Cork or peely bark JBP?

[MrFancyPlants]

I was going to give the sacrifice just a bit more time to help heal the trimming of the escape roots, but the wind kept knocking over the Anderson flat.. an unexpected problem.
There are some lower branches on the back, but the subtle movement in the top section seems to have grown straight. I give it a chance to try to leverage the top sacrifice into a twisty movement for the top, but likely to chop it down.View attachment 458543View attachment 458544

I tried to do some bud selection post decandling this past summer.. I still have a lot to go.

 

[JeffS73]

It'll be interesting to see what happens in spring, cutting a sacrifice usually redirects energy to the shoots below. You might have to decandle just to slow it down and get proportionate shoots you can keep.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

It'll be interesting to see what happens in spring, cutting a sacrifice usually redirects energy to the shoots below. You might have to decandle just to slow it down and get proportionate shoots you can keep.

I did a HBR in August 2018, I was thinking maybe I should get in there and clean out the other half this Spring, which could help slow it down some too. I want to be mindful of not doing too much too fast, but it does seem to be plenty healthy.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

It'll be interesting to see what happens in spring, cutting a sacrifice usually redirects energy to the shoots below. You might have to decandle just to slow it down and get proportionate shoots you can keep.

I think I will repot into a smaller (but still good sized) pot this Spring.. I want to free up the flat for some smaller Tsuga. And this one doesn’t need so much room with the large sacrifice cut.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

Nice, oh by the way, with your fall work, don't forget to fertilize. If you have more than 6 weeks to average first frost this fertilizer can be your "normal" full strength, weak dose if first frost is near. But now that everything has extended and is hardening off, a dose of fertilizer will help with forming strong buds for next year's growth.

Nice stock in development.

Your bark looks like normal bark beginning to form. It could become cork, but if it does, it will split longitudinally, length of the stem, with the across the stem cracks being less prominent. True cork bark JBP can start showing corky bark as early as 4 years, with the first "wings" forming before 10 years. Some of the slower cultivars and many of the seedlings from cork bark JBP don't really show cork until they are about 10 years old. It varies widely. Most seeds from cork bark JBP never show corking, they come out normal, especially if a normal JBP was around to pollinate the cork bark JBP. So seeds are a gamble. Some will cork, some won't. One in 5000 will both be an early to cork and be a "yatsubusa" - multiple budding dwarf mutation. So that is why so many are propagated by grafting or layering.

Normal bark JBP will start forming bark relatively young, as young as 4 years. The cracking for normal bark with be roughly equal, horizontal and vertical. Mikawa JBP is supposed to get a reasonably rough bark without becoming cork bark, though Mikawa from seed can be all over the map as far as what bark will look like, most seedlings end up looking like fairly ordinary JBP in terms of bark.

I sure hasn’t turned out to be a corker, but I am glad I selected for the notable bark. Since this was an air-layer, I sure wish I had a photo en-sitchu, with the parent tree.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

@River's Edge , what do you think I should repot into, size-wise. I know you have recommended keeping it in the flat to expedite development.. and I could put the set of Tsuga into a larger pot that is not a flat, but I was thinking controlling the development on this JBP for a year or two, could be beneficial for the future design. And it is due the other half of the HBR.

 

[River's Edge]

@River's Edge , what do you think I should repot into, size-wise. I know you have recommended keeping it in the flat to expedite development.. and I could put the set of Tsuga into a larger pot that is not a flat, but I was thinking controlling the development on this JBP for a year or two, could be beneficial for the future design. And it is due the other half of the HBR.

It is simple to control or manage growth with pruning. Maintaining vigour and health while you are still developing primary branching and thickening trunk portions is important. I keep developing trees in larger containers until the basic development is complete. BY that I include Trunk shape, taper, thickness as well as primary branching, secondary branching and development of interior buds. The exception for me is when developing small trees ( like Shohin) where the smaller container size can aid in restricting growth. necessary for reduced size in root ball and smaller containers. Even then it is beneficial development technique to allow roots to escape into a larger container to speed development but allow one to maintain a restricted root ball shape and size overall.
You can reduce the container size if that is the direction you wish to go. In my experience it will not make a huge difference in the long run. The only difference given that the proper steps are followed is the length of time when development is reduced by smaller container and more frequent repotting.
Just looking at the current picture I personally would not change the container for several years if it were in my nursery under development.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

I finally did the other half of a HBR from August 2018 today with the help of some of the fine folks at NVBS. I’m glad it didn’t get snowed out this year, though I also didn’t get a single sled run the entire cold season.

Thanks Aaron!

As we discussed putting it back in the flat would hasten development, but this will make it easier to think on the design, and I can always move back to a flat if I want to go bigger.
The other half that we cleared out today really was weaker on the roots, but we got all the old organic material out, packed in a bit of spaghnum and whalah!
And thank Pete Jones for the great material. The air-layer really sets up a decent nebari.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

I tried taking a better picture or two. And, I top dressed the top dressing with some “Erie aggregate.” It looks a little piled on, but water will have no problem penetrating. I think the color contrast shows off the bark and nebari. The nebari should only get better on future repottings when I uncover finer rootage. The front was the first half of the HBR, so we left it pretty much untouched, but for a left top corner root.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

I went ahead and decandled yesterday even though I repotted this past Spring. It was quite vigorous and congested. I have a sacrifice generating lots of food, so I think it will recover nicely. I could have gone a little harder in that top section, but I’ll give it a year and do some better bud/branch selection next time around.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

@River's Edge how am I doing?

I have taken your advice more often then not, and I have appreciated it by way more.

I know your advice was to keep it in the Anderson flat and continue to develop. But I have a move coming up and decided to slow things down while I work on the eventual design.

I was thinking maybe to hollow out the huge sacrifice remnants, but also to preserve the lower buds as a first branch.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

 

[MrFancyPlants]

Update. After de-candling and needle cutting. When do I select buds for bifurcation? Later in the fall
Correct? I may have decandled early this year since I moved to a warmer climate.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

About trim and wire time? I still have gathered the strength to start hacking off the lower sacrifice.. mid-way up one could go sometime soon, me thinks.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

Marlon and I did some work on a bunch of my trees. He wanted to remove the first branch on the sacrifice that we jinned. He said the branch above the Jin would make a better “tachagari”(sp), if it were brought down to take the same space as the first branch. He is probably right, but I convinced him to give that first branch a few years to see if it might work eventually.

 

[Bonsai Forest]

It is simple to control or manage growth with pruning. Maintaining vigour and health while you are still developing primary branching and thickening trunk portions is important. I keep developing trees in larger containers until the basic development is complete. BY that I include Trunk shape, taper, thickness as well as primary branching, secondary branching and development of interior buds. The exception for me is when developing small trees ( like Shohin) where the smaller container size can aid in restricting growth. necessary for reduced size in root ball and smaller containers. Even then it is beneficial development technique to allow roots to escape into a larger container to speed development but allow one to maintain a restricted root ball shape and size overall.
You can reduce the container size if that is the direction you wish to go. In my experience it will not make a huge difference in the long run. The only difference given that the proper steps are followed is the length of time when development is reduced by smaller container and more frequent repotting.
Just looking at the current picture I personally would not change the container for several years if it were in my nursery under development.

This comment just answered several questions I’ve had regarding developing and preparing smaller trees for refinement. Thank you.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

This comment just answered several questions I’ve had regarding developing and preparing smaller trees for refinement. Thank you.

Yes, @River's Edge is the man. And he has solid advice all around. I had an intra-state move over the summer so decided to go for a smaller pot for this guy, but I’m sure I delayed development by not repotting back into the Anderson flat. Fortunately I am not too much in a hurry.