Big Bear California “Pine” collected

[Boerboel313]

Morning all.
We were up in big bear today for the winter storm and while we were off roading in the back country I found a pine ( not sure what kind) and dug it up. The soil was very rocking and I’m afraid I didn’t get a lot of the root ball with it. Maybe 5-6 roots. I did take a lot of the soil that was in the hole with it to mix with my bonsai solid mix when I planted it in a 2-3 gal training pot. The soil mix I used was composed of pumice, pea sized rough gravel, decomposed granite, and about 3 cups of the soil from the hole I dug the pine from. Once I potted it, I did not cut any of the foliage as I know this is needed to help with the formation of new roots,

Is there anything else I can do to try and help this tree survive other than keep the soil moist and pray it survives ?

The tree is about 18” tall with a trunk about 1.5” in diameter. I live about a mile from the coast and hoping that this tree will survive if I keep the soil moist. Will take a pic tomorrow.

 

[PiñonJ]

If it survives the collection, which it probably won’t, it will likely die from carbohydrate exhaustion in the next few years, as it won’t have any winter dormancy. You took it from an alpine environment to a subtropical environment. You could look for a local bonsai club to join. You’d benefit from the experience of others doing bonsai in your environment. Once you post your pics, folks on this site can help with ID and possibly tips for after care. Good luck.

 

[Vance Wood]

As long as we are investigating the fear factor let me add one part of my experience in moving trees. It seems that leaving foliage will help support damaged roots, which seems to be the ROT with Junipers, however; a massive amount of foliage will make demands on the diminished root system the roots cannot support. It become necessary to cut back the top by one third to keep the foliage from blowing up the root system.

 

[Boerboel313]

Ok. Thanks for all the advice.

 

[PiñonJ]

Ok. Thanks for all the advice.

Any pics?

 

[Boerboel313]

So the pine in the 3 gal or so commercial pot is the one from B.B. it’s 27” tall.
The tall upright I’ve had for many years in very large commercial pot and just transplanted it a week ago into the 14” oval. It’s 41” tall and I really haven’t done too much with it. Just experimentation. Should I take a 1/3 off and use HB 101 on it?

The redwood, I cut at about 20” and brought a branch up to form the new apex As it sits it’s 27””tall and will not do much with it for a couple years except transplant into a more shallow training pot without disrupting the lower most roots as they are the most delicate.

The very skinny tree is a rainbow eucalyptus and is 36” and the one to the right of that is a Ginko.

 

[PiñonJ]

That pine looks like a piñon, and single-leaf piñons (Pinus monopylla) do grow in the San Bernardino mountains. Photos can be deceiving, but the needles appear to be single. Can you confirm that? That would establish the species conclusively. What altitude did you collect it at? They’re supposed to occur up to 7500’, so not high alpine, but they still probably require winter dormancy.

 

[Boerboel313]

I’ll check needles tomorrow. But elevation was around 7200 to 7400’.

 

[Alexmacrophyllum]

Yes that one in the photo is a Pinus monophylla

 

[Boerboel313]

My order of HB 101 will be here this Saturday/ tomorrow morning. .And I will post a close up pic of the needles.

 

[oddirt]

My order of HB 101 will be here this Saturday/ tomorrow morning. .And I will post a close up pic of the needles.

How is this tree growing? I’ve got a few P monophylla growing from seed for the last few years that are doing well (my profile pic is of this species). Lost some from a soil mix that was too damp for my growing zone but still have six growing strong. You don’t see too many of these as bonsai but they’ve got a lot of the ideal characteristics like great bark and leaves, though they are super slow growers. I love that they’re the world’s only single needle pine.