Japanese black pine styling

[moriel]

I didn't find any pictures of the tree before removing the candles but this is from June 9th, probably just after I broke the candles off. You can see the difference.

This is how it looks now:

 

[moriel]

Alright, I think I know what I should do next year. Instead of breaking the candles in June, I'm going to wait until the first or second week of July and do proper decandling.

Btw, it's not that the way I did it this year doesn't count as decandling. I've got the new flush emerging from the node in a "V" shape. It's just that the way I did it is not ideal. As Michael Hagedorn explains it beautifully in his blog https://crataegus.com/2016/04/14/big-difference-between-decandling-and-breaking-pine-shoots/



Thank you Michael, very educational post!

 

[RoadManDenDron]

Btw, it's not that the way I did it this year doesn't count as decandling. I've got the new flush emerging from the node in a "V" shape.

"Decandling means cutting off the entire pine candle off in late spring. " (from that article)

"Generally decandling is late-May to mid-June." (Same article)

Let's see some pics of your second flush, that's great news regardless of what you want to call the technique used to achieve it,

Have you withdrawn fertiliser since making the cut?

 

[moriel]

"Decandling means cutting off the entire pine candle off in late spring. " (from that article)

"Generally decandling is late-May to mid-June." (Same article)

Let's see some pics of your second flush, that's great news regardless of what you want to call the technique used to achieve it,

Have you withdrawn fertiliser since making the cut?

I think the time of decandling depends on your geographic zone. In my area we "enjoy" high temperatures until October. So, if you decandle too early (late-May to early June), the needles may be too long by the end of the growing season. The needles in my new flush are still very short but they'll keep growing for a couple of months. I've withdrawn fertilizer since breaking off the candles, added four teaspoons of osmocote last week, that's all. Not worried about the vigor of the tree, though. My problem is more that it grows too vigorously