Shibui pine contest entry

[Shibui]

We are now well into summer here. The pines have grown strong over spring then, last week I noticed they are all pushing a second flush of growth. None have been pruned or decandled but they have all decided that conditions are good enough for a secong growth spurt.

original, unpruned seedlings

Just over a foot high now.


The cuttings taken from the first seedlings are also making a second flush.


Overview of the pine trays.

Out in the grow beds the black pines are also making a second flush - not competition seedlings. Just shown for interest.

Typical new summer candles on the ground grown pines

This one has cones on the spring growth but it seems confused. Normally female cones are at the tip of the candle and male cones along the neck of the candle

These appear to be female cones all along the (now fully open) spring candle.


I'll leave them to mature and see if I can get viable seed from these.

 

[Shibui]

It is nearly the end of my growing season so time for some updated pictures.
The unpruned trees have grown well. Now around 12" tall. All still in 11cm (4+") diam squat pots.

Many of these put out a second flush of growth in summer.


These ones were tip pruned early to get low branches started. They all have thinner trunks and only around 6-8" tall so far. Hoping the increase in quality will justify the reduction in quantity.


The tips were struck as cuttings. Healthy but till pretty small



Some of the longer trunks have been wired and bent to give some preliminary shapes to the trunk.

 

[Shibui]

I threaded 2 seedlings through sheet metal plate. The larger one has thickened considerably so I checked progress today.


Plenty of new roots about halfway round the larger trunk. Can't see much on the other one because there's too many roots from the big one.

I just covered them up again and left them for winter. See how they look at spring repotting.

 

[Shibui]

Spring now and I've repotted the pine seedlings.
Also rationalized the numbers. 9 have been potted up to 15cm diam squat pots which should allow for increased growth. Some with low branches root prune but replanted in the existing 11cm pots. The remainder have gone to the sales table.

15cm pots

Some have been wired to give shape to trunks. All of the wired sections may not be used depending on how they grow, thicken and shoot new buds.


11cm pots



The remaining 14 candidates

 

[Lumaca]

Spring now and I've repotted the pine seedlings.
Also rationalized the numbers. 9 have been potted up to 15cm diam squat pots which should allow for increased growth. Some with low branches root prune but replanted in the existing 11cm pots. The remainder have gone to the sales table.

15cm pots
View attachment 336220
Some have been wired to give shape to trunks. All of the wired sections may not be used depending on how they grow, thicken and shoot new buds.
View attachment 336221

11cm pots

View attachment 336222

The remaining 14 candidates
View attachment 336223

Is that a pine cone on the first tree? Do they produce cones that young?

 

[Shibui]

Is that a pine cone on the first tree? Do they produce cones that young?

The brown bits on the candles are male 'flowers'. A few weeks ago there was clouds of pollen releasing on warm afternoons. I actually used this tree to provide some extra pollen for my seed tree which is planted in one of our paddocks. Female cones usually grow at the tips of those new candles. They don't usually produce female cones for a few more years.

 

[Shibui]

FYI @Lumaca here are photos of female cones on JBP.

They are nearly always at the tips of the new spring candles.

Note that those are not on the pine comp entries - older trees around 5 or 6 years maybe?.

 

[Lumaca]

Hope I have some of both genders to produce cones. JBP is quite rare around here.

 

[Lumaca]

Deleted

 

[VERMONT USA !!!!]

Wow producing cone young as this!??

 

[Shibui]

Hope I have some of both genders to produce cones. JBP is quite rare around here.

Pines all produce both male and female flowers. It is just that the different flowers are on different parts of the tree - male at the base of the candles and female cones right at the tips. If you have one JBP you should eventually get seed but you will probably need to let one grow freely to get seed. After pollination it takes 18 months for the cones to ripen which means those shoots will have grown quite a bit and may be too long and thick for a bonsai. I planted a couple of trees in the garden to poduce my seed.

 

[Shibui]

January update:
Mid summer here. Apart from a few hot days in spring this summer has been relatively cool so ideal growing weather.
I still have 13 pines in the running for this comp:
Some have been wired to put early bends in the trunks.:

 

[Shibui]

Another one with twists in the trunks:

This one has lots of low shoots but they are weak from too much shade under the branches of all the others. The main trunk will be the sacrifice branch on this one so new apex and all branches will come from those scrawny little branches - eventually



The final 3 were some of the seedlings that were pruned really early to get lots of low shoots. These are still in 11cm (4") diameter pots

 

[Drew]

The main trunk will be the sacrifice branch on this one so new apex and all branches will come from those scrawny little branches - eventually

How big will the eventual tree be then do you think? I have done the same thing with most of my seedlings. I wired and put movement in the tree low down where the first cluster of bud are and started the sacrifice just after this like you have done in these pictures. I now feel I am locked into smaller trees (shohin) unless I cut my losses and cut the long straight sacrifice branch off and start again with a new wired leader if I want a bigger tree.

 

[Shibui]

That tree could develop any size. A large tree can always be grown from a small tree but sometimes it can be difficult to get a small tree from a larger one.
You should not be locked into a smaller tree. If the sacrifice branch is too thick to bend it is unlikely to be a good candidate for part of a bonsai but it is a sacrifice branch. It was always meant to be cut off. Even if it can be bent does not mean it should be. Taper is just as important as bends and taper is best achieved by a series of grow and cuts rather than just using the current trunk because it is already there..
I would often allow one of the lower branches to grow and develop into a new leader even while the sacrifice branch is still there. Occasionally the lower shoots just will not grow while the tree has a large dominant sacrifice branch. In such cases the large branch must be pruned enough to allow the lower shoots to start growing or even removed entirely.
Like so much of bonsai there is probably not just one answer to your predicament. In fact there are probably many ways you can make your small tree into a larger one but it won't happen overnight.

 

[Shibui]

Winter solstice here in Yackandandah while many are enjoying(?) warmer conditions.
Photos of remaining pines

 

[Shibui]

More:

 

[Shibui]

And more:

 

[Shibui]

Final batch this time. These have been kept in smaller 11 cm pots.

 

[Shibui]

I decided it is time to do some pruning. Whether it is the BEST time for that is debatable but I'm confident the trees will respond.

This one has small buds down low on the trunk that could be very valuable in future if I want a smaller bonsai. Chances are these will die off if the current apex is allowed to continue so I've cut the main trunk back to healthy needles. This should be enough to get those buds going a bit better and to get lots of new shoots from the needles.


This one had some initial wiring for trunk curves. Not convinced it is ideal but probably better than dead straight. Still quite a few healthy small shoots low n the trunk which is good for future branching but a massive canopy threatens those. This time I've left an apical sacrifice branch to help with further trunk thickening.


Tree 3. Straight trunk but still with low shoots so I will be able to chop and regrow new branches and apex. This time I've left several sacrifice branches at the top.