All aboard the Mugo train!

[BonjourBonsai]

I don’t remember what the tag said but I believe it just said dwarf Mugo. I’ve had it since the fall and the candles are normally standing up. They only started dropping in the last few days.

Maybe because of the heat?

 

[Pine_nut]

Have you pulled it out to see the roots?

I'm guessing the green balls of death popped in the heat and killed the roots.

Sorce

I pulled it out of the pot and found the roots were growing strong on one side. The soil on the other side just fell away since it was very wet and had nothing holding it together. I repotted it last night since it didn’t have any roots to soak up the water in half of the pot, I knew it would stay too wet. Hopefully it will bounce back soon. So far it’s still really droopy.

 

[Pine_nut]

Maybe because of the heat?

It hasn’t been super hot lately. Mostly in the low 80’s and it only gets direct sun for the first half of the day. After repotting it, I think the soil was too wet from the recent rains.

 

[BonjourBonsai]

It hasn’t been super hot lately. Mostly in the low 80’s and it only gets direct sun for the first half of the day. After repotting it, I think the soil was too wet from the recent rains.

From your picture of the roots, I think you're right. The soil looked very poor but the roots looked in good shape. Hopefully the repot will help.

 

[Vance Wood]

The way Mugos grow they tend to look old but maintain juvenile habits that have to be over come with cultural practices and time. Takes a lot of love of doing it and time.

 

[Pine_nut]

The way Mugos grow they tend to look old but maintain juvenile habits that have to be over come with cultural practices and time. Takes a lot of love of doing it and time.

What are their juvenile habits that they revert to?

Mugos might be my favorite species, but two years into this hobby and I’m still trying to figure them out.

Thanks for all the info Vance!

 

[drhughes]

Depending on where you are (hint: out your location in your bio information) and the health and age of the tree, I would wait until August to root prune up to one half of the root ball. I would not touch the foliage or branches this year. Check out @Vance Wood 's tutorial on how to develop nursery mugos. You'll find excellent advice there.

Good luck. It looks like a nice little tree!

Thanks -- I have followed each of your suggestions. I'll do nothing for now!

 

[clintonio12]

[pic]

Picked up this little mugo mops yesterday (my first pine!) at a nursery. What caught my eye was the tight bundles of needles, the main trunk, and the first branch, while the other options mostly had bar branches. I think the gentleman who cashed me out was excited to see someone excited about a Mugo.

[edit: left is today, June 7th, and right is October of last year]

It was really cool watching my mugo put out candles, and then checking every day as they slowly turned into needles! There are a couple of branches that split into 3 and 4, but most grew 1 or 2.

I've read of Vance's article, which stopped me from pruning back the candles and repotting. My plan is to get it out of the nursery pot in the summer, when it is nice and hot and dry, so that I can get a good nebari started. I want to try and fix the reverse taper of the trunk as soon as I can. Vance also advises that at this time it's safe to remove up to half of the foliage.

At this step in Vance's tutorial he advises to cut the root ball in half and then use a root hook to sort out the curling roots. Is it safe to go against the grain here and do a regular root pruning (without a wash, I intend to keep as much Mycorrhizae) and keep some of the nursery soil directly underneath the trunk?

Any advice is appreciated!

 

[p_anova]

Here is my nursery "medusa" mugo purchased 2 years ago. I cut the bottom half of the roots and left the rest of the roots untouched. Has a very ugly knuckle, circled in red, that I will eventually carve to mitigate. Slowly removing branches to try and develop the line of the tree but afraid to take off too many at one time... Going to chop at the red line in July if everyone thinks it safe to do so. Not my favorite tree but it was 2 for 1 and I successfully killed its companion. Welcome all comments and concerns.

 

[sorce]

safe

Reckon it would be, but I'd like to see you leave it on while you allow it to heal that lower carving.

I don't see that chunk ruining anything in your design for at least 5 years, so I'd automatically keep it for health sacrifice.

Sorce

 

[BonjourBonsai]

My experience is that mugos do not like large and drastic shocks to the trunk. I've removed similar knobs flat to the trunk and killed half the tree.

 

[sorce]

Contrarily, I was quite surprised at how well mine healed round a, likely smaller, trunk hole.

You definitely want to only open one at a time I reckon, allow the pipes to reconnect.

Sorce

 

[p_anova]

Reckon it would be, but I'd like to see you leave it on while you allow it to heal that lower carving.

I don't see that chunk ruining anything in your design for at least 5 years, so I'd automatically keep it for health sacrifice.

Sorce

But it's so ugly....want to offer it as sacrifice.

 

[sorce]

But it's so ugly....want to offer it as sacrifice.

Ugly is the necessary Bullet Train to success.

Sorce

 

[p_anova]

Ugly is the necessary Bullet Train to success.

Sorce

My ugly mugo was an extra in the Matrix movie.

 

[Backwardsvg]

Could you cut the branches further out (after you use it for a health sacrifice) so you can leave a good hunk for dieback and then leave it as a cool Jin?

 

[p_anova]

Could you cut the branches further out (after you use it for a health sacrifice) so you can leave a good hunk for dieback and then leave it as a cool Jin?

Totally an option, but I have always hated that little lump of branch there. Guess I will carve out the knuckle first then deal with that area.

 

[James W.]

View attachment 440840
[edit: left is today, June 7th, and right is October of last year]

It was really cool watching my mugo put out candles, and then checking every day as they slowly turned into needles! There are a couple of branches that split into 3 and 4, but most grew 1 or 2.

I've read of Vance's article, which stopped me from pruning back the candles and repotting. My plan is to get it out of the nursery pot in the summer, when it is nice and hot and dry, so that I can get a good nebari started. I want to try and fix the reverse taper of the trunk as soon as I can. Vance also advises that at this time it's safe to remove up to half of the foliage.

At this step in Vance's tutorial he advises to cut the root ball in half and then use a root hook to sort out the curling roots. Is it safe to go against the grain here and do a regular root pruning (without a wash, I intend to keep as much Mycorrhizae) and keep some of the nursery soil directly underneath the trunk?

Any advice is appreciated!

At this point I usually cut off the outside layer of the root ball to remove all the circling roots then fluff up a the periphery a little. Removing a lot of the root ball can kill the tree. I have had good results with a small mugo like that doing the kind of repotting you want in the fall or late winter, not so much in the summer.

 

[p_anova]

My experience is that mugos do not like large and drastic shocks to the trunk. I've removed similar knobs flat to the trunk and killed half the tree.

Agreed. That is how the first one ate it. I have taken off 2 to 3 minor branches each year but that is all. No decandle or bud selection. It gets fed and burped, just need to buy a bib and pacifier for this big baby. Hopefully it doesn't get upset after I carve that knuckle out in July.

 

[Colorado]

Here’s a Shohin Cascade Mugo for the Mugo Train!