Pruning techniques for pitch pine?

[tanlu]

Hi,

I have several questions regarding pitch pine training and care.

1) How do they respond to candle removal techniques? I heard that they will put out lots of buds, but unlike 2 needle pines not necessarily at the bud terminals, making refinement a challenge.

2) Are there any diseases that they are particularly more susceptible to?

3) Are they more drought resistant or do they require more water than other pines?


T

 

[Dav4]

I can't comment on their response to particular pruning techniques, but I do know they will bud back on very old wood. Nick Lenz has a section dedicated to Pinus rigida in his book, "Bonsai from the Wild", and he discusses pruning them for development at some length...definitely worth a look.

They are also pretty drought and heat tolerant.

The one pitch pine I had was very frequently munched on each summer by sawfly larvae, and I've seen scale on landscape trees.

 

[tanlu]

Thanks for reply. I'll keep that in mind. Significant sawfly damage was done to my parents' mugos on the front lawn.

After I collected mine I too noticed back budding on random places on the trunk and branch. How long have you had your pitch pine? Can you post a photo? IDid you see any adventitious buds at the actual bud terminals after you pruned it?

T

 

[John Romano]

Pitch pine are very cold hardy and drought tolerant, as Dave said. I have a very old one that went through a rough time when in the possession of the previous owner. He had moved away and left it to his son to care for. It was not watered much and never repotted. It survived fine (though pretty weak when I got it) and, within two years, was back to being robust. It is well over 100 years old and will still through out adventitious buds along the knarly old bark. I do candle cut but not every year - usually every other year. The second flush of needles stay pretty short. The problem in my area of southern New England is finding anything but tall, beanpole specimens that are abundant here. The areas to look for good ones are along cliffs, ledges, etc.
A great tree to work with!
John

 

[Bill S]

John the notch bending method works great on these, opening up some nice options on those bean poles.

 

[painter]

boon believes they should be treated as black pine for needle reduction. although he said hes not 100% sure of it.
i have to get mine healthier before i start the trial period.
p

 

[tanlu]

John, thank you for your input. I collected mine from a rock crevice. It's basically a clump planting, but I have no idea how old it is.

When you do candle cutting on pitch pine how is it different from JBP?

T

 

[Ang3lfir3]

We use the same technique as on the pitch pines as we do on the black pines at Elandan tho the pitch pines don't seem to be as vigorous

 

[John Romano]

Hi T,
Cutting candles is very similar to what is done on black pines. Pitch are 3 needle pines and Black are two but they respond similarly to candle cutting. The main difference in growth is that the pitch pine will put out adventitious buds even on very old wood and often at the base. It often responds to fires by sprouting basal buds and regenerating trees that seemed killed by the fire. You can read about fire and pitch pine regeneration here: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/pinrig/all.html#FIRE EFFECTS
I do candle pruning at the same time of year as black pines: June-early July. The signal to do it is when the new shoots open up with needles that are fully opened at a 45 degree angle. Here in southern New England this can be in mid - late June. For shohin trees, you can wait a little later (early July). It is usually around the time of the Summer solstice. You can use the 3 stage approach or all at once with the technique of leaving longer or shorter stubs based on the strength area of the tree.
Adventitious buds sprout at the beginning of spring growth, later in summer after candle pruning and sometimes again in early fall. this is one of the great advantages of this species.
I lost many of my photo's from a computer crash and my tree is in storage but you can see a picture of it (and it's story) in the 'North American Bonsai' exhibition book by Marty Schmallenberg/ABS from 2007 (page 108-109). The tree was displayed at that exhibit in 2006 in Saratoga NY at the ABS Symposium on Native North American species.
john

 

[tanlu]

Hi John,

Thank you for answering my question so thoroughly. It was extremely helpful! I heard that pitch pines don't produce buds in between their needles like other pines. If true, then wouldn't back budding responses would be less predictable compared to that of black pines? I can't seem to find you're photos on google, but I'll keep looking. It would be nice to see that progression!

Maybe I'll take a short road trip out where you are to see it for myself. How far are you from Westchester New York?

T

 

[John Romano]

Here are a couple of phone photo's I took in the greenhouse this morning. First shows the ramification developed from candle cutting - same as on Black pine. Cut candles (timed correctly); new buds emerge; leave 2 and they elongate into shoots. This is how you create ramification (forked branching and density).
Second photo of buds that develop in the fall at the ends - they are whitish. There are 3 on this tip. Third picture showing buds that developed on old wood - this happens each year. You can leave one if you want to start a branch there or remove those unneeded ones.
Hope this helps.
The photo of my tree is in the book but I don't think it is online anywhere. I could take a new one when it comes out this spring.
I live in RI (2-2.5 hours from you) We also have a pitch pine for sale at New England Bonsai that I collected with Nick Lenz about 10 years ago.
Hope this helps.

 

[tanlu]

Thanks for the photos! I feel more confident about how to proceed. How many pitch pine do you have in your collection? I only have my one that's a large clump style that I collected. It looks as if it was the result of regeneration after fire. The bark on the largest trunk is quite thick so I'm guessing it's at least 50 years old. I'm hoping some adventitious buds spring forth from that trunk. These photos aren't very good, but as you can see I have quite a few options to choose from. I was even thinking of keeping just one or two and turn the rest into interesting deadwood. I'll have to take better photos in the spring.

 

[cwillette1994]

Are pitch multi flush? I’ve heard different answers some saying single some saying multi.

 

[0soyoung]

Branches are largely autonomous, so you could test a couple branch tips on your tree and find out firsthand.

 

[Paradox]

Pitch Pine second flush

I experimented with one of my pitch pines a couple of weeks ago and candle pruned some of its candles. Ive noticed my JBP forming buds already so I checked the pitch pine and it is also forming second buds below the cut candle. Pic is a bit blurry because of zooming in but you can see it.

www.bonsainut.com

 

[Bonsai butcher]

I have a lot of trouble with collecting pitch pines. Any thought as to why none of them make it for me? How well do they regrow roots? I haven’t tried to spray the needles with the moisture retention stuff yet, just digging them, shade, misting, coarse substrate... most of my transplants do well, but not these.

 

[sorce]

shade

That'd be my first suspect.

Sorce