treebeard55

Two weeks ago, at the conclusion of the MABA2008 convention in Indianapolis, I picked up a leftover Japanese black pine. It's 3 years old, field-grown, and had been in a nursery pot, in field soil, probably since early May (or whenever it was lifted from the field and sent off to Indy, with a bunch of others, for one of the convention workshops.)

I finally managed to get it repotted yesterday, after two weeks of it sitting on my bench, still in the field soil. When I depotted it, I found no feeder roots at all. They all had been amputated when the tree was dug. The smallest roots I found were a little thinner than a pencil.

On the positive side, I saw no sign of root rot. And the tree has been growing merrily all along, pushing out new spring growth.

I potted it in a 3:2:1 mix of Turface, bark, and poultry grit, all particles between 2 and 3 mm. Mycorhizzal inoculant was added in as I went along. I removed about 1/3 of the foliage, including almost all the new candles (except for on the two low shoots I'm going to use to "build" my bonsai.)

I've got it where it gets only 3-4 hours of morning sun, and open shade the rest of the day. I'm going to use light foliar feeding, including of a 0-10-10 fert specififcally to promote root growth, and keep its ambient humidity as high as my circumstances allow.

My question: can anyone suggest any other measures I can take to help this tree thru the next several months? Any ideas will be appreciated, and carefully considered.

Thanks in advance.

__________________
Treebeard 55

The most important bonsai tool is your brain.

Brent

0-10-10 is precisely the wrong fertilizer to use. One with low or no phosphorus is best for transplanting. Recent studies have shown that the presence of phosphorus INHIBITS lateral root growth in transplant situations. I know, that's not what you read in bonsai books. For the fastest root regeneration use a mild to regular feeding of nitrogen, easy on the phosphorus and potassium, something like 18-6-12.

Brent
EvergreenGardenworks.com

anttal63

if new growth is pushing i would let it have more sun maybe just keep it out of hot early afternoon sun.

__________________
Antonio......
__________

treebeard55

Brent, I got your response literally just in time: I was about to go spray the tree with 0-10-10 and decided to quickly check email first. Just about every fert I had on hand was high in phosphorus, except one with an analysis of 45-4.5-3. I gave it a little of that, then bought some 12-4-8 today at Lowe's.

Thanks for your feedback. What you said surprised me: phosphorus (I thought) is supposed to promote root growth. If not that, what's it do?

I got hold of the young man who grew those pines in his field. (He actually lives less than 20 miles from me.) He said they were dug in mid-May, so the tree was potted in field soil for about 6 weeks before I repotted it. He also said that he kept one for himself, found the same lack of fine roots, but his also is growing nicely at present.

__________________
Treebeard 55

The most important bonsai tool is your brain.

Brent

Roots need phosphorus (and nitrogen and potassium) for growth, but if it is present in anything but minuscule amounts, they 'won't go look for it' (sorry for the anthropomorphism but you get the idea. They are content to stay where they are, and thus inhibited lateral root growth. More is not always better.

Brent

treebeard55

Thanks for the explanation, Brent. Don't apologize for the imagery; it got your point across effectively.

Just bought one more small-ish Austrian pine to develop over the next 5-6 years. And that's all for now! If my wife questions my recent pine expenditures, I'll just say, "The Brent made me do it!" (Not really.)

__________________
Treebeard 55

The most important bonsai tool is your brain.

treebeard55

Hello, all,

My Japanese black pine is getting a little more sun in a new spot, and seems happy in all respects. And I've finally found a way to get pictures to the public computer I use at present for Internet access. (Jump drives are great.)

Here are two pictures of the tree. The pictures aren't the best -- my apologies -- but they're adequate for my purpose. The pop can is in the pics for scale. Just above it, to the left in the pics, are the two shoots I mean to use to "build" a bonsai. The rest of the tree is eventual sacrifice.

The first picture shows most of the tree, including most of the upper foliage I've left at present to help the tree thru recovery. The foliage up there is about half what was there before I started working on the tree. The second pic is a close-up of the two lower shoots, the ones I'm going to use. (They've each had about 1/4-inch of their tips broken off, and that's all.)

What I'm concerned about is the reputed apical dominance of JBP's. Have I left too much foliage on the upper part of the tree? How likely is it that the upper part will dominate to the point that the shoots I want to use will die back?

Thanks for your feedback!

Attached Images

	Upload 7-11-08 007_edited-1.jpg (93.0 KB, 30 views)
	Upload 7-11-08 008 copy.jpg (95.6 KB, 16 views)

__________________
Treebeard 55

The most important bonsai tool is your brain.

Rick Moquin

Man I hate talking fertilizers.

All trees that I repot regardless from nursery or repotting get a dose of 10-52-10 (known as transplant fertilizer) at 1/2 strength followed by a dose at full strength 2 weeks later. They're put in semi shade or dappled sun from 2 weeks or up to a month, then they go in full sun. The time period for move to full sun is "signs" of growth and, of course on my normal feeding regimen.

Brent,

I know you are fussy when it comes to ferts, but would appreciate any insight wrt my regime.

__________________
Bonsai is the journey, not the destination
Bonsai Wonders

anttal63

i think it is just right considering you have just repotted. walter pall sais he likes to leave a bit more rather than less when he is repotting his collected pines and juni's. i would be very surprised if those lower shoots dont go into overdrive now. if so next year it will pay to reduce the top further.

__________________
Antonio......
__________

Dav4

Your tree looks a bit stressed so I'd leave it alone this year other then water/fertilizer and increasing sun exposure. Definitely no more pruning of any sort. Next year, as the buds break, you will hopefully see a tree with more vigor that will tolerate more agressive pruning. As an aside, I'd leave the apex alone and use it as a sacrifice brance to thicken the trunk further...it doesn't appear to be shading out the buds you're hoping to save. Good luck,

Dave