Should I pluck some needles? JWP

[Devo12]

Hey guys,
just got a JWP and don’t have too much experience regarding them and can’t find too much information regarding a young white pine in this stage - so it’s ending winter here and was wondering if I should do some needle plucking just for some light ? Cause this thing is covered in them

also style suggestions?

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I think the needles I'm seeing are not in pairs, but single needles. This could mean two things: You've been ripped off and someone sold you an italian stone pine or a halepensis - both have the tendency to stay juvenile for a very long time and revert easily when stressed. OR. These are juvenile needles, which are a sign that either your tree has been very stressed or that it's very young. Some juvenile needles lay down the path for adult needles to form at their base, so removing them would be detrimental.

In both cases, I wouldn't pluck any needles and see what it does this year.

JWP in Cape Town seems odd. Your winters are 12 degrees C according to the internet, which means that this tree will probably not enter dormancy. This in turn, means that it's unlikely to survive for more than 4 years due to that lack of dormancy. However, I could be completely wrong about this. I'm not a fan of JWP and I know very little about them. But the best way to get a right answer on the internet, is to post a wrong answer. Someone will probably correct me soon ;-)

 

[Devo12]

I think the needles I'm seeing are not in pairs, but single needles. This could mean two things: You've been ripped off and someone sold you an italian stone pine or a halepensis - both have the tendency to stay juvenile for a very long time and revert easily when stressed. OR. These are juvenile needles, which are a sign that either your tree has been very stressed or that it's very young. Some juvenile needles lay down the path for adult needles to form at their base, so removing them would be detrimental.

In both cases, I wouldn't pluck any needles and see what it does this year.

JWP in Cape Town seems odd. Your winters are 12 degrees C according to the internet, which means that this tree will probably not enter dormancy. This in turn, means that it's unlikely to survive for more than 4 years due to that lack of dormancy. However, I could be completely wrong about this. I'm not a fan of JWP and I know very little about them. But the best way to get a right answer on the internet, is to post a wrong answer. Someone will probably correct me soon ;-)

Thanks so much yeh I think they are quite young, but they should be white pine cause there were also JBP there so hopefully they are white pine but yeh yeah still single needles and seems super fragile . And yeh temps do drop to around 5 degrees in the evenings so hopefully that helps

Thanks so much for the help

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I see some pairs of longer needles. Can you check how many needles come from one fascicle? If memory serves me right, JWP is of the strobus family and should have clusters of five.
Halepensis and Pinea both have needles in pairs of two. This should help you ID them.

 

[Devo12]

I see some pairs of longer needles. Can you check how many needles come from one fascicle? If memory serves me right, JWP is of the strobus family and should have clusters of five.
Halepensis and Pinea both have needles in pairs of two. This should help you ID them.

Will do!

Those smaller ones along the “ branches “ seem to only be singles ?:/ which is strange

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

That's not strange if they are juvenile foliage, as far as I know all pines produce juvenile foliage in singles. Look for the long green (adult) ones and count how many come from the same spot.


Here you can see my halepensis with only juvenile needles. Looks pretty similar, doesn't it? The yellow one on the side is a JBP that has both, but it's hard to see. You can see needles coming from the top of the base of the juvenile needles. That are the adult needles, in the case of JBP as pairs of two.

 

[Devo12]

That's not strange if they are juvenile foliage, as far as I know all pines produce juvenile foliage in singles. Look for the long green (adult) ones and count how many come from the same spot.
View attachment 316892

Here you can see my halepensis with only juvenile needles. Looks pretty similar, doesn't it? The yellow one on the side is a JBP that has both, but it's hard to see. You can see needles coming from the top of the base of the juvenile needles. That are the adult needles, in the case of JBP as pairs of two.

Ohhhh yess true true !! Yeh they look very similar hey. Just has plenty needles and branches . I’m not sure if I should remove unwanted growth , obv not major branches and a lot of growth . Or that not such a great idea ?

 

[KillerButts]

@Devo12 Maybe this can help. https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/pinus-stobus.40022/#post-677436 I need to update it but it’s doing great growing out in mid day to setting sun. Placing it in ground after the cuts were made produced good back budding. Had I known the cut trick at the time I would have attempted some branch placement with a razor blade. It seems better to guy wire these when attempting movement on over finger size branches. The scars will last a long time if wire digs in.