Earlier this year I grafted a few cork bark scions onto 3-year old black pines (see “Creating cork bark black pine“). As the new shoots inside the grafting bags began to harden off, I opened the bags a big to prevent the foliage from rotting. A few weeks later I removed the tape shading the […]
Black Pine
And if I don’t make a square cut?
I’ve written on a number of occasions, and you’ve doubtless read here and elsewhere, that when decandling black or red pine bonsai it is important to make a square cut (see “Decandling black pine – making the cut”). Square cut Until recently, however, I’d seen little evidence that the long end of a slanted cut […]
One-and-a-half-year-old pine seedlings
This past March I potted up a number of seedling cuttings made in 2012 (see Repotting 1 year-old black pine seedlings). 1 year-old black pine seedlings Just four months later, the seedlings are much bigger. 1.5 year-old black pine from seedling cutting Low buds developing without prompting Apical shoots opening – a good sign of […]
Let summer buds grow
In general, we want two new shoots at the end each branch to develop on black and red pine bonsai. Red pine – two summer shoots Nature, however, doesn’t always provide us with what we’re looking for. Black pine – three shoots Four summer shoots More shoots than I want to count One shoot can […]
Decandling follow-up
After some debate around whether or not to decandle one of my pines, I decided to remove the strongest shoots. I did this on June 16th. Five weeks later, the new shoots are growing well. Japanese black pine – 5 weeks after decandling Somewhat surprisingly, the growth is strong on the top, middle, and lower […]