Japanese Cork Bark -

[vek17]

Hi Members,


Just looking for a bit of advice and guidance.

1) Health check...

Purchased from Heron's Bonsai (UK Bonsai Nursery) it is original soil mix.
Garden is East facing but generally gets a lot of sunlight from 8am-3pm.

Q - From the attached images, does the tree look healthy?

2) Winter preparation?

The tree is just on a small round table, against a fence, off the ground... is there anything that I need to do when it starts getting colder/wetter?
Location - UK - 9A (I think).

3) Needle (white tip)

Can't tell if this is spider/moths - but some of the needles almost look like they have been burnt/or potentially eaten.. there's usually fine spider webs around some of the needles.
Q - Is there anything to worry about here?
Q - Anything that can help with this?
Note: I have hedges on both side's which attract alot of spiders/moths (white moths with black dots).

 

[Shibui]

Your pine looks very healthy.
Black pine should cope with any winter cold that UK can throw at it. I suspect this will winter outside just fine but will defer to any UK growers if that's not correct.
Your camera has not shown the tips of the needles but white/brown tips is quite normal and won't hurt the tree. If the discoloration progresses further down the needles it will be time to worry.
webs is likely to be spiders. No moths that eat pines down here but maybe there's some in the UK? Again, local input is welcome.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Looks healthy.
Winter should be no problem where you are, but watch that the soil doesn’t stay too wet.
The white needle tips appear to have been cut.
Can’t see any signs of infestation. Wouldn’t worry too much about that unless you see something or the needles start to show discoloration.

 

[vek17]

Your pine looks very healthy.
Black pine should cope with any winter cold that UK can throw at it. I suspect this will winter outside just fine but will defer to any UK growers if that's not correct.
Your camera has not shown the tips of the needles but white/brown tips is quite normal and won't hurt the tree. If the discoloration progresses further down the needles it will be time to worry.
webs is likely to be spiders. No moths that eat pines down here but maybe there's some in the UK? Again, local input is welcome.

Thanks Shibui, it gets a few odd needles going yellow.. which I just pulled out.

Noted on the white/brown tips.

 

[vek17]

Looks healthy.
Winter should be no problem where you are, but watch that the soil doesn’t stay too wet.
The white needle tips appear to have been cut.
Can’t see any signs of infestation. Wouldn’t worry too much about that unless you see something or the needles start to show discoloration.

Thanks Brian,

I tend to water once a day and only if the soil looks dry…

During the wetter months - isit worth putting it in some form of a make shift greenhouse to control the amount of rain water it gets?

TY

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

During the wetter months - isit worth putting it in some form of a make shift greenhouse to control the amount of rain water it gets?

I don’t do that with mine. Just make sure the pot can drain freely and when the time is right, get it in good soil.

 

[Shibui]

During the wetter months - isit worth putting it in some form of a make shift greenhouse to control the amount of rain water it gets?

I don't bother either but much will depend how wet your winters are and what soil mix the tree is in. Just see how it goes first. If you think it seems to be staying way too wet you could try to find some way to stop the rain getting into the pot.

Thanks Shibui, it gets a few odd needles going yellow.. which I just pulled out.

Remember that individual needles only live for 3 years max. If it has not been needle plucked then there's going to be 3 year old needles that will die off, usually in summer. If the yellow needles are way down the bottom of any shoots that's OK. If they are near the tips among newer needles there's something else going on.

 

[WIlliam_Butler_Yeets]

Hi Members,


Just looking for a bit of advice and guidance.

1) Health check...

Purchased from Heron's Bonsai (UK Bonsai Nursery) it is original soil mix.
Garden is East facing but generally gets a lot of sunlight from 8am-3pm.

Q - From the attached images, does the tree look healthy?

2) Winter preparation?

The tree is just on a small round table, against a fence, off the ground... is there anything that I need to do when it starts getting colder/wetter?
Location - UK - 9A (I think).

3) Needle (white tip)

Can't tell if this is spider/moths - but some of the needles almost look like they have been burnt/or potentially eaten.. there's usually fine spider webs around some of the needles.
Q - Is there anything to worry about here?
Q - Anything that can help with this?
Note: I have hedges on both side's which attract alot of spiders/moths (white moths with black dots).

If your needle discoloration starts to grow, it could be a result of overwatering. I saw you said you're watering it once per day and while the pot is small, the soil looks fairly organic and probably retains a good bit of water