Pitch pine correction

[Fribe]

Hey everyone,

So I collected this pitch pine a while ago and haven't touched it for a year. This is a trial specimen before I'll go collect the one I marked last year.


Now the question is: is there any way to correct those long internodes in pines (pine of first pic)?
Before ruining the tree better ask the experts

 

[sorce]

Graft. Though I think they say pitch pine backbud well.

Sorce

 

[Fribe]

I'm not an expert at grafting...if I were to prune it where the first internode is (picture) would it create new shoots from there?

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I'm not an expert at grafting...if I were to prune it where the first internode is (picture) would it create new shoots from there?View attachment 327330

Probably not. Possibly yes.
Pitch pines are known to be very good back budders, but my pines usually start doing it on their own in the second year after collection.
Cutting branches bare is a risk on pines, since they could very well just drop the entire branch. It's better to leave some foliage, so that the tree knows that the branch still returns investments.

There's also the option to cut back to a lower branch and rebuild the trunk.

 

[Fribe]

You mean to trunk chop and build a new leader?

 

[Cosmos]

EDIT: Mistaken assertion.

 

[Fribe]

EDIT: Mistaken assertion.

I'm not following you haha

 

[sorce]

I'm not an expert at grafting...if I were to prune it where the first internode is (picture) would it create new shoots from there?View attachment 327330

I reckon that will kill the branch.

Seems you could get away with a good 3-4 years of growth before cutting anything.

You need green behind the cut. And the cut to ensure backbuds should remove about 60-80% of foalige on the branch, and still leave more than you have on any of them. So...long time.

I would practice collecting a few more shitty ones to get collecting practice up. You'll need that to have the good one live.

Sorce

 

[Fribe]

I reckon that will kill the branch.

Seems you could get away with a good 3-4 years of growth before cutting anything.

You need green behind the cut. And the cut to ensure backbuds should remove about 60-80% of foalige on the branch, and still leave more than you have on any of them. So...long time.

I would practice collecting a few more shitty ones to get collecting practice up. You'll need that to have the good one live.

Sorce

Yep that was the idea before getting older trees. Also I'm more experienced with deciduous trees, that's why I'm asking about pine

 

[armetisius]

I have always lived by the rule that, with most evergreens, if you cut beyond the green that branch will die. Treat the tips as you would pines and if it back buds [after that bud has had a season or two of growth] then you can cut back to it. Never cut a conifer's green off if you want that part to continue to live

 

[sorce]

continue to live

I was thinking about you last week. Glad to see you are continuing to live!

Sorce

 

[Cosmos]

I'm not following you haha

I thought there was a chance this was strobus, but the cone matches pitch pine after verification.

After visiting a local ridiga-dominated area a few times this year, I have to say though that the colour of the needles indicates some health problem to me. Pitch pine needles should be medium green, a very attractive colour comparable to JBP. I think yours are too yellow-ish. I would solve that before doing any more work to the tree.

 

[armetisius]

I was thinking about you last week. Glad to see you are continuing to live!

Sorce

Lawd
Must have been a slow week.
I have had a rough run recently. Loss of my father, loss of my plants while dealing with his latter days. Relocating. All taking their toll on my health. But I am finally back out of the confusion and happily hoping to walk the path til I find the path's bend in the dark.
Glad to hear though.
A man's life can only be valued by the people who remember and speak of him; thereby he only dies when they quit doing so.

 

[DrBonsai]

A few years ago I purchased some pitch pine seedlings to grow and prepare for future development.
Your collected pitch pine reminds me of the way my seedlings were growing. Elongated growth with little branching.
I tried to get back budding and treated the multi-flush pitch pine like a JBP and candle pruned. Instead of getting multiple
buds at cut site, or along branch, I got a ton of new buds near base of tree !
I guess pitch pines can react that way when stressed, IE fire damage.
The next few years I decided to leave the trees alone and fertilized them to get more growth and needles.
I am waiting to see how they respond.
In the mean time you can consider wiring the branches horizontal to get more sun exposure and eliminating
nodes to only two branches to prevent inverse taper.

 

[Fribe]

I thought there was a chance this was strobus, but the cone matches pitch pine after verification.

After visiting a local ridiga-dominated area a few times this year, I have to say though that the colour of the needles indicates some health problem to me. Pitch pine needles should be medium green, a very attractive colour comparable to JBP. I think yours are too yellow-ish. I would solve that before doing any more work to the tree.

I haven't done any work to the tree....just potted and let it untouched in a shady area. Any suggestions on how to improve the health of the tree?

 

[Fribe]

A few years ago I purchased some pitch pine seedlings to grow and prepare for future development.
Your collected pitch pine reminds me of the way my seedlings were growing. Elongated growth with little branching.
I tried to get back budding and treated the multi-flush pitch pine like a JBP and candle pruned. Instead of getting multiple
buds at cut site, or along branch, I got a ton of new buds near base of tree !
I guess pitch pines can react that way when stressed, IE fire damage.
The next few years I decided to leave the trees alone and fertilized them to get more growth and needles.
I am waiting to see how they respond.
In the mean time you can consider wiring the branches horizontal to get more sun exposure and eliminating
nodes to only two branches to prevent inverse taper.

Thanks...I'll have to do some research on JBP

 

[DrBonsai]

If its been re-potted for over a year, FULL SUN !

 

[Potawatomi13]

I haven't done any work to the tree....just potted and let it untouched in a shady area. Any suggestions on how to improve the health of the tree?

Agreed most pines not in shade. Great way to kill.