All aboard the Mugo train!

[Wires_Guy_wires]

No rest for the wicked. Flush number 3 this year, third year in a row.

 

[Vance Wood]

View attachment 337011
No rest for the wicked. Flush number 3 this year, third year in a row.

Sorry----
I really don't mean to be snarky but; if you are getting three flushes of new growth per year out of a Mugo why have you not taken advantage of the fact to ramify the tree and produce some foliage pads and meaningful branching? As it us now we cannot even see that trunk. Just getting a tree to produce multiflushes of growth is not an end in itself if you don't do something with the results.
Personally I don't think this is a Mugo and I have played around with hundreds of them.

 

[Pine_nut]

I found the best nursery stock that I've ever seen. It is very vigorous and has gotten a second flush of growth over most of the tree. Now I begin the task of scaling this back to find the bonsai that's inside there. I cleaned it up yesterday and took out less than 10% of the foliage. Should I take any more out or leave it until next year?
I also noticed that the second flush isn't uniform over all of the branches. Is that because the roots are not as healthy as the rest or is this from something else?

I'm more than 50% done reading through this thread. Thank you @Vance Wood for being willing to share all of your knowledge!! I haven't been able to find much luck with information on mugos anywhere else.

 

[Pine_nut]

Here is the picture showing half of the second flush and the other half with the normal first flush shoots.

 

[Pine_nut]

View attachment 337011
No rest for the wicked. Flush number 3 this year, third year in a row.

Is that a mugo?

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Sorry----
I really don't mean to be snarky but; if you are getting three flushes of new growth per year out of a Mugo why have you not taken advantage of the fact to ramify the tree and produce some foliage pads and meaningful branching? As it us now we cannot even see that trunk. Just getting a tree to produce multiflushes of growth is not an end in itself if you don't do something with the results.
Personally I don't think this is a Mugo and I have played around with hundreds of them.

It's a mugo alright, mughus cultivar. But this one skips the budding phase and just continues growing. It's stressed, and has been stressed for years now. Only thing I did this year is removing wire and feeding it heavily.
I own just six or seven of mugos, none of them behave in a similar matter. As a matter of fact, I own 8 or 9 types of pines, and none of them look or act anything like this one.
It produces juvenile foliage and immediately pushes out adult foliage. But it never goes dormant.
We've discussed this one before, it's an oddball.

I like showing it here because it makes people uneasy. The internode length is minimal. What's on there now is three years of needles.

I want it to act like a regular mugo before I start applying techniques, because this continuous growth is unpredictable and a sign of stress.

 

[Pine_nut]

How should I be judging when to water my mugos during this weather? It gets into the 50’s and 60’s during the day with wind and sun but is dipping to the freezing point at night. Is it OK to keep watering like normal? All of my trees are in organic nursery soil, I’m guessing a pine bark of some sort, until I can repot at the beginning of summer. I am Leary about watering late in the day if it’s going to get to freezing overnight. What do you guys suggest?

 

[sorce]

I been using the back of a knuckle to feel for wet/cold.

Soon, you probably won't have to water till spring.

Unless you are a (insert politically correct modern description of someone lacking common sense that starts with a constenant) and keep them in the garage.


Sorce

 

[qwerty Bonsai]

Did initial wiring on my mugo (bought a year ago in October 2019, changed pot in April this year). Hope it can survive 2020.

Already lost two healthier mugo after summer repot. Cannot take more losses.

Anyways, went out and bought another bigger better mugo. Can I do anything to it? Or better leave it along and wait until Spring?

 

[Japonicus]

Did initial wiring on my mugo (bought a year ago in October 2019, changed pot in April this year). Hope it can survive 2020.

Already lost two healthier mugo after summer repot. Cannot take more losses.

Anyways, went out and bought another bigger better mugo. Can I do anything to it? Or better leave it along and wait until Spring?

The one pictured should be set a bit deeper in the soil covering the nebari.
Should have no problem surviving 2020 as there's only 29.20 days left in 2020 at this time

The newly purchased one you can and should remove dead needles.
Be sure not remove interior growth. The one pictured has some leggy branches
with no interior growth to cut back to, it appears. It is possible to do some wiring
but I would leave it mostly alone until you figure out why you lost 2 healthy ones you repotted.
July is perfectly fine to repot. Aftercare inaccuracies is most likely to blame.
The surface roots on this one here are too exposed. If the ones done in Summer were similar
then they probably dried out, or were over worked.

Please post picture of your new mugo, and get some feedback from @Vance Wood before you repot.
Give more exact details about your repotting methods. %, root work, soil, mycorrhiza, watering, and aftercare.

 

[qwerty Bonsai]

Thank you @Japonicus
The two dead ones - I bought them in spring, when repotting, I think I overworked them, and did not do well with the aftercare.
For the new one, before I repotting in July 2021 I definitely will come here asking for guidance first.

William

 

[mrcasey]

View attachment 337011
No rest for the wicked. Flush number 3 this year, third year in a row.

Preternaturally long needles. More than one flush of growth in a year. Seems like this would be a good place to apply occam's razor and consider the remote possibility that this pine was misidentified.

 

[amcoffeegirl]

My first mugo. Going to try to learn what it needs. I must admit that I’m a bit nervous to work on it since I can’t even see in there.
I won’t do anything until August most likely.
I do love the softness of the needles. Not to pokey.

I saw this one online and I like it’s looks also. I may try to get my hands on one in spring.

 

[amcoffeegirl]

I have one other question- is there a location to watch all of Vance’s videos in order?
@Vance Wood are they on your YouTube channel?
We have compiled his quotes here- can someone compile the videos?? These need preserved and sequenced. Thanks

 

[Japonicus]

@amcoffeegirl

Vance Wood

www.youtube.com

then the newer channel has a more comprehensive all inclusive catalog

Bonsai stuff

www.youtube.com

 

[amcoffeegirl]

Perfect!

 

[Oleg]

@Japonicus Thank you!

 

[Japonicus]

@Japonicus Thank you!

Hey Vance did all the work They aren't in order of a calendar of care events though,
that would have to be its own video but the compiled resources here covers all that.

I must admit that I’m a bit nervous to work on it since I can’t even see in there.

then same tree following year. I'm confused by the title (Spring...) and publish date (July)

...but it all starts in the nursery which he covers in his "hunt" videos.
Limited sources locally, I find maybe one every 4 years here out of all the places I look that is worth taking home.
So once you've done your homework and found one by getting in there and brought it home
this 1st video here will get you further in. They are slow though, it's a long ride on the train

 

[amcoffeegirl]

Hey Vance did all the work They aren't in order of a calendar of care events though,

that would have to be its own video but the compiled resources here covers all that.

then same tree following year. I'm confused by the title (Spring...) and publish date (July)

...but it all starts in the nursery which he covers in his "hunt" videos.
Limited sources locally, I find maybe one every 4 years here out of all the places I look that is worth taking home.
So once you've done your homework and found one by getting in there and brought it home
this 1st video here will get you further in. They are slow though, it's a long ride on the train

Thanks. I’ve been watching them on YouTube most of the night.

 

[Vance Wood]

Hey Vance did all the work They aren't in order of a calendar of care events though,

Thanks. I’ve been watching them on YouTube most of the night.

All Night???? Are you a glutton for punishment. I am honored you would consider them worth watching. I will try getting things in order this next year, everything has gone into winter storage.