Because of this:Sounds like a lot of stress to me.
I did not imply that at all. What I did imply is that we do not get to see the rest period that these tree go thru. Maybe no candle pruning that year or what ever measures they may do. Maybe not pruned as hard for that year, I have no idea. My implication was not that the trees look like shit after a week. Why would you even think that?
The trees do just fine......
Smoke said,
“Keep in mind that many of these trees are prepared for a few years for this one exhibit and then rested. Unfortunately we don't get to see the few months after the exhibit and what the trees look like six months later, or even a couple years later.”
The way I read that is you are implying the trees are adversely affected by their week at the show.
I have not been to Kokofu, but I have several friends who have been apprentices, and have worked the trees shown there. Two have worked trees that won! They have told me that yes, the trees are prepared years in advance, much like an athlete prepares years in advance to “peak” during an Olympics. Trees will be at their fullest, their highest amount of ramification, wire removed or minimized, etc. JBP will have been decandled for several years in a row to induce short needles and short internodes and will be very thick.
After the show, many of the trees will get repotted into larger pots, cut back, or allowed to grow out (depending upon their needs), or perhaps simply put back on the bench.
Nothing to do with the week inside, it’s just the normal cycle of training to peak at showtime, then rebuilding after the show.
I did the same thing with my avatar JBP. I decandled it every year for 4 years to get it ready to show. I took it to the Nationals. After that, I showed it in Regional shows in my part of the county for a year. Then, I cut it back, removed the wire, and let it grow long needles again! To rebuild strength.
This summer, the decandling will resume, the long needles will get pulled next fall, and the cycle will begin again.