still growing.

 

[mcpesq817]

One thing I've wondered is whether the portion of the candle that grows through the pollen cones has adventitious buds along that length, given that there are no needles on that portion. That's why I have been removing my pollen cones, so that hopefully that "neck" on the candle will be shorter. Not sure if that makes a difference or not. Otherwise, I figure that it's better to let the tree use its energy elsewhere.

You do have to be careful when removing the pollen cones that you don't bust off the bud in the middle - I've found that you need to let the pollen cones get a little size, and then they easily rub off.

 

[fore]

Does anyone have a picture of these pollen cones by chance? I again looked thru the Stone Lantern book on Pines and I couldn't find where they discussed pollen cones or even female cones.

 

[Vance Wood]

Does anyone have a picture of these pollen cones by chance? I again looked thru the Stone Lantern book on Pines and I couldn't find where they discussed pollen cones or even female cones.

Most of the time if you are pinching regularly you usually don't have this problem. I have never seen latent buds pop on the stems of shoots that had pollen cones. The best thing to do is to remove the shoot all the way back to the area where the bud first opened this spring. With JBP if you do this early enough you will get a second flush of growth. If you wait till July you will get the formation of new buds that wont open till spring unless we get a really long summer.

 

[JudyB]

Does anyone have a picture of these pollen cones by chance? I again looked thru the Stone Lantern book on Pines and I couldn't find where they discussed pollen cones or even female cones.

Here are photos, one is from my white pine and the other on my black pine. They look different, but they are probably the same thing...I'm still learning pines...

 

[fore]

Vance, that's good information to know. Thank You!

And Judy, "Oh!" I see how different they are from the emerging candles. Thank You Judy!

 

[Ang3lfir3]

I remove them on JBP because I don't like them and the idea of them stealing energy is not exciting (I'll end up cutting that candle off in June) ..... On Ponderosa I remove them as soon as I see them tho they are easier to remove this time of year... I would rather the pondy energy go to forming buds

we don't really grow white pines yet so nothing there.... tho Vic has a little shohin in the making ....

 

[Adair M]

There are no adventitious buds on the "necks" of candles whether there are pollen cones or not. Adventitious buds are at the very base of the candle right where the candle emerges from last year's wood.

The time of year to decandle depends upon where you live. If you have a long growing season, wait until later in the summer. If you have a short growing season, decandle earlier.