Pinus thunbergiana 'kotobuki'

aml1014

aml1014

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Albuquerque new mexico
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Ordered this little kotobuki last week and got it in yesterday. I'm pretty excited as Ive never seen this variety before. Its in a 4 inch pot and is about 8inches tall with a half inch Trunk so it needs to thicken up a bit.
20160713_161408.jpg
Tiny needles!20160713_202914.jpgI plan on repotting this tree in the spring into a 6"X8"X4" deep container. It'll stay there for quite a long time I assume. I'm planning on letting the top run as a sacrifice branch to ease the transition of the graft and thicken the trunk a bit. I plan on a shohin no more then 8" tall so I definitely have a LONG way to go before this little guy is anything notable.

If anyone here has a kotobuki I'd love to see it!

Aaron
 
aml1014 said:
Ordered this little kotobuki last week and got it in yesterday. I'm pretty excited as Ive never seen this variety before. Its in a 4 inch pot and is about 8inches tall with a half inch Trunk so it needs to thicken up a bit.
View attachment 110918
Tiny needles!View attachment 110919I plan on repotting this tree in the spring into a 6"X8"X4" deep container. It'll stay there for quite a long time I assume. I'm planning on letting the top run as a sacrifice branch to ease the transition of the graft and thicken the trunk a bit. I plan on a shohin no more then 8" tall so I definitely have a LONG way to go before this little guy is anything notable.

If anyone here has a kotobuki I'd love to see it!

Aaron
Click to expand...

large colander or the ground - establish branches you want and get them vigorous - let sacrifice branch(es) run and pull needles to get energy to branches you want to keep while thickening the trunk. In 5 to 10 years it should be something fun to look at!
 
Giga said:
large colander or the ground - establish branches you want and get them vigorous - let sacrifice branch(es) run and pull needles to get energy to branches you want to keep while thickening the trunk. In 5 to 10 years it should be something fun to look at!
Click to expand...
That's mainly my plan. I can't ground grow because I rent and colander only last about a year and a half in the sun here then you pick the tree up and the colander explodes lol that's mainly why I'd like to build a small grow box for it.

Aaron
 
Where did you get that? I wouldnt mind having one myself lol!

For sure put it in a colander.
 
These have naturally shorter needles, which drives their popularity. I have found, however, that the branches are easily broken when wiring, and the branches are easily broken off where they are attached to the trunk. Makes them more like JRP.

They're a dwarf variety which means they're slower growing than regular JBP.

I have found that if you decandle them, they produce many, many new shoots at the point where you decandle do. Whereas a regular JBP might push out 3 new candles from that spot, these push out 10 or 12! The problem is, since it pushes out so many, none really develop. You just get a stub, with a bazillion little candles, each 1/2 long with 1/2 inch long needles.

So, the trick is after you decandle, once the new shoots develop, thin down to two new shoots. Early in the growth process. I usually wait until the needles have hardened off in the late fall. That doesn't work well with this variety.

And I would only decandle every other year.

Yours is very young, you probably don't need to worry about decandling for a while. Either make a grow box, or use a colander.

Good luck with it.

(I prefer regular JBP over all the special cultivars. Seed from Mikawa seems to produce good trees.)
 
These are layers, cuttings, or grafts only. Yours is a graft, apparently. You may want to try layering it to get rid of that ugly union. Letting it grow out, as is, it will probably always be a detracting feature. But maybe not.
The key for growth and development is to let one candle grow unchecked. That will get branches lengthened and fattened sooner. They back bud well so you can fill in later.
As Adair said, they grow slowly and compactly, they do produce whorls, and they are more brittle than non-dwarfs. But, they are excellent, imo.
 
@Adair M hopefully you or anyone else can help. After about a week at my house this thing started to get yellowing needles. It's lost about a dozen so far20160721_064745.jpg
Any help is greatly appreciated. My phone is acting up so I can't look at the flow chart for pine diagnosis.

Aaron
Sorry about the bad picture
 
Hi Aaron,

i see some needlecast on there, the reddish bands that is, take care of that benomil systemic coupled with a contact copper or chlorine based fungucide, focus with the contact fungucide on this seasons growth that is not yet affected by the needlecast, give the older needles a few sprays too though. The benomil will kill off the needlecast inside the affected needles. I would not worry too much about yellowing needles so far back, those are older needles and when they are spent they yellow and fall off

best regards
Herman
 
Needle cast.

It's a fungus that can kill your tree!

Spray with Daconil and Bonide Copper fungicide. Spray with one, wait a week, and spray with the other. Alternate.

Also get some systemic granular fungicide to put on the soil. Best time is whenever needles are growing so the funcugide will protect the new needles. Something like Clearys 3336, or similiar.
 
Adair M said:
Needle cast.

It's a fungus that can kill your tree!

Spray with Daconil and Bonide Copper fungicide. Spray with one, wait a week, and spray with the other. Alternate.

Also get some systemic granular fungicide to put on the soil. Best time is whenever needles are growing so the funcugide will protect the new needles. Something like Clearys 3336, or similiar.
Click to expand...
YukiShiro said:
Hi Aaron,

i see some needlecast on there, the reddish bands that is, take care of that benomil systemic coupled with a contact copper or chlorine based fungucide, focus with the contact fungucide on this seasons growth that is not yet affected by the needlecast, give the older needles a few sprays too though. The benomil will kill off the needlecast inside the affected needles. I would not worry too much about yellowing needles so far back, those are older needles and when they are spent they yellow and fall off

best regards
Herman
Click to expand...
Thank you both. Kinda bothers me I received the tree this way but that's okay. I have copper fungicide on hand, I'll plan on buying a granular systemic tomorrow when I get paid.

Aaron

Edit :just sprayed the copper fungicide, like I said I'll get some systemics. I'd be quite depressed if I lost this little guy. I tend to only have good luck with native pines.
 
Last edited:
I don't think the level of infection is so bad that you will lose the tree atm. but if left unchecked it WILL kill your tree, not right away, but over the course of 2-3 years if left unchecked
 
YukiShiro said:
I don't think the level of infection is so bad that you will lose the tree atm. but if left unchecked it WILL kill your tree, not right away, but over the course of 2-3 years if left unchecked
Click to expand...
I lost one jbp this year to over fertilizing:( I plan on almost providing meticulous care for this one. I may even just put all my non native pines on a fungicide regimen once a week. I've only ever lost that one pine but I do have another that's struggling (Korean white pine, this is the WRONG climate). If I continue having bad luck I'm gonna end up sticking to piñion and ponderosas which it seems I can collect and brutalize severely without issues.
I'll continue spraying this one for the rest of the year to fight off the infection spreading, I also plan on doing several dosages of dormant oil this winter which should help me all together with every tree. I really appreciate your advice, I'm definitely more of a deciduous guy but have always adored pines and want to start really working with them. You guys are awsome, always are!

Aaron
 
do a monthly spray every week might affect the needles

, how much ferts did you give that black pine ?! hehe I have my fair share of killed jbp before I got it dude! just stick to it, that's the most important part of getting into jbp

best regards
Herman
 
The needle cast gets in the needles when they're young. It doesn't show until later, when you see the tiger stripes.

It's not a bad idea to cut the infected needles off about 1/2 inch below the stripe, and throw the cuttings away. Needle cast can affect native trees, too!
 
YukiShiro said:
do a monthly spray every week might affect the needles

, how much ferts did you give that black pine ?! hehe I have my fair share of killed jbp before I got it dude! just stick to it, that's the most important part of getting into jbp

best regards
Herman
Click to expand...
I was feeding my elms which get double strength miracle grow and regular strength fish emulsion. I was super tired that day and wasn't in the mood and accidentally hit my jbp. I didn't realize until I was done feeding and was going to go through and water what I didn't feed. I watered it thoroughly hoping to flush that shit out, but it only took about a week and that thing went from healthy as can be, to brown and crisp. It was very sad as I'd been working on it for 2 years and it was my first jbp. Now I know. Organic ferts only for my pines and not anywhere near that strength, or as often.lol

Aaron
Adair M said:
The needle cast gets in the needles when they're young. It doesn't show until later, when you see the tiger stripes.

It's not a bad idea to cut the infected needles off about 1/2 inch below the stripe, and throw the cuttings away. Needle cast can affect native trees, too!
Click to expand...
The base of some of those needles are yellowing aswell. Should I pluck those needles completely?

Aaron
 
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