Thomas 22 JBP Entry Thread

[thomas22]

I got all from My Seeds Co.
I got 100 regular JBP and 40 Mikawa Black Pine.

I will attempt not to mix the two varieties so see if there is a noticeable difference.

 

[thomas22]

I soaked my seeds two week ago and placed in the fridge. I'm planting in two more weeks. I working on a corner of my yard dedicated for seedlings and cuttings. I even installed a dedicated sprinkler for the area. I will post my plantings in a few weeks.

 

[thomas22]

I decided to just put my seeds in little pots I had lying around the house. I layered the soil in three layers. Regular bonsai soil on the bottom, then 1/8 lava/ pummice soil, and finally a little seed starter on the top 1/2" i put two seeds in each pot and will keep the strongest one or transfer one to a pot that didn't get any sprouts. I have the Mikawa seeds marked and separated. I plan on just leaving them in the pots for the year and see what happens. I see everyone is going to transfer seedlings into pots so I thought I would try something different. So right now i have a 65 pots that i plan on having at least 1 tree. Maybe a couple of twin trunks.

 

[thomas22]

I have not been good at updating this thread but my JBP are doing good. They took three weeks to sprout but seem to be growing faster as of late due to the weather warming up. I have at least one seedling in each pot like I planed.

 

[Ryceman3]

Happy to read about a different approach in this competition. Looks like you’ve had decent success with your seeds... ?
Just wondering how the Mikawa seeds worked out in comparison with the regular JBP?? Germination rates just as good?
Please keep posting as things progress, this competition is a wealth of experience/knowledge! I enjoy reading it all.

 

[thomas22]

Happy to read about a different approach in this competition. Looks like you’ve had decent success with your seeds... ?
Just wondering how the Mikawa seeds worked out in comparison with the regular JBP?? Germination rates just as good?
Please keep posting as things progress, this competition is a wealth of experience/knowledge! I enjoy reading it all.

The Mikawa seeds were almost as good as the regular JBP seeds. The regular ones seem a bit stronger also. The one thing I would do differently next time is I would lose the seed starter on the top layer. I planted a few without it and they are growing a bit stronger now.
I feel confident they will grow fast once they get going based on the couple of bigger ones I have. One grew so fast this spring that the wire bit in with only a few months of growth. I just got to get to that point.

 

[thomas22]

Its about time I updated these little guys. The first two pics are a couple of my strongest ones. The first one in the big round pot were the only seeds I put in regular bonsai soil. I just threw some extra seeds in a pot where a tree died last year and they are really going strong. Next time all my seeds go in regular bonsai mix. The third pic is the general population of regular JBP and the last pic is my 20 or so Mikawa JBP. They are not as big but are doing fine. All the trees still in their original planting mix and pot.

 

[thomas22]

Update: I've been repotting these for the last month and finally finished last week. I have 34 left. None died but I dumped 10 that didn't show much promise. These little guys are a lot of work and eat up supplies like wire and soil. I now understand why they cost so much. I used 3 different types containers. and different soil mixes. I started out with lava, pumice, and akadama. Ran out of akadama so I went with lava and pumice. Ran out of lava so I finshed the last 10 trees in just pumice. Will be interesting to see if the soil makes a big difference.

 

[thomas22]

2021 update: Nothing real exciting going on. I repotted last year and didn't get a ton of growth. This year I am starting to get some good candle extension so maybe there is hope for a decent size trunk between the 30 pines I have left. They do seem relatively healthy so I am happy about that. The first pic is probably the one with most potential.

 

[hemmy]

didn't get a ton of growth

The diameter looks decent. How wide are the biggest, 0.75” or bigger?

 

[Ryceman3]

Just wondering what (if any) difference you noticed in growth rates between your soil mixes? Looks like they are set up to go big for you this season ...

 

[thomas22]

The diameter looks decent. How wide are the biggest, 0.75” or bigger?

3/4" is about right for the biggest trunk. Most around 1/2.

 

[thomas22]

Just wondering what (if any) difference you noticed in growth rates between your soil mixes? Looks like they are set up to go big for you this season ...

Most trees in akadama, lava, and pumice. I ran out of Akadama and just used lava and pumice for about 8 trees. They seem to be growing about the same.

 

[thomas22]

Not as big as I would have liked but all mine are doing fine. Just repotted all of them. Lots of work and soil. Also did a little wiring.

 

[thomas22]

The good news is I have 20 strong Japanese and some are just starting to grow fast now and trunks are starting to thicken but don't really want to chop these for the contest. I will be entering one of my smaller ones. Here are a few randon pics. The one in the bonsai pot is the one I will enter and definitely not win lol.

 

[thomas22]

All pics didn't load.

 

[BonsaiDTLA]

They look like they're starting to take off! Nice