名媛直播

I've got a young goyomatsu pine bonsai. I've had it about eight months now. I guess it has a couple of years in it (i should say "them" as it is composed of two pines that have been wired so that they circle each other once before one day branching in opposite directions) and I'm writing this post to ensure that i don't murder it this winter.

I say as much because of two reasons. One, i live in a part of Japan which is extremely hot and humid in summer, then extremely cold and dry in winter. I've lived in Beijing in the past and the dryness of that desert air is as nothing compared to what we get here. The second reason is that i had another bonsai (5 years old perhaps) last winter which i bought from a good source but which half perished by spring. It now lives at my in laws house, though half of it now seems forever deceased.

I think that plant partially died because of ignorance as much as anything. I was pretty unsure, didn't water it very often (once a week) and didn't use very nice water (from the same plastic bottle all winter long), it was in the frigid study upstairs for well over half the time, and the only watering i did was in spray form.

Anyway, typical ramble out of the way, here's my question:

Can someone just brain dump everything they can think of about getting this thing through the winter? It's very young. Should it be indoors, or out? When should it go in? Should i water it deeply or with spray? How often? Dispense with evening watering entirely? Any temporary soil packing or leaf mulch or something that could protect it? How can i tell when it is dormant? Do we know what triggers the dormant phase? Is it extended cold temperatures or just one day that is cold enough? Or something else?

Thanks in advance!

Hi, a picture would help. How young?
A white pine will like cold winters as long as it doesn't get frosted too often.
How cold are your winters?
Where are you located in Japan?
Not Hokkaido ? If not, it will like to be outdoors in the winter.

Before you learn about growing bonsai, you need to learn about growing trees.

Japanese White Pines are native to Japan. You can look up in which range they grow naturally.
They can tolerate -20 C.

Dormancy requires periods of less light and lower temperatures (not sure for JWP, could be either or both).
One day in the cold in winter will do exactly nothing and will not induce dormancy. Bringing it indoors is not a good idea, you're changing the climate it is in and trees do not like that.

I understand Japan has 4 climate zones, but if I'm right, even in the coldest region leaving your JWP outside should not be an issue at all.

Auk wrote: I understand Japan has 4 climate zones, but if I'm right, even in the coldest region leaving your JWP outside should not be an issue at all.

... which is not exactly correct:
"


Rikubetsu is ranked as Japan's coldest area. Daily mean temperature in January is ?11.4 °C (11.5 °F), the average low temperature in the end of January and beginning of February are below ?20 °C (?4.0 °F), which are the coldest in Japan. On January 27, 2000, the temperature at Seki district recorded below ?40 °C (?40.0 °F).[1]

So... it depends on where you are.

Auk wrote: So... it depends on where you are.

Like I said up above.

Clicio wrote: Hi, a picture would help. How young?
A white pine will like cold winters as long as it doesn't get frosted too often.
How cold are your winters?
Where are you located in Japan?
Not Hokkaido ? If not, it will like to be outdoors in the winter.

Sorry for my slow response, this morning was the first time i was able to get light for photos!

I've not time to respond to the other things said yet, but here are the pictures you requested!

Clicio wrote: Hi, a picture would help. How young?
A white pine will like cold winters as long as it doesn't get frosted too often.
How cold are your winters?
Where are you located in Japan?
Not Hokkaido ? If not, it will like to be outdoors in the winter.

hi mate

sorry i buggered up again

here are the files, they were too big to send from my phone i had to resize them at home!

Auk wrote: Before you learn about growing bonsai, you need to learn about growing trees.

Japanese White Pines are native to Japan. You can look up in which range they grow naturally.
They can tolerate -20 C.

Dormancy requires periods of less light and lower temperatures (not sure for JWP, could be either or both).
One day in the cold in winter will do exactly nothing and will not induce dormancy. Bringing it indoors is not a good idea, you're changing the climate it is in and trees do not like that.

I understand Japan has 4 climate zones, but if I'm right, even in the coldest region leaving your JWP outside should not be an issue at all.

This was fantastically informative, beyond all expectations, thanks a lot!