How can I improve the chances this Ponderosa Yamadori will survive?

[Orion_metalhead]

When the needles stop extending and begin to develop a base cuticle. They will appear waxy, instead of matte.

 

[MaciekA]

In addition to the waxy character they may physically feel stiffer, more sharply-poking at the ends, have a deeper color closer to mature needles.

 

[Potawatomi13]

I was pretty sure that removing it was the best idea since it had already been shot at a bunch (or so I assume). Here is where I removed it from, facing the pit from the tree.

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And a closeup of the ground, which was representative of the whole area.

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When you suggest foliar feeding, can you provide any guidance as to the best type of fertilizer for this purpose? Glad to hear from someone with Pondo-specific experience.

Personally use full strength HB101 and 1/2 strength 20-20-20 fertilizer mixed, applied with spray bottle. Used on all trees in need. If using only one would take HB101 by itself.

 

[bonsaiDerek]

This is my first post to this forum and this is my first yamadori or bonsai experience. I have collected some yardadori saplings from my yard, but they have been volunteer elm and maple saplings/seedlings. Many have survived, but not all of them and they are not in bonsai soil, nor wired into training pots or styled at all other than initial cleaning. I am mostly just going to let them grow for a while longer.

Moving onto my first yamadori:

Collected 3 weeks ago in the Cascade range at about 5000 ft elevation. I am on the Eastern side of the mountains, right were the landscape changes to High Desert scrub and Juniper. I have read websites and watched videos for a couple of years now so I thought I knew what I was doing. Apparently not so much.


I got a permit from the forest service and drove up into the mountains a little bit. I ended up finding this beat up Ponderosa Pine in a cinder pit, surrounded by broken glass, trash and a shot up, burnt out car. I am fairly certain that the main trunk was removed by shooting at it.

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Unfortunately, the digging didn’t go so well and I didn't get a root ball--either I did not dig deep enough or my technique was bad. As you can see in the images, it was growing in cinder.

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As I was digging, what I thought of as the root ball kept falling away. By that point I was invested, so I tried to salvage the situation.

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What roots it had I got wet, put into a 5 gallon bucket wrapped in a wet towel with some of the cinder soil. Once I got it home, I made my next mistake and mixed the cinder with some of my garden soil, thinking that would help keep what roots I had protected. I thought I knew better, but my brain was not quite tracking correctly.

The next day, based on a suggestion from the reddit bonsai community I repotted it into straight pumice. I wired/tied it in after the fact--apparently I had forgotten everything I had read or watched up to this point. It has been sitting in full sun ever since (but I have watered it whenever the pumice is almost dry at the roots) but now I am questioning that decision after reading on here about other's misting regimes.

Now it is starting to get yellow needles, it is also putting out candles.


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Things I have learned so far:

• Just because I have read about it doesn't mean I know it (lol).
• Digging in straight cinder is not easy, and root balls do not seem to hold together in that medium.
  • I might be wrong about the second section.
• Be prepared with everything you might need before collecting.
  • I did not have a plan, other than collect a tree that day.
  • I did not have pumice or bonsai soil on hand
  • I did not pre-wire the pot and only realized how unstable it was after the fact.
• Post-care is a whole subject that I barely scratched the surface of.

Questions (so far):

• Should I move it into a space that gets a bit less sun?
  • It is starting to get hot here, and our spring rains are starting to fade out.
  • I can move it under the eaves of the south facing wall of the house, where it will get shade from the apple tree in the afternoon.
  • I can move it a bit more under the sand cherry it is in front of in the picture, where it will be a more dappled shade but still get direct morning and late afternoon sun.
• How often should it be misted? I do not have any way to set it up on a timer, but can figure that out if the BonsaiNut experts say that is best.

Any suggestions appreciated. Flame me if necessary, as long as I can learn something from it.

how's this tree doing now? just curious

 

[PonderingSage:]

I

This is the best, but you have to be crazy lucky to find it.

I would say keep walking until you find this.
My experience is that unless you lift basically the entire root-mass you chances are slim. Exploring the wild spaces and connecting to nature is the real reason to be out there…not that l have to tell you this
You can spend the entire day looking and collect just one tree.
Have you looked for juniper?… now is the time.

 

[PonderingSage:]

Youtube an old collecting video from Andy Smith. somebody bootlegged it…its a bit outdated info but good to get the basics

 

[I_I_am_not_a_cat]

how's this tree doing now? just curious

Seems to be doing well, except I am worried that some of the needles are turning brown.

It is pushing new needles, so that is encouraging.

 

[bonsaiDerek]

Seems to be doing well, except I am worried that some of the needles are turning brown.

It is pushing new needles, so that is encouraging.


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its over a year in a pot now right?
do you mist it?
shade or full sun?

 

[I_I_am_not_a_cat]

its over a year in a pot now right?
do you mist it?
shade or full sun?

Just shy of 1 year in a pot--end of this month.

It was in full sun over the winter, but I recently moved it back into partial sun once I noticed the brown needles. I mist it every few days, but more frequently now that the days are getting hotter.

 

[I_I_am_not_a_cat]

I

I would say keep walking until you find this.
My experience is that unless you lift basically the entire root-mass you chances are slim. Exploring the wild spaces and connecting to nature is the real reason to be out there…not that l have to tell you this
You can spend the entire day looking and collect just one tree.
Have you looked for juniper?… now is the time.

Youtube an old collecting video from Andy Smith. somebody bootlegged it…its a bit outdated info but good to get the basics

I collected my first juniper just the other day--it came out with a decent amount of roots, but did have a few larger ones that needed to be cut as they anchored into cracks in the stone.

It is not the greatest material, but I need to practice collecting and making sure I can keep a juniper alive.

Once it is established I hope to cut it back to the lowest branch, which has some good movement.

 

[bonsaiDerek]

i think your ponderosa is going to make it...... btw, your dog looks so cute in those goggles

 

[Potawatomi13]

Needles are not "huddling". That is a good sign of good osmotic pressure needed for survival

 

[bonsaiDerek]

Needles are not "huddling". That is a good sign of good osmotic pressure needed for survival

please explain needles huddling

 

[I_I_am_not_a_cat]

please explain needles huddling

I think I am seeing an example right now in a collected pine--the needles are closer together and huddled against the branch, instead of spreading out to reach for the most sun.