One very last question about the Scots pine

[Mudroot]

This is the one we (your advice/my efforts) have been working on for about a year now.

The one I have in the adventitious buds thread.

I am very worried about it. Not sure if my question was directed at the heat it could stand.
I may be losing it.

Last ditch hope would be that the post Father's Day repot could be the very last straw.

It would make it its 3rd repot this year. None of which did I do any root pruning...just trying to get it to function in the soil it's in.

What it WAS in back in the days of it being too large was coarse akadama and a smidge of peat scattered in the mix.

So I'll use the pic from that time when it was in the blue big pot ...but.... in looking back at it now it seems like it was fuller and greener and healthier.

I mistakenly pulled needles from a misunderstood post but can't put them back.

Now that it's in its final pot (other pic with the brown pot) where I'd like it to live, it doesn't seem to be draining well or thriving and a few (very few) pairs of needles are browning off and dropping. Not good I think. When I put it in that pot there were a few good looking white roots although not spread around well at all. Hoping to encourage THOSE roots to at least stay alive til it "took" ....and...attempting to get some better drainage, I added pumice to the akadama and still have a small bit of peat (only enough to kinda hold maybe more moisture than the plain akadama)

and I'm rambling.

What think of a final remix of the soil to use VERY coarse akadama and NO pumice. I sieved the pu mice and only kept the larger pieces but they could congeal maybe.

Or leave it the heck alone and just hope and SEE what the rest of the year brings.

I've put so much ...different... efforts into what I had hoped would be "improving" b ut fear it is being killed with hope.

the big blue pot is where it all started.

 

[edprocoat]

There are many people here who are familiar with Scots Pine who could advise you on the care of your tree. The one thing I can tell you about any tree that 3 repots in one season will kill about anything besides a cactus or maybe a Ficus. The standard advise as related here frequently " Only one insult per year " which means 1 repot or major work in a growing season then let it recover so not to stress the tree bad enough to kill it.

ed

 

[dirk hoorelbeke]

If it's in akadama and pumice now, i don't see a point in disturbing it again. 2 times in a year is way to much. 3 times... well... not good. Try not to move your tree around (most of the trees in nature don't walk around). Don't overwater, don't underwater (scots pines should be watered enough after repotting), first year on weak tree, don't fertilize to much. If there is no growth it can't take it up anyway. scots are full sun here, but consider the strength of the roots. If to hot it will damp more than it takes from the roots and it might be dead. When you see signs of drying foliage protect from sun, put shrubs or water basin under it to give more humidity, if you have grass, put it in the middle of it, high humidity. Be smart and let the tree grow strong before taking actions, backbudding will occur automatic if you give good care.

 

[Dav4]

I generally would be reluctant to re-pot a pine 2 years in a row, never mind 3 times in 1 year. Imo, you're over-working your tree on multiple levels. Leave it alone for at least a year or two, or until it's clearly growing strongly.

 

[klosi]

As said by posters before me, what's done is done. Do not repot it, your mix is ok for now, even if you would put it in a better soil you would done way more damadge with repot stress. Let the tree be, mist it when you can. Good luck!

 

[Mudroot]

Good luck is probably what it's going to take.
I asked about the repotting YET AGAIN on here probably because I anticipated the answers.
Dirk had a good and intuitive comment about NOT moving the tree constantly trying to "find" a place that would "cure" it.
So I'm leaving it where it gets a lot of morning suu and then the shade from the chimney for an hour or more midday and then goes back to getting a few hours of afternoon sun but none of the VERY hot afternoon part.

I've unwired it as there were some places with trapped needles and I can't see trapped needles as anything useful for transpiration or even general health of those needles.

One possibly ...positive... thing I noticed in removing the wire is that some of it has begun to cut into the bark making me think that this should mean there's been growth in the past 2-3 months even in the face of my numerous assaults on the tree.
Another positive note is that the needles that were trapped and not looking all that good are still FIRMLY attached to the branches and there is good greening in many areas.

Directions of branches are pretty much where I want them and I think it's time to lettem go. If the tree lives, then maybe some fine tuning, but for the present just an unkempt foliage that can keep that very nice trunk and convoluted nebari will suit me fine.

Had an idea too. (Uh-oh)
I wonder if it would be advisable to push some holes into the soil like aerating a lawn. IF there's any tendency for this trend to less apparent drainage, perhaps some additional access to air could be a good thing. The holes I'm thinking of would be some spaced push-ins of a chopstick or like that. No grand excavations.

Or not. Just musing and don't think I've seen any discussion of "aerating" bonsai before.

The next thread on THIS poor tree will either be a very positive one or a death notice.

I'm leaving it alone.

Really.

 

[Dav4]

Just so you know, even just removing wire from a tree is stressful, particularly if it was recently re-potted. Poking holes in the soil...is stressful (and a bad way of aerating the soil, if that's your goal)...you're not "leaving it alone" if you're doing anything else other then watering it...

 

[Mudroot]

May I talk to it?


Just kidding. Man, I am this tree's mortal enemy it seems.

 

[dirk hoorelbeke]

It's not a bad idea to talk to the tree. It makes you stand still and waiting for a response. You need to learn to listen and feel what your tree needs, it can't talk (here they don't). Look at the details, remember how the soil was looking yesterday so you know when to water. Let the tree grow this year, (fine) tuning fall 2016, if the tree thrives it will reward your patience.

 

[klosi]

Don't worry about it, it happens. I hope the tree pulls trough. Regarding wire biting into it, I think some pines (mugo, scots...) swell during the summer, so this should be looked after when you have wire on these trees during such time.