NJtsr95
Seedling
So around 1.5mo ago, Purchased 3 tubelings and one “6” nursery pot, roughly 18-24” tall” P. rigida. My intention was to plant all four, but the one that arrived in the 6” nursery pot (in a box about 6”x6”x36”) I instantly was impressed with and fell in love with what plopped out of the tiny box, the trunk is much thicker than I was expecting. Which was Pencil/Sharpie thickness at best, this one is easily an inch or wider at the base. The branching and foliage is suprisingly dense, again for a tree of this size.
So my experience with trying to grow Pines indoors, is that they can succumb to transplant shock relatively easily and in general are difficult to keep healthy inside, and generally considered stupid because of how much space they take up for such a small amount of green foliage/surface area. With primary experience being P. Strobus, which began looking unhealthy a few weeks aftee buying (was intending to keep as live xmas tree and then plant) but ended up gifting to a friend w/yard who luckily saved most of it when he planted in full sun. I noticed a P. Virginiana seedling ripped out of the sand with a footslip print that looks like someone managed to trip and snag the surface root and yanked the whole taproot out. Was green, got it home. I think i planted it in too large a planter where it dried out too fast, or had too much root damage but it just shriveled up and died after a few weeks. So I’ve not had great luck keeping Pines alive inside, and they had actual pots and not even a small bonsai pot.
So this pine arrived in mid-late June, and I haven’t messed with the root ball or repotting right away as I’m not sure what I’m going to try to do with it. I am in love with the spiral twist of the trunk (i noticed this on some dead mature trees in wild and stripped of bark, the twisting spiral growth pattern that makes it a bit unique at least relative to our other native conifers.) However I’ve never seen a seedling/young tree like this in the wild with as wide of a base this has nor this dense of foliage , The last rigida trees i saw of this size were in sphagnum bogs and I noticed they had a form more uniform like white pine, but with more straight needles, the ones on this tree seem a bit twisted themselves. Which I know isn’t unusual for the species either just an observation.
It has been in its nursery pot just resting in a empty ceramic cactus pot since June. I’ve only removed the bamboo it was staked to, there were two branches pretty severely bent in shipping that appeared to be drying out so I sheared them off around the 3rd week of July. Around two weeks later and this is how the tree looks today! Some of the damage of the branch tip growing candles was caused by the needles being smashed against the box while shipping, some of them dried out so i pruned them off (not the candles just the damaged needles above the sheath). Now I confess I’ve upgraded my grow light system and am more cautious about watering issues since I’ve killed the white pine a few yrs ago.
But I was not expecting such vigorous growth of ANY pine like this indoors in a pot. My question is, can a tree of this age be massaged into perhaps a large rectangular training pot without damaging the root system. And I really love the natural spiral of the trunk, I was thinking of making it like a small scale (and thicker trunk) version of what a “textbook” large Pitch Pine looks like. If you’ve spent a lot of time in the pine barrens or observe the trees on the GSP in SNJ you’ll notice many tall ones that have a more conventional conical crown but with the distinctive P. Rigida bark plates and smoothly twisting trunk.
I also wonder if this tree was grafted because of the unusual bulge near the root flare, or perhaps its just the root flare itself? Attached you can see some pictures of the foliage (grow light cable management still in refinement) as well as the surprisingly vigorous shoots from where I pruned the damaged branch a few weeks ago (I know epicormic shoots are a hallmark of the species but I still find it quite interesting). I’m also wondering if I could air layer the entire crown off or maybe some of the more vigorous, highly branched upper branches to create a second tree and slow the vertical growth before it goes out of hand before I figure out what I can do with it.
However considering my experience with pines I am seeking advice from those with more experience with the species first so I don’t kill or damage it! Hard to find a lot of reliable info online as the JBP and other non-native conifers are far more popular for bonsai. But I’d like to experiment using local natives more. Thanks!
So my experience with trying to grow Pines indoors, is that they can succumb to transplant shock relatively easily and in general are difficult to keep healthy inside, and generally considered stupid because of how much space they take up for such a small amount of green foliage/surface area. With primary experience being P. Strobus, which began looking unhealthy a few weeks aftee buying (was intending to keep as live xmas tree and then plant) but ended up gifting to a friend w/yard who luckily saved most of it when he planted in full sun. I noticed a P. Virginiana seedling ripped out of the sand with a footslip print that looks like someone managed to trip and snag the surface root and yanked the whole taproot out. Was green, got it home. I think i planted it in too large a planter where it dried out too fast, or had too much root damage but it just shriveled up and died after a few weeks. So I’ve not had great luck keeping Pines alive inside, and they had actual pots and not even a small bonsai pot.
So this pine arrived in mid-late June, and I haven’t messed with the root ball or repotting right away as I’m not sure what I’m going to try to do with it. I am in love with the spiral twist of the trunk (i noticed this on some dead mature trees in wild and stripped of bark, the twisting spiral growth pattern that makes it a bit unique at least relative to our other native conifers.) However I’ve never seen a seedling/young tree like this in the wild with as wide of a base this has nor this dense of foliage , The last rigida trees i saw of this size were in sphagnum bogs and I noticed they had a form more uniform like white pine, but with more straight needles, the ones on this tree seem a bit twisted themselves. Which I know isn’t unusual for the species either just an observation.
It has been in its nursery pot just resting in a empty ceramic cactus pot since June. I’ve only removed the bamboo it was staked to, there were two branches pretty severely bent in shipping that appeared to be drying out so I sheared them off around the 3rd week of July. Around two weeks later and this is how the tree looks today! Some of the damage of the branch tip growing candles was caused by the needles being smashed against the box while shipping, some of them dried out so i pruned them off (not the candles just the damaged needles above the sheath). Now I confess I’ve upgraded my grow light system and am more cautious about watering issues since I’ve killed the white pine a few yrs ago.
But I was not expecting such vigorous growth of ANY pine like this indoors in a pot. My question is, can a tree of this age be massaged into perhaps a large rectangular training pot without damaging the root system. And I really love the natural spiral of the trunk, I was thinking of making it like a small scale (and thicker trunk) version of what a “textbook” large Pitch Pine looks like. If you’ve spent a lot of time in the pine barrens or observe the trees on the GSP in SNJ you’ll notice many tall ones that have a more conventional conical crown but with the distinctive P. Rigida bark plates and smoothly twisting trunk.
I also wonder if this tree was grafted because of the unusual bulge near the root flare, or perhaps its just the root flare itself? Attached you can see some pictures of the foliage (grow light cable management still in refinement) as well as the surprisingly vigorous shoots from where I pruned the damaged branch a few weeks ago (I know epicormic shoots are a hallmark of the species but I still find it quite interesting). I’m also wondering if I could air layer the entire crown off or maybe some of the more vigorous, highly branched upper branches to create a second tree and slow the vertical growth before it goes out of hand before I figure out what I can do with it.
However considering my experience with pines I am seeking advice from those with more experience with the species first so I don’t kill or damage it! Hard to find a lot of reliable info online as the JBP and other non-native conifers are far more popular for bonsai. But I’d like to experiment using local natives more. Thanks!