• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Bonsai Tonight

An educational website about bonsai development

  • Blog
    • How-to Guides
  • Podcast
  • Shop
    • Bonsai
    • Books
    • Soil
    • Soil (wholesale)
    • Supplies
    • Tools
    • Video Consulting
    • Northern California Bonsai Resources
  • About
    • Workshops

Bud types on pine bonsai

August 14, 2018 by Jonas Dupuich

Pines commonly produce three types of buds: terminal buds, needle buds and adventitious buds.

Terminal buds, often referred to as apical buds when they appear at the top of the tree, are the buds located at the tips of branches.

Terminal bud

Large terminal bud flanked by two lateral or accessory buds

Needle buds are buds that form between sets of needles.

Needle bud

Young shoot developed from a needle bud

Adventitious buds are buds that form elsewhere, typically directly from branch or trunk tissue.

Small adventitious bud

Vigorous adventitious buds

The ability to distinguish between these three bud types can be useful when cultivating pine as bonsai. Can you spot all three bud types on your trees?

✕

Subscribe to Bonsai Tonight

New Posts Delivered Every Tuesday and Friday

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. Powered by ConvertKit

Filed Under: Bonsai Care Tagged With: Black Pine

Previous Post: « Summer fertilizing
Next Post: Stimulating back buds on Japanese black pine »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jerry says

    August 14, 2018 at 7:12 am

    Great article/ explanation, on different buds on a JBP. Thx. for taking the time to explain this.

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      August 14, 2018 at 8:08 am

      Thanks Jerry – I appreciate it!

  2. Rik says

    August 14, 2018 at 4:43 pm

    Hi Jonas, What is the difference between terminal buds and adventitious bud. Thanks, Rik.

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      August 14, 2018 at 5:08 pm

      Hi Rik – good question. Terminal buds are the buds that naturally occur at the end of all growing branches. Adventitious buds are buds that appear in “unexpected” places (for example, we expect to find buds at the ends of branches). Under the right conditions, dormant adventitious buds become active and generate new shoots.

      I hope this helps – I’ll say a bit more about different bud types in future posts.

  3. Derek says

    August 15, 2018 at 4:49 am

    Hello Jonas,
    I have all three all over the place. When is the best time to remove the adventitious buds at the ends of the branch? Which would be best to remove, largest , smallest, whichever you don’t like? I have a lot of 3 and 4 buds showing up on all my pines.

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      August 15, 2018 at 7:04 am

      Hi Derek – it’s common for many buds to show up in the same place so it sounds like the tree is healthy! In general, the best time to thin pines is in fall. Thinning and cutback is a big topic, here’s an example of cutback on a red pine that might help: https://bonsaitonight.com/2018/04/20/thinning-a-red-pine-forest-2/

  4. Derek says

    August 15, 2018 at 4:51 am

    Hi Jonas,
    I would ask about the terminal buds as well. Should they be removed? If yes, when?

  5. Winston Tyler says

    August 17, 2018 at 9:51 am

    Do these comments also apply to the Austrian Black Pine, pines negre?

    • Jonas Dupuich says

      August 17, 2018 at 11:05 am

      Great question Winston – Austrian black pines can produce the same three types of buds, but they don’t bud as easily as Japanese black pines. As a result, the development techniques are different for Austrian black pines.

Footer

Follow Bonsai Tonight

Subscribe

Instagram ● Facebook ● Twitter
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Shop
  • About

P.O. Box 6560, Alameda, CA 94501 · 510-915-2025 · jonas (at) bonsaitonight (dot) com

© Copyright 2009-2023 Bonsai Tonight · All rights reserved · Privacy · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. You can opt-out if you wish. Accept Decline Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT