How To Water JBP

[MTaggartUTSA]

Hi All,
I have some 9 month old Japanese Black Pines and I am always wondering if I am watering them correctly. They are about 9 months old from seed, and they have varying degrees of browning, aside from one. I live in Texas, but it is winter so it is not very hot, and I water them every day. (The small gray pot has very poor drainage I am aware). Any advice?

 

[HamburgerTrain]

That soil looks wack, is that bonsai jack or some other mail order soil for tropicals?
the two in terra cotta look the healthiest. Terra cotta breathes more than glazed pots or plastic. Pine roots like to breathe. Many of us use colanders, pond baskets or felt root bags. Watering isn’t just to give the tree a drink. It also introduces oxygen to the roots.
Add your climate zone for better advice.
Texas is a big state with different climates.
I would start by putting them in the right soil and then learn to water that.
I’m a newbie so I’ll post some links for you to follow.
In my climate young pines are usually potted in a mixture of inorganic (pumice or perlite) and potting soil. My mix won’t work for you though I’m guessing.
Eric uses perlite and coco coir.

Jonas uses pumice, lava and akadama

How to repot a young Japanese black pine (1 of 2) - Bonsai Tonight

I have been growing Japanese black pine bonsai from seed for the past 17 years. During this time, I've done a lot of repotting. This past January, it dawned

bonsaitonight.com

 

[Shibui]

I notice all the photos are taken indoors. Hoping the pines live outside the house? Pines like plenty of fresh air and sun so they don't do very well indoors.

Watering properly takes some practice.
When you do water you should water to properly soak all of the soil right through. Flushing plenty of water through the soil helps exchange both air and water so watering needs to be more than just a quick sprinkle.
Then allow the soil to get almost dry before watering next. That can be hard to gauge because we can only see the surface which dries out much quicker while the soil below may still be wet. Many new growers find that a wood skewer in the soil helps gauge moisture content below the surface. Pull it out each day to see if it is still damp. Only water when the skewer feels dry.
Different pots dry out at different rates and different soils dry at different rates so watering on a schedule is bound to cause problems with some pots getting too dry and others staying wet all the time and risking root rot.

 

[Scorpius]

Those pots are too large for those seedlings. The substrate will stay wet for too long and new oxygen will not get introduced leading to root death.

 

[MTaggartUTSA]

That soil looks wack, is that bonsai jack or some other mail order soil for tropicals?
the two in terra cotta look the healthiest. Terra cotta breathes more than glazed pots or plastic. Pine roots like to breathe. Many of us use colanders, pond baskets or felt root bags. Watering isn’t just to give the tree a drink. It also introduces oxygen to the roots.
Add your climate zone for better advice.
Texas is a big state with different climates.
I would start by putting them in the right soil and then learn to water that.
I’m a newbie so I’ll post some links for you to follow.
In my climate young pines are usually potted in a mixture of inorganic (pumice or perlite) and potting soil. My mix won’t work for you though I’m guessing.
Eric uses perlite and coco coir.

Jonas uses pumice, lava and akadama

How to repot a young Japanese black pine (1 of 2) - Bonsai Tonight

I have been growing Japanese black pine bonsai from seed for the past 17 years. During this time, I've done a lot of repotting. This past January, it dawned

bonsaitonight.com

Thanks for the reply! I am in Zone 8, and the link to the soil I use is below:

Nurture Your Bonsai - Tinyroots Conifer Blend Soil

Enrich your bonsai's health with Tinyroots Conifer Blend Soil. Trusted by professionals worldwide, it optimizes moisture, drainage, and fertilizer uptake for your bonsai. Experience superior bonsai care today.

www.bonsaioutlet.com

 

[MTaggartUTSA]

I notice all the photos are taken indoors. Hoping the pines live outside the house? Pines like plenty of fresh air and sun so they don't do very well indoors.

Watering properly takes some practice.
When you do water you should water to properly soak all of the soil right through. Flushing plenty of water through the soil helps exchange both air and water so watering needs to be more than just a quick sprinkle.
Then allow the soil to get almost dry before watering next. That can be hard to gauge because we can only see the surface which dries out much quicker while the soil below may still be wet. Many new growers find that a wood skewer in the soil helps gauge moisture content below the surface. Pull it out each day to see if it is still damp. Only water when the skewer feels dry.
Different pots dry out at different rates and different soils dry at different rates so watering on a schedule is bound to cause problems with some pots getting too dry and others staying wet all the time and risking root rot.

Hi there, yes they do grow outside I only took them in for better lighting for pictures. I will definitely invest in some sort of gauge.

 

[HamburgerTrain]

Thanks for the reply! I am in Zone 8, and the link to the soil I use is below:

Nurture Your Bonsai - Tinyroots Conifer Blend Soil

Enrich your bonsai's health with Tinyroots Conifer Blend Soil. Trusted by professionals worldwide, it optimizes moisture, drainage, and fertilizer uptake for your bonsai. Experience superior bonsai care today.

www.bonsaioutlet.com

“Ingredients: A mix of 100% double-sifted pine bark fines, Turface®, coarse river sand, and Pumice.”
Idk anyone using turface or river sand in their pine mix. As I stated earlier I’m a beginner, so I try to copy what the more experienced practitioners use. Jonas and Eric have pretty healthy trees that I’ve seen in person, so I would recommend copying what they do.
Jonas’ bonsai tonight blog has a wealth of information on pines and Eric’s bonsaify youtube channel has a lot of pine content.
Good luck!

 

[JackHammer]

I live way up in Ohio but we still get some 100° days here. I have a larger jbp with a lot more soil but I only water it maybe 10 times a year. I bet you could back off a little.

 

[Maiden69]

Hi All,
I have some 9 month old Japanese Black Pines and I am always wondering if I am watering them correctly. They are about 9 months old from seed, and they have varying degrees of browning, aside from one. I live in Texas, but it is winter so it is not very hot, and I water them every day. (The small gray pot has very poor drainage I am aware). Any advice?

Please update your profile so it reflects the area/USDA zone you are in so people can give you a better answer. Tinyroots bonsai blend is not bad for trees in development, but it is overpriced because of the small size. Bonsai Jack Inorganic blend in anything 3 gal or more is a better and cheaper option.

Since your JBP are in pots, I would probably water every 2-3 days now in the winter, but once summer rolls in you may have to water once or twice a day depending on how quick they dry. I was watering mine twice a day when they were in small 4" pots. I water them at least once now that they are in grow bags because the mulch around them maintain the soil humid longer.

Are you keeping the trees outside? Indoors? I kept my 4" pots outside year round, including on the last 2 years snow storm, I just moved them to the ground and cover the sides of the pots with mulch. JBP loves SUN... lots of it so make sure you give them plenty or their growth will become leggy.

I think there is a little bit of misconception here...

That soil looks wack, is that bonsai jack or some other mail order soil for tropicals?

I’m a newbie so I’ll post some links for you to follow.
In my climate young pines are usually potted in a mixture of inorganic (pumice or perlite) and potting soil. My mix won’t work for you though I’m guessing.
Eric uses perlite and coco coir.

I don't know where you get the idea that Bonsai Jack is a wack soil... Their "succulent soil" is almost the same mix I am using now, except that instead of pine coir I add pumice for my JBP, and I am in Texas zone 8b.

Now a mix of perlite and potting soil is what I would call a wack soil. There are two trees I would even think about planting on anything containing potting soil and they are the bald cypress and the ficus, as they can care less about what soil you use as long as they stay as wet of humid as they can.

There are quite a few people here that still use turface and while I think it is not optimal for refinement, the right size turface as in Monto Clay is great for development.

Eric uses a mix of perlite and coco coir for propagation, not for planting trees in pots.

All the JBP in this picture are in Bonsai Jack Bonsai Block/Monto Clay (same as turface just properly sized and rounded profile), lava, and pumice.



I don't think the roots of my JBP are not happy about being in that kind of wacky soil.

Sept 2021, first year.


June 2022, second year

 

[Apex37]

Please update your profile so it reflects the area/USDA zone you are in so people can give you a better answer. Tinyroots bonsai blend is not bad for trees in development, but it is overpriced because of the small size. Bonsai Jack Inorganic blend in anything 3 gal or more is a better and cheaper option.

Since your JBP are in pots, I would probably water every 2-3 days now in the winter, but once summer rolls in you may have to water once or twice a day depending on how quick they dry. I was watering mine twice a day when they were in small 4" pots. I water them at least once now that they are in grow bags because the mulch around them maintain the soil humid longer.

Are you keeping the trees outside? Indoors? I kept my 4" pots outside year round, including on the last 2 years snow storm, I just moved them to the ground and cover the sides of the pots with mulch. JBP loves SUN... lots of it so make sure you give them plenty or their growth will become leggy.

I think there is a little bit of misconception here...


I don't know where you get the idea that Bonsai Jack is a wack soil... Their "succulent soil" is almost the same mix I am using now, except that instead of pine coir I add pumice for my JBP, and I am in Texas zone 8b.

Now a mix of perlite and potting soil is what I would call a wack soil. There are two trees I would even think about planting on anything containing potting soil and they are the bald cypress and the ficus, as they can care less about what soil you use as long as they stay as wet of humid as they can.

There are quite a few people here that still use turface and while I think it is not optimal for refinement, the right size turface as in Monto Clay is great for development.

Eric uses a mix of perlite and coco coir for propagation, not for planting trees in pots.

All the JBP in this picture are in Bonsai Jack Bonsai Block/Monto Clay (same as turface just properly sized and rounded profile), lava, and pumice.

View attachment 472358

I don't think the roots of my JBP are not happy about being in that kind of wacky soil.

Sept 2021, first year.
View attachment 472359

June 2022, second year
View attachment 472360

Maiden, your development progressions are some of my favorite! From one Texan to another, you definitely got our climate figured out. I woulda never thought to mulch in pines for extra humidity, but great idea. I’m limited on what I can do in my current backyard situation (micro-positioning is a constant struggle), but I think I’m gonna try something similar to this with my pines. This past summer, specifically July, they really struggled. In our climate it’s difficult to get a happy medium where the get sufficient sun, but not baked.

 

[Maiden69]

I woulda never thought to mulch in pines for extra humidity, but great idea. I’m limited on what I can do in my current backyard situation (micro-positioning is a constant struggle), but I think I’m gonna try something similar to this with my pines.

All my pines are growing in-ground right now, and there is no availability of a decent soil amendment like bulk pumice to fill my beds. So it was either some kind of potting soil or peat moss with a lot of perlite, or mulch. Mulch was heavier and provided more stability for the escaped roots so that was my choice. Also, when I first started mulch was advised to use when covering the pots for winter, that made the decision easier.

Since all the big ones have escape roots, they do not get moved until it is time to repot or move into a bigger Rootpouch, which will be done this spring. This year I will be expanding the pine planter as they are growing faster than anticipated and getting over crowded.

This past summer, specifically July, they really struggled. In our climate it’s difficult to get a happy medium where the get sufficient sun, but not baked.

My pines get no shade, they love it. I think that it will be a different story once they are moved into pots, but for now, water twice a day and plenty of sun makes them grow strong.