Emanon
Mame
Hello! I dug up two young trees that I think are Torrey Pines (Pinus torreyana) and I am attempting to grow them as bonsai. I was hoping that someone with experience with this tree could give advice on where to cut the taproot. I've never had this issue with other trees before because, usually, there are at least some branching roots closer to the surface. The first tree was younger than the other and just had a single taproot. It is a 6-8 inches tall tree. I decided to stop digging and cut the taproot at a little over 2 feet down. At this point, two feet deep, there were no other roots (i.e. no horizontal branching roots). So I scarred the single root, put a rooting hormone on it, and was able to wrap all of the single root inside of a two gallon nursery pot.
The second tree is obviously older, so bigger, and has at least some branching roots. I dug to about 4 feet when collecting it. The taproot went deeper but I cut it here. At home I cut the taproot at 2 feet down. At this point I have 8 horizontal or radial roots. I cut it here because it was right after the second "grouping" of roots and there were no more roots for another 8 inches down the taproot. The tree itself is 3 feet tall and I wanted to preserve as many roots as possible in order to increase its chances of surviving.
The attached picture is of the root after I cut it at 2 feet from the surface. Ideally I'd want to cut the taproot as close to the arrow numbered 1 in the picture as possible. This is the point at which the tree was buried. (I initially picked this tree because the first set of branches were right above the ground.) Between this point (number 1) and the arrow numbered 2 (which is the first branching root), the taproot begin to taper drastically. It looks like a carrot. If I was able to generate roots at the point numbered 2, and set this right below the surface, or attempted to turn it into nebari, the trunk would have a horrible reverse taper started a good distance from its base.
The other problem I encountered is that the few branching roots extended for multiple feet horizontally. I attempted to get as much of each of them as possible but they are very delicate and wind all about. I'm worried that each of the 8 roots were not removed in their entirety.
At this point is it best for me to bury the whole 2+ feet of taproot that I have left? Should I maybe cut between the arrows numbered 1 and 2 and hope for root branching? Or just after the grouping around the arrow numbered 2 -- there is three roots at this point. For those with experience with Torrey Pines, are the principles of collecting them/chopping the taproot different from other pines?
(I also included another closer-up picture of a part of the taproot, as it looks now.)
The second tree is obviously older, so bigger, and has at least some branching roots. I dug to about 4 feet when collecting it. The taproot went deeper but I cut it here. At home I cut the taproot at 2 feet down. At this point I have 8 horizontal or radial roots. I cut it here because it was right after the second "grouping" of roots and there were no more roots for another 8 inches down the taproot. The tree itself is 3 feet tall and I wanted to preserve as many roots as possible in order to increase its chances of surviving.
The attached picture is of the root after I cut it at 2 feet from the surface. Ideally I'd want to cut the taproot as close to the arrow numbered 1 in the picture as possible. This is the point at which the tree was buried. (I initially picked this tree because the first set of branches were right above the ground.) Between this point (number 1) and the arrow numbered 2 (which is the first branching root), the taproot begin to taper drastically. It looks like a carrot. If I was able to generate roots at the point numbered 2, and set this right below the surface, or attempted to turn it into nebari, the trunk would have a horrible reverse taper started a good distance from its base.
The other problem I encountered is that the few branching roots extended for multiple feet horizontally. I attempted to get as much of each of them as possible but they are very delicate and wind all about. I'm worried that each of the 8 roots were not removed in their entirety.
At this point is it best for me to bury the whole 2+ feet of taproot that I have left? Should I maybe cut between the arrows numbered 1 and 2 and hope for root branching? Or just after the grouping around the arrow numbered 2 -- there is three roots at this point. For those with experience with Torrey Pines, are the principles of collecting them/chopping the taproot different from other pines?
(I also included another closer-up picture of a part of the taproot, as it looks now.)