JBP & Winter

[Bnsi_Trooper]

Greetings fellow Bonsai brethren,

So we’re entering Winter season and Im getting ready to prune/ pinch the needles to make room for the new growth. I have 2 5 year old and about 8 2 year old JBP. Can someone point me in the right direction and tell me if Should I remove all of the needles down to the new buds or leave a few pairs on there. Any help/ advice would be greatly welcomed.

Thank you

 

[Shibui]

Where and when to remove needles depends what stage your tree is at. I only needle pull trees that are well ramified and ready to develop secondary and tertiary branching. The first couple of trees MAY be at that stage but the starters in the last 2 photos still have a long way to go and need all the needles they have for growth and for when you decide to prune to get back budding and new shoots.
Far too many beginners pull valuable needles way too early and then find they are stuck with long, bare branches. Retaining some needles is the key to being able to chop back to get new branching where needed.

Have you started on candle cutting program in early summer with any of these yet? Needle pulling and candle cutting are 2 related sides of pine ramification and maintenance so I don't do one without the other except where I'm clearing needles from sacrifice branches to allow light into important lower branches.

 

[Bnsi_Trooper]

Where and when to remove needles depends what stage your tree is at. I only needle pull trees that are well ramified and ready to develop secondary and tertiary branching. The first couple of trees MAY be at that stage but the starters in the last 2 photos still have a long way to go and need all the needles they have for growth and for when you decide to prune to get back budding and new shoots.
Far too many beginners pull valuable needles way too early and then find they are stuck with long, bare branches. Retaining some needles is the key to being able to chop back to get new branching where needed.

Have you started on candle cutting program in early summer with any of these yet? Needle pulling and candle cutting are 2 related sides of pine ramification and maintenance so I don't do one without the other except where I'm clearing needles from sacrifice branches to allow light into important lower branches.

So keep all the needles on the starter jbp??
I started candle cutting on the more mature ones and they have back budded. The more mature ones do look like they need some cleaning up to do for sun to hit the buds. Should I needle pull back to the bare bud?

 

[Shibui]

I would keep all the needles on those starters.

I'm looking close for evidence of candle cutting on the more mature trees but all the buds and shoots I can see are strong with long needles. I can't see any clusters of small, second flush shoots or short needles that form after I candle cut here so not sure what you've done or when.
Those trees look like they are ready to remove some of the needles and begin proper decandling but the photos don't show enough detail to advise which areas to thin. I would probably remove some from stronger shoots to try to equalise energy. Try to keep the same number of needles on each shoot. Also leave any needles where you think you may want new buds to grow.

 

[FreshAirSunshine]

I’m not sure you should ever be removing ALL needles down to the new buds… usually I hear guidance on leaving 8-10 pairs from this year or something. Removing old needles is a different thing.

 

[Charlo]

Jonas Dupuich from Bonsai Tonight just put out some basics work for black and red pine. It has pictures and good instructions on what to do. You can check out Bonsai Tonight or here is the link https://bonsaitonight.com/2025/01/04/fall-work-basics-black-and-red-pine/

 

[Bnsi_Trooper]

I decided to needle pick one tree. Here is a close up of the other tree. LMK what you guys think
(First 4 pics are same tree. Last 2 pics is a different tree

 

[Bnsi_Trooper]

I decided to needle pick one tree. Here is a close up of the other tree. LMK what you guys think
(First 4 pics are same tree. Last 2 pics is a different tree

@Shibui

 

[Shibui]

It's hard to get a good look in 2D photos. All the different shoots blend into each other in the pictures.
You are aiming for the same number of needle pairs on each shoot, maybe a few more on weaker shoots so that each shoot now collects the same amount of energy from sunshine. Doing that means the following spring shoots should be a little more even in strength. Doing this over a few years should make each branch grow equally instead of the usual some really strong and some weaker.
Next task in this process is decandling in early summer.