New pot for an exposed root black pine

Just over a year ago, I reworked an exposed root black pine and started thinking about what kind of pot it could go in (see “Refining a young exposed root pine“).

Exposed root black pine – December 2017

Last month I took the tree out of the pot, did some root work, and started looking for pots into which I could plant it. After an exhaustive search around my garden, I realized that I have very few pots for kifu-sized trees.

Kifu bonsai (20cm – 30cm) is a subcategory of chuhin bonsai (20cm – 45cm) that’s just bigger than shohin (up to 20cm). This tree is 28cm tall. I have a number of shohin-sized pots and plenty of larger medium-sized pots, but very few in between sizes. Specifically, I had one.

Fortunately, it was an OK match for the tree.

Black pine after repotting – 11″

The tree is now fifteen years old and maybe one or two years away from having a more mature outline. I’ll plan to rework the foliage again this coming fall or winter. In the meantime, I’ll be on the lookout for more kifu-sized pots.