Baby Japanese Black Pine Repotting

[amterg]

Hi! I'm new to this whole Bonsai thing, but I've been growing a Japanese Black Pine for the past few months and I need some help with a possible repotting.

So about a week ago, I found larvae in the soil of my plant so I quickly repotted it using soil from a nearby aloe plant. My bonsai currently seems fine, but I am now paranoid about the quality of soil, so I went out an bought a bigger pot and legitimate bonsai soil. (The soil is very rocky, and I have been told its very good for pines)

Now, I have two questions:
1) Should I repot this sapling? Is it even necessary right now, since the bonsai seems fine where it is, or should I wait until it's older?
2) If I should repot it, how?! The holes in the bottom of the pot are so large that the soil/rocks just fall right out!

*(I have attached pictures of my bonsai, the soil I purchased, and the pot I purchased.)*

 

[Vance Wood]

Leave it alone until next spring at the earliest.

 

[ccownerful]

if you are worried about repoting it, and are afraid of the big drain holes, mesh the holes. in my honest opinion, i think it is maybe a little too young to move around.

 

[Teddscau]

As long as the soil has decent drainage, don't worry about repotting for a while. I'd let him rest after being put in the new soil from the aloe. You can try foliar feeding if you're worried about the nutrients in the soil (I'm not sure if pines respond to foliar feeding). If the little fellow had his roots damaged when you put him in new soil, fertilizing him could make him sick as his roots might not be able to absorb the fertilizer properly.

 

[Vance Wood]

This tree does not even have mature needles or branches yet. What do you plan to accomplish with a literal seedling at this point? Put the tree in a pot with decent soil that is not too big; a too big pot can create problems, and leave it alone for at least a year. The quickest way to kill a tree is to continually fool around with it.

 

[kirk@localbonsai.com]

I agree that it needs time to bulk up. This is why I prefer using native plants for bonsai, as I like to plant them in the ground for those purposes - black pine do better south of me.
-Kirk

 

[Vance Wood]

I agree that it needs time to bulk up. This is why I prefer using native plants for bonsai, as I like to plant them in the ground for those purposes - black pine do better south of me.
-Kirk

That's OK to say but what native species are you referring to, especially Pines?

 

[kirk@localbonsai.com]

I'm elucidating that the choice to work with non-native trees has drawbacks, ex. cannot plant in the ground to bulk-up. I'm not referring to any type of tree in particular.

 

[Dav4]

I agree that it needs time to bulk up. This is why I prefer using native plants for bonsai, as I like to plant them in the ground for those purposes - black pine do better south of me.
-Kirk

This Japanese Black Pine was grown out in the ground in southern Maine...north of you. They're hardy to zone 5 and can be grown safely in the landscape in most of MA. This one spent 6 years, in a pot, outside, in N. Attleboro. It spent it's winters mulched and frozen solid into the side of a hill. They do need routine winter protection, as do most temperate trees, including natives. Having spent a decade playing with bonsai in MA, I believe the pitch pine is the only worth while native pine in MA to consider for bonsai...and I'll almost always take a JBP over a pitch pine.

 

[M. Frary]

I agree that it needs time to bulk up. This is why I prefer using native plants for bonsai, as I like to plant them in the ground for those purposes - black pine do better south of me.
-Kirk

Unless he lives up in zone 4 it can be planted in the ground to grow out.

 

[kirk@localbonsai.com]

I stand corrected, thank you all . Wow, nothing gets past anybody here!

 

[Dav4]

I stand corrected, thank you all . Wow, nothing gets past anybody here!

I posted because I don't want people to get the impression from your post that JBP don't do well in MA. I've worked with many different pine species when I lived in MA- Mugo, EWP, Pitch, JBP, JRP, Ponderosa. Without a doubt, the trees that grew well with minimal effort AND made the best bonsai material were JBP and JRP. While I absolutely agree with the sentiment that trees native to your area will generally be easiest to grow and maintain, I want to make the best bonsai possible. Unless you can find a beautiful old pitch pine with a great trunk, you're going to have better luck getting there with pines from other parts of the world.

 

[Vance Wood]

I posted because I don't want people to get the impression from your post that JBP don't do well in MA. I've worked with many different pine species when I lived in MA- Mugo, EWP, Pitch, JBP, JRP, Ponderosa. Without a doubt, the trees that grew well with minimal effort AND made the best bonsai material were JBP and JRP. While I absolutely agree with the sentiment that trees native to your area will generally be easiest to grow and maintain, I want to make the best bonsai possible. Unless you can find a beautiful old pitch pine with a great trunk, you're going to have better luck getting there with pines from other parts of the world.

There are few choices for native Pines East of the Mississippi River. Either they do not do well, they have really long needles or because they make such lousy landscape trees they are obtainable only through collecting. Of course there is the Eastern Larch but the Larch is not a Pine is it?

The best Pine species are legion to the high plains, the Rocky Mountains et al and the West Coast. Some of these trees are grown in the landscape industry and are more available through the nursery trade. Of the Eastern Pine species I know of none that are under cultivation except the Eastern White Pine which makes a really lousy bonsai. Walter Pall has stated numerous times that America has the best raw material in the world. We just don't know what to do with it.

 

[M. Frary]

I stand corrected, thank you all . Wow, nothing gets past anybody here!

You are right saying to use native species whenever possible because they already grow in your area. And really I should pipe down because I don't have a JBP. Yet. But I do have 2 native pines. Bristlecone and Eastern White pine.

 

[Vance Wood]

You are right saying to use native species whenever possible because they already grow in your area. And really I should pipe down because I don't have a JBP. Yet. But I do have 2 native pines. Bristlecone and Eastern White pine.

If you are keeping Bristlecone alive you are doing well.

 

[M. Frary]

If you are keeping Bristlecone alive you are doing well.

Lost a branch over winter but otherwise it's doing fine. Needles are sweating sap and the buds are swelling. Left it out on the ground with the mugo and white pine. They all seemed to love the Alaskan type winter we had up here. Frozen solid. I had to repot it this year because it's bucket cracked open from freezing. Very tough. Too bad they grow so slow though.
The other thing is not to over water. Its the only tree that doesn't get watered everyday. I wait for the weeds I let grow in its container droop then water.

 

[jeanluc83]

It looks like you are going to have a hard time with that pine. It is in very little soil which is fine but you need to be on top of things when it comes to watering. If it is allowed to dry out too much or is kept too wet it is a goner.

It would be best if you could leave it alone until next spring but I don't see it surviving for too long as it is. I would slip pot into the pot you purchased. Try not to disturb the soil you have it in now and put the new substrate (note that I used different words) around it. Then don't do anything to the tree except water. Start to fertilize once you see new growth. In a year or two if it is still alive plant it into something more appropriate for training.

At this point the seedling is surprisingly tough so you might be okay but understand you have chosen the hardest way to grow a bonsai.

 

[bennybenben]

I would keep the little sapling in the current pot it is in until it has settled into the pot. Also for the problem with the soil falling out, use mesh to keep the soil from falling out and wire to secure the mesh, look on YouTube for some tip about repotting.

 

[lissa]

Aw! It's so cute! I have a ton of babes right now. I've moved them one or two times already and they are literally only about 2 months old. I only did it because I had to and because they were free (I found them in the wild) so I can risk a few of them dying (honestly I have too many thriving).

That is a beautiful pot!

I am definitely not an expert. But if he seems happy and doing good, I wouldn't touch him unless I had to. There are a lot of very interesting bonsai tip videos made by seasoned bonsai artists on YouTube. I definitely learned a lot from them.

Good luck!!

 

[Vance Wood]

Lost a branch over winter but otherwise it's doing fine. Needles are sweating sap and the buds are swelling. Left it out on the ground with the mugo and white pine. They all seemed to love the Alaskan type winter we had up here. Frozen solid. I had to repot it this year because it's bucket cracked open from freezing. Very tough. Too bad they grow so slow though.
The other thing is not to over water. Its the only tree that doesn't get watered everyday. I wait for the weeds I let grow in its container droop then water.

I will try to remember that if I get another opportunity to work on this tree.