Ponderosa Pinecones

Bonsai305

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I recently purchased a Ponderosa from another collection, it Has large pinecones on it and I’m not sure if they should be removed or not. The tree is larger, (40”?} and the cones are still green, closed and about the size of an egg.
 

AZbonsai

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Hi. Welcome. I would think pine cones could be treated like fruit or flowers on other bonsai trees. On my pomegranates I remove all but 2 blooms that are in strategic locations on the tree. Blooms and fruit take energy away from the tree so I try to limit that. Asthetics plays a role in my selection of what stays and what goes. Just my 2 cents.

You might want to post a picture of your tree and let people know what zone and general location you are in.

Good luck.
 

Bonsai305

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Hi. Welcome. I would think pine cones could be treated like fruit or flowers on other bonsai trees. On my pomegranates I remove all but 2 blooms that are in strategic locations on the tree. Blooms and fruit take energy away from the tree so I try to limit that. Asthetics plays a role in my selection of what stays and what goes. Just my 2 cents.

You might want to post a picture of your tree and let people know what zone and general location you are in.

Good luck.
My first intuition is to lose them as they are taking energy from the tree, their aesthetic value is in the eye of the beholder and for myself that jury is still out. I'm in denver, don't have a picture to share at the moment. But thank you!
 

Potawatomi13

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Wonderful to see this would be. Having several Ponderosa personally would love to have fruiting trees. If Azaleas flower, Apples fruit, Bouganvilleas flower why not pine trees grow cones? Have seen these on some Ryan Neil nursery trees. Unless tree is sick or weak "they are taking energy from the tree" is BS reason to deprive tree of having seed. Consider self fortunate🤨.
 

Bonsaidoorguy

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Wonderful to see this would be. Having several Ponderosa personally would love to have fruiting trees. If Azaleas flower, Apples fruit, Bouganvilleas flower why not pine trees grow cones? Have seen these on some Ryan Neil nursery trees. Unless tree is sick or weak "they are taking energy from the tree" is BS reason to deprive tree of having seed. Consider self fortunate🤨.
I've always left flowers and fruit to enjoy and I have a white pine that got a few cones going a couple of years ago. They have grown in size staying green and it looks like they will be turning brown and opening this year. Interesting to watch the progression and I've never understood pinching things to conserve energy, then practice things to restrict and withhold fertilizer to limit growth.
 

Forsoothe!

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Wonderful to see this would be. Having several Ponderosa personally would love to have fruiting trees. If Azaleas flower, Apples fruit, Bouganvilleas flower why not pine trees grow cones? Have seen these on some Ryan Neil nursery trees. Unless tree is sick or weak "they are taking energy from the tree" is BS reason to deprive tree of having seed. Consider self fortunate🤨.
Motherhood is very taxing and there is a 50-50 chance that a whole limb might be shed in the seed ripening process. I let little cones on Tamarack stay because they do not cost me a limb, but it is a species-specific characteristic and one has to be careful in choosing what to remove and what to leave.
 

Bonsai305

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I've always left flowers and fruit to enjoy and I have a white pine that got a few cones going a couple of years ago. They have grown in size staying green and it looks like they will be turning brown and opening this year. Interesting to watch the progression and I've never understood pinching things to conserve energy, then practice things to restrict and withhold fertilizer to limit growth.
I'm only 4 years in to this addictive nonsense; I feel like you can think all the way through many Bonsai principles enough to find their theories to seem contradictory. Thanks for your input!
 

Bonsai305

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UPDATE: Among this forum and other conversations in my community I've decided the philosophy is this; if you have pinecones on your Bonsai tree YOU ARE VERY LUCKY TO PINECONES ON YOUR PINECONES, leave them.

Unfortunately, I've come to learn that Racoons like pinecones and I am no longer fortunate.
 

Bonsai305

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Yes, I need to do a better job proofreading!
 

ShadyStump

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Yeesh!
Am I the only Coloradan into bonsai NOT from up North?
Welcome anyways! I can always us more Denver people to make fun of. You can take some of the heat off @Colorado. LOL
 

Colorado

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Yeesh!
Am I the only Coloradan into bonsai NOT from up North?
Welcome anyways! I can always us more Denver people to make fun of. You can take some of the heat off @Colorado. LOL

Ha! I know there is a group in Colorado Springs, and I’ve run into a few practitioners at RMBS meetings from the Pueblo area. :)
 

ShadyStump

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Ha! I know there is a group in Colorado Springs, and I’ve run into a few practitioners at RMBS meetings from the Pueblo area. :)
I know they're out there, just not where I can find them apparently.
Our little local garden shop doubled their selection of bonsai pots this past spring (to like 6 total), sold out and recently reordered more for the shelf. In the past I've seen the same pot sit there for a year, so there are definitely more folks doing it around here. Just need to find them and start our own local club.

But if you do have some info for the Springs or Pueblo areas, shoot me a message if you don't mind. I've not had much luck finding anything online that looks active.
 
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