That could be right since it's a mechanism found in a lot of plants. But at the same time it can be a sign of good health ("so much leftover energy, let's do some sex").There's a school of thought that they are a sign of stress- the plant is in trouble and needs to reproduce before it dies. Any thoughts on this?
This is a JWP, but it's likely the same for all pines. Thanks for your thoughts.The first Jack pine put them out the year I collected it. Someone brought this to my attention. All it did was grow.
I believe if it's growing anything it's a good sign.
Now like I said. I don't deal with JBP.
Has it been repotted recently?This is a JWP, but it's likely the same for all pines. Thanks for your thoughts.
Yes and no. This spring I took an inch or so off the bottom of the root ball, and removed the circling roots.Has it been repotted recently?
To bring on the stress you alluded to.
If it's blooming at a weird time of year...then I'd say yeah maybe it's about to croak.There's a school of thought that they are a sign of stress- the plant is in trouble and needs to reproduce before it dies. Any thoughts on this?
I purchased this one in Nov 2016. Since then, it's still in the original nursery soil. Just very slightly reduced the soil this spring.My experience is they will make pollen cones after repotting. I don’t know if it’s a stress reaction, or whether the rapid root growth triggers it. Mine have not been “stressed” to where the tree is anywhere close to expiring. I have heard trees will do that.
This year, only one of my JWP produced pollen cones. And only on one side of the tree. It was repotted this year, into fresh Boon Mix. Prior to that, it had not been repotted in quite a while. Foliage growth all over is strong. Fresh soil is coarse, which promotes rapid root growth, which in turn, promotes strong foliage growth.
Last year, I repotted a Zuisho JWP I had purchased from Julian Adams. Julian uses straight Turface. So, I did a half bare root repot, beginning the transition to Boon Mix. Well, it grew like crazy! And produced tons of pollen cones! This year, I did not repot. (I will do the other half next spring). Growth is much more restrained. It’s growing well, evenly all over, but no pollen cones. I attribute this to the akadama breaking down and making smaller particles. Boon Mix is coarser than Turface when fresh, but changes to be less coarse as the akadama breaks down. At some point, the akadama will break down to point that it needs to be replaced. Repotting into fresh soil will start the root growth cycle over again!
That sound like a YES to me!Yes and no. This spring I took an inch or so off the bottom of the root ball, and removed the circling roots.
I hear you, but it's in a huge pot, maybe 5 gallons, so an inch off the bottom doesn't seem like much. Guess it was enough, though.That sound like a YES to me!
There's a school of thought that they are a sign of stress- the plant is in trouble and needs to reproduce before it dies. Any thoughts on this?
More to the point, how does one prevent them from being made?There's a school of thought that they are a sign of stress- the plant is in trouble and needs to reproduce before it dies. Any thoughts on this?