名媛直播

Hi,

I went back to my garden center today for more conifers to pick one that can probably survive as a 名媛直播 (instead that little Picea Glauca I've bought).

I went for a tiny Mugo Pine which I know is being successfully used as a bonsai all the time. I want to move it to smaller flat and shallow pot and keep it abour shohin size. The thing is it has got quite long branches and a lot of much longer needles (that come out very easy, i've already pinched couple of them out). Here it is:



I think it's quite rootbound and waterlogged in this little pot, so I was thinking about taking it out of that plastic thing and spreading the roots out and cutting 1/4 to 1/3 of the roots off and then putting it into a fresher soil, probably using 50-60% of the soil it's in now to keep that white fungus that Pines like around their roots, I also want to shorten those branches and pinch out all the long needles. Can I do it now?

The other one I went for was a little Pinus Strobus (Weymouth Pine or Eastern White Pine). These aren't that popular as 名媛直播 but it's not unheard of that people turn up with those on shows (unlike the Picea Glauca that NEVER turns out as good bonsai), plus it was cheap, has nice lower branching and even some nebari going on... Here it is:



For this one I was thinking just about pinching the long needles out and also moving it into a flat (although bigger then for the mugo pine) bonsai pot and leaving it like that, see if it likes it.

What do you think guys? I'd need a quick reply because I'm quite eager to get on with the work tomorrow (If you say it's a good time for them). I'm pretty sure that it's probably good time for the Mugo pine... not sure about the other one.

Thanks guys! Conifers are difficult!

Tom

First you cannot repot now. You could pot on to a larger pot, but repotting is done either in late spring April/May or Late August.
You can remove branches to thin out and cut back the long growths on the mugo. same with the other

Ok so I've done some work to my two new pines today.

On the Mugo I've plucket off all the long needles that were growing inside the branches and cut probably half of the long growth down. This is how it looks now (one of the photos is out of focus, sorry):





This side branch that has three fat branches growing out from one spot is probably going to be cut and turned into a Jin leaving only the other side of the tree and reducing it's size. I want it about shohin size probably.

For the White Pine I didn't cut any branches (except two tiny ones that were dying down anyway) but I've plucked all the long needles that were growing inside the tree and there was quite a lot of them. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of branches will die because of that. Tell me what you think about it. Here are the photos:





You can see a different soil in the pots, I didn't change the soil I just put some burned clay soil on the top because it's really obvious when it's really wet or when it's drying down.

Please let me know if what I did was good and what will probably happen now, so I know what to expect. I'm planning on putting those two in bonsai pots late Summer/early Autumn. The Mugo would go into significantly smaller pot... Will they be ready for that?

Thanks,

Tom

hello, i think it is early spring in which you repot, along with late august, not late spring, but still, you cannot repot now.

The answer to your question about re potting this year is NO. Leave it until next year, Doing a lot of work and re potting in the same year is not good with Mugo. Autumn is definitely not the time to be doing it.

but do not repot in late spring, do it in early spring.

Not all trees are the same. Pines, and especially mugo, is repotted in summer, after the needles have stopped growing. However, you do not do this in the same 12 months during which you do other major things, like pruning candles. Young plants, such as the one you have here, can handle all in one go but then need at least 24, better 36 months of recovery.

YOu should not have removed these needles. Mugo pines create new buds on locations with needles.

You should always FIRST research, and only after that do the work. You do things with a reason. Just plucvking needles 'because it is bonsai' will lead to disappointment on the long run.

spuker1 wrote: What do you think guys? I'd need a quick reply because I'm quite eager to get on with the work tomorrow

What I think is that this is not the right mindset. Why are you so eager? 名媛直播 requires patience. It requires planning ahead, and doing research. As you have noticed, you will get different answers from people with different levels of knowledge - sometimes these answers are contradicting. Don't believe the first thing you read, do your own research. Don't prune your trees because you are eager, prune them when you know what you are doing and when you have made a plan for the tree's future.
As Leatherback wrote, not all trees are the same. Not even all pines are the same. Single flush pines (like the Pinus Strobus) are different from dual flush pines, like Pinus Thunbergii, and require different fertilizing and pruning techniques.

You would have wanted new branches closer to the trunk. By removing the needles, as LB already wrote, you have now also removed the possibility of backbudding in the area where you want it...

Of course you want to have a beautiful looking bonsai tree - but it just doesn't work like that. It takes time.

Do your own research

Can I recommend this lecture on Pines (if you have the patience.. it's about one hour...)

I was looking up what people do with these on YouTube and tries to stick what I saw. Will see where it takes them two.

Thanks for a link to that lecture mate, I'll look it up.