Collected JBP Aftercare - beginner

[trigo]

So today i just collected a field grown JBP, it was on the field for several years, heavy clay soil, well fed and watered. The rootball came out with a nice size and capilary roots.

So my question is about the aftercare, right now it's a bush with lots of foliar mass and buds swelling, some just beginning to sprout new needles. Should i pluck needles? remove candles? prune branches? do nothing and just maintain water balance and fertilize for one year? my priority right now is to just give it the best chance i can for survival, it's currently in a table by the wall of my house protected of winds, this spot gets sun from sun rise to about 12:00, about 5 hours.

some pictures:

 

[treepirate]

What soil did you pot it in trugo?

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I was about to say "wrong time of the year for this work" and then I saw you are in Brazil! It is the RIGHT time of the year for this work for you!

Your primary focus right now should be to not just lift the tree, but to repot it into better soil. When I hear you say "rootball" make sure you remove as much of the old soil as possible - 100% if you can do so without stressing the roots. Do not wash the roots with water - just remove as much of the old soil as possible with a chop stick. Then repot into good soil that is at least 90% inorganic (you can toss in some pine bark if you want).

Wait until your spring to see how the tree responds with candle growth. Most of the refinement work on JBP can only be done successfully if the tree is strong and growing aggressively. Until then, do not prune anything, and do not pluck any needles.

 

[Shibui]

I've had best success by shaking off as much field soil as possible. Scrape off if it's heavy clay but don't wash the roots clean. Some remaining soil is Ok and may even be good.
Transplant to good bonsai mix.
I know some people get good survival leaving all the field soil on the roots but you will need to monitor water really well as garden soil/ field soil does not drain or dry as quick as potting soil.

Leave the top largely alone. It appears either the tree has not been in the ground very long or it has been regularly pruned to maintain shape. Either way there's not too much top growth.
Intact growing tips seem to be the key to pine transplant survival. Cut all the branches and chance of surviving diminishes. The trees I dig here have long sacrifice branches which I reduce to maintain balance and redirect growth to the lower branches but leaving plenty of intact terminal buds seems to help with survival. With your tree I guess you could safely remove around 1/3 if you can see any redundant branches but definitely not 1/3 off all branches.

Keep it in moderate shade for a few weeks. My transplants go straight into full spring sun but full sun in one place can be very different to full sun in another part of the world. 5 hours is probably good.

No other work for the first full year. I don't even count my pine and juniper transplants as successful until after mid summer. Most transplants will grow new shoots in spring but may not have roots to support the growth and then die soon after. By mid summer you'll have good idea of success but new roots are still developing so no other work for 1w2 months to allow good root growth.

 

[trigo]

What soil did you pot it in trugo?

I'm using "caqueira" (very similar to haydite or turface I think), perlite and some pine bark, probably 80 % inorganic. I can't find anywhere to buy lava and pumice here in Brazil.

I was about to say "wrong time of the year for this work" and then I saw you are in Brazil! It is the RIGHT time of the year for this work for you!

Your primary focus right now should be to not just lift the tree, but to repot it into better soil. When I hear you say "rootball" make sure you remove as much of the old soil as possible - 100% if you can do so without stressing the roots. Do not wash the roots with water - just remove as much of the old soil as possible with a chop stick. Then repot into good soil that is at least 90% inorganic (you can toss in some pine bark if you want).

Wait until your spring to see how the tree responds with candle growth. Most of the refinement work on JBP can only be done successfully if the tree is strong and growing aggressively. Until then, do not prune anything, and do not pluck any needles.

That is more or less what I did, but I didn't remove all the soil alot of it fall of when I started to teasing the roots to put it in the pot. I think there is probably 30% field soil and 70% the new bonsai mix that i made (80% inorganic 20% sifted pine bark).

I've had best success by shaking off as much field soil as possible. Scrape off if it's heavy clay but don't wash the roots clean. Some remaining soil is Ok and may even be good.
Transplant to good bonsai mix.
I know some people get good survival leaving all the field soil on the roots but you will need to monitor water really well as garden soil/ field soil does not drain or dry as quick as potting soil.

Leave the top largely alone. It appears either the tree has not been in the ground very long or it has been regularly pruned to maintain shape. Either way there's not too much top growth.
Intact growing tips seem to be the key to pine transplant survival. Cut all the branches and chance of surviving diminishes. The trees I dig here have long sacrifice branches which I reduce to maintain balance and redirect growth to the lower branches but leaving plenty of intact terminal buds seems to help with survival. With your tree I guess you could safely remove around 1/3 if you can see any redundant branches but definitely not 1/3 off all branches.

Keep it in moderate shade for a few weeks. My transplants go straight into full spring sun but full sun in one place can be very different to full sun in another part of the world. 5 hours is probably good.

No other work for the first full year. I don't even count my pine and juniper transplants as successful until after mid summer. Most transplants will grow new shoots in spring but may not have roots to support the growth and then die soon after. By mid summer you'll have good idea of success but new roots are still developing so no other work for 1w2 months to allow good root growth.

Everywhere i see people saying to NEVER bare root conifers, so i tried to preserve most of the root ball, fortunately it fell apart while teasing the roots, so just the core stayed, and i think if I tried to remove it i would break apart the capillary roots closer to the trunk.

It has been pruned, I bought it from a local private grower, an old really nice guy that mostly plant trees in the field to select some for his collection and sell the plants he don't need. I was told this JBP was at least 15 years on the field, but it was shaded by other trees that were cut 2 years ago. I will post a picture of the trunk to give more notion of the trunk thickness and where the sacrificial branch was pruned.

And also some of the trees from this private collector.