pwk5017
Shohin
This is a continuation of a conversation between biglou and myself in another thread. I figured it had gotten off topic enough for me to start a new thread. Basically, biglou asked for some pics of my developing stock. While re-sizing the photos, I noticed I was not as careful about composition/shooting angle when I took the pics as I should have been(a viscous storm was moving in as I was snapping pics and is currently raging right now). Some of the pines' leaders blend into other pine foilage in the background, but I think they are good enough to get the message across. I am somewhat new to growing pine bonsai, so if anyone has some ideas or suggestions, feel free to give them.
Pine 1 is 3-4 years old and was not grown as a cutting. A little luck and some root pruning through the years have begun the beginnings of a nice base/nebari on this young pine. This pine was not repotted this spring, so I couldnt scratch away anymore soil than that to reveal more of the roots. Basically, everything with the white/reflective flakes on it is solid roots. I am aiming for a 8-10" final tree for this one. I think it is 20"+ right now.
Pine 2 is the same age as pine one. The nebari isnt excellent on this one, but its not poor either. A couple more seasons of root pruning should yield excellent results. I am fortunate enough to have a series of weak buds about 1/2" away from the nebari. I hope to encourage some vigor into those buds in the next several years so I can use them as sacrifice branches to achieve an excellent base. Aiming for a finished tree of 10" on this one as well. If you look 2-3" above the small buds at the base, you can see the first whorl of needles. I have several young buds in that mess that will become the new leader/trunk. I am hopeful that this tree will have some powerful movement and taper in another 5-8 years.
Pine 3 is one year younger I believe. I dont know why I didnt take a front view of this tree, but perhaps the topview is more telling. Nebari is developing decently on this one, but is far from perfect. I plan to use the weaker bud on the right as the new trunk line. I might use the other weak bud as a branch, but this tree is offering some buds lower that might be in better positions to be final branches. The base shot is sort of interesting, because you can see how I have 7 buds coming off the trunk where no living needles exist. You can see the dead 1st year needles still hanging off the trunk. I am not sure what caused these buds to appear as the tree has never been pruned, but I am attributing it to repotting this spring and vigorous feeding. Doesnt hurt to be a little lucky in this hobby either.
Pine 4 is the same age as 1 & 2. You can see the final remnants of trunk scarring from wiring in year 2. I let the wire bite in deep on this particular seedling and it has the thickest trunk out of all my seedlings. This was one of the first pine seedlings I wired, so I bent and twisted it severely. I wasnt sure it was going to make it, because the cambium had been cracked in many places along the trunk. However, I was curious in learning the extremes of wiring without raffia, so even if it died, it would have been worth the education. Like pine 3, it has produced needle buds where no living needles exist or have existed for a year. With the current trunk movement, I am hoping for a bud to occur in the first whorl of needles, so I can have a new leader/trunk section. This tree will most likely be in the 6-8" range and be a squashed and twisted shohin.
Pine 5 is in its second year. This pine was not a seedling cutting. I did about half and half last year using the seedling cutting process. This seedling wasnt showing me much potential, so I experimented with topping/decandling it this spring. It had a 6" strong candle and a 2" weaker candle originating from the same whorl. I was curious to see how the seedling would respond. I have to say, it didnt give me the results I had hoped for. I was hoping for buds to appear all along the trunk-- base to top. It only produced buds from the weak shoots up to the point where it was cut. I havent counted the buds, but I can estimate somewhere around 20 have appeared. The advantageous buds at the base of the candles number somewhere in the 10+ neighborhood. The topview photo shows the candle stub leftover and out of focus in a sea of buds. You can form your own conclusion on if its a good idea to lose almost a year's worth of thickening to receive an unlimited choice of branch/future leader choices. Brent does stress the importance of lower buds for branch and sacrifice branches, so decandling/topping certainly can be an effective method of achieving that. I want to see the results of fall pruning before I approve of spring pruning.
Finally, I thought I would include some photos of this year's crop. I have about 300 rooted seedling cuttings. I cut the roots the first week of June. Growing from seed this spring has been slow and full of failure due to the very cool and rainy spring. Anyways, you can see the results of the procedure a month later. I randomly plucked this one up for a photo and you can see how effective the technique is. I have 5-6 roots issuing from exactly the same point on the trunk. If only I had consistently performed this task over the last 4 years...life would be so much easier.
Pine 1 is 3-4 years old and was not grown as a cutting. A little luck and some root pruning through the years have begun the beginnings of a nice base/nebari on this young pine. This pine was not repotted this spring, so I couldnt scratch away anymore soil than that to reveal more of the roots. Basically, everything with the white/reflective flakes on it is solid roots. I am aiming for a 8-10" final tree for this one. I think it is 20"+ right now.
Pine 2 is the same age as pine one. The nebari isnt excellent on this one, but its not poor either. A couple more seasons of root pruning should yield excellent results. I am fortunate enough to have a series of weak buds about 1/2" away from the nebari. I hope to encourage some vigor into those buds in the next several years so I can use them as sacrifice branches to achieve an excellent base. Aiming for a finished tree of 10" on this one as well. If you look 2-3" above the small buds at the base, you can see the first whorl of needles. I have several young buds in that mess that will become the new leader/trunk. I am hopeful that this tree will have some powerful movement and taper in another 5-8 years.
Pine 3 is one year younger I believe. I dont know why I didnt take a front view of this tree, but perhaps the topview is more telling. Nebari is developing decently on this one, but is far from perfect. I plan to use the weaker bud on the right as the new trunk line. I might use the other weak bud as a branch, but this tree is offering some buds lower that might be in better positions to be final branches. The base shot is sort of interesting, because you can see how I have 7 buds coming off the trunk where no living needles exist. You can see the dead 1st year needles still hanging off the trunk. I am not sure what caused these buds to appear as the tree has never been pruned, but I am attributing it to repotting this spring and vigorous feeding. Doesnt hurt to be a little lucky in this hobby either.
Pine 4 is the same age as 1 & 2. You can see the final remnants of trunk scarring from wiring in year 2. I let the wire bite in deep on this particular seedling and it has the thickest trunk out of all my seedlings. This was one of the first pine seedlings I wired, so I bent and twisted it severely. I wasnt sure it was going to make it, because the cambium had been cracked in many places along the trunk. However, I was curious in learning the extremes of wiring without raffia, so even if it died, it would have been worth the education. Like pine 3, it has produced needle buds where no living needles exist or have existed for a year. With the current trunk movement, I am hoping for a bud to occur in the first whorl of needles, so I can have a new leader/trunk section. This tree will most likely be in the 6-8" range and be a squashed and twisted shohin.
Pine 5 is in its second year. This pine was not a seedling cutting. I did about half and half last year using the seedling cutting process. This seedling wasnt showing me much potential, so I experimented with topping/decandling it this spring. It had a 6" strong candle and a 2" weaker candle originating from the same whorl. I was curious to see how the seedling would respond. I have to say, it didnt give me the results I had hoped for. I was hoping for buds to appear all along the trunk-- base to top. It only produced buds from the weak shoots up to the point where it was cut. I havent counted the buds, but I can estimate somewhere around 20 have appeared. The advantageous buds at the base of the candles number somewhere in the 10+ neighborhood. The topview photo shows the candle stub leftover and out of focus in a sea of buds. You can form your own conclusion on if its a good idea to lose almost a year's worth of thickening to receive an unlimited choice of branch/future leader choices. Brent does stress the importance of lower buds for branch and sacrifice branches, so decandling/topping certainly can be an effective method of achieving that. I want to see the results of fall pruning before I approve of spring pruning.
Finally, I thought I would include some photos of this year's crop. I have about 300 rooted seedling cuttings. I cut the roots the first week of June. Growing from seed this spring has been slow and full of failure due to the very cool and rainy spring. Anyways, you can see the results of the procedure a month later. I randomly plucked this one up for a photo and you can see how effective the technique is. I have 5-6 roots issuing from exactly the same point on the trunk. If only I had consistently performed this task over the last 4 years...life would be so much easier.