I have been bending this one every other week for the last 2 months trying to give it a more "radical" shape.
Here is where I'm at now. I think I'm going to leave that one as is and start compressing the first curve a little more. It soften a little from when I removed the wire in spring. So far I like where it is heading, lots of back budding below the worl, This is the second year for this seedlings.
Pulled all the JBP out of the small planter (2x4) into a larger one (3x8). Did soji on the one that was on a grow bag already, that one I did an HBR last spring and I don't think it recovered well. I will give it one more season before doing the other half.
The 2 of the 1-year-old need to be done so I may tackle them this weekend. The ones in the picture below had a massive amount of roots grow between when they were moved into the grow bed during the summer and now... I actually had to use my shovel to break them free. I also reduced the root ball on the top first, then the sides and bottom to about 1/2 what was contained in that 9" pound basket. I moved them into 3-gal Rootpouch with folded sides 1/3 down to retain a shallower root mass while allowing minimal escape roots to do their deed.
Question for the pine gurus... should I reduce the foliage? Or leave it to help rebuild the roots faster?
no pictures of the work, but these were teased out well, they were already in bonsai soil, but with 1/3 pine bark. Moved into all inorganic and 3 gal Root Pouch. I left all the foliage they had and right now they are both pushing 12"+ candles. I really need to get them cut back, but I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to do so during root work.
Would it be possible to do a cut back on this at decandle time? I really need to get some sunlight to the interior.
I receive this 5 JBP seedlings from Scenic Hill Farm to try out JBP from different nurseries. planted then on Root Pouches, except for one that was planted in a plastic pot with the intenton of allowing the roots to extend more so I can move into a ROR planting now in fall. Just like I did with my exposed roots.
Early September I cut the extra candles at the nodes to prevent swelling, something I didn't do with my previous JBP. Leaving quite a few unsightly knots that I plan to cut away or hope that they disapear.
I checked the one in a pot today and noticed that it pushed a few buds very low in the trunk, they are very welcomed!
