My little JBP seedling isn't doing well...halp please

[gina1]

Location Tokyo Japan
Kept on the veranda on a wire rack. The veranda gets half day of sun when the sun is out, it's been cloudy for a few days.
Misted 2x a day to keep the soil moist but not dry
Sitting in the soil that came with the kit.
Seems to have stopped growing and getting wilty/soft, although still green.

Brought inside at night.

Senpai san, please help, What's wrong with little MiyaKi-kun! Does he need food? More water or sun? A better informed caretaker most likely.

どうぞよろしくお願いします！

 

[Wulfskaar]

Give it sun and only water when the soil is drying out.

Mine were worse, and when I put them outside in sun, they came back strong.

 

[gina1]

Thank you for your reply.

Should I mist it with the spray bottle or really give it a good gulp of water? I thought I was supposed to keep it sorta moist but not really wet. So every night when I bring him in the soil is dry and he gets a little misting.

The sun is supposed to be out today, but not until later. This back veranda only gets sun until noon. Should I move him to the front door? That will get afternoon sun.

How much sun does he need? It's going to be hard to get all day sun here unless I'm home and can move his pot.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Welcome to the site!

Make sure you check out some of the threads from a recent contest we had where people had to grow JBP from seed. There is a lot of good information, as well as detailed photos:

Thread 'Ryceman3's 6yr JBP Contest Entry'

Jun 25, 2018

And so it begins ... well, for me anyway. Being from the Southern Hemisphere I am patiently waiting for July 1, and have spent the past month or more looking for JBP seeds to work with. They are not so plentiful in this part of the world, and our quarantine laws make importing seed from overseas a no-go zone, so it took a bit of extra effort but I have come up with some.

I managed to get a few from 3 sources.

A local eBay site had the cultivar JBP "Thunderhead", which I think may not be as good for shohin as the growth (from all reports) is a bit coarse - but since this was all I could...

• Ryceman3
• Replies: 161
• Forum: The 2018 Six Year Japanese Black Pine Contest

• 

 

[Wulfskaar]

Thank you for your reply.

Should I mist it with the spray bottle or really give it a good gulp of water? I thought I was supposed to keep it sorta moist but not really wet. So every night when I bring him in the soil is dry and he gets a little misting.

The sun is supposed to be out today, but not until later. This back veranda only gets sun until noon. Should I move him to the front door? That will get afternoon sun.

How much sun does he need? It's going to be hard to get all day sun here unless I'm home and can move his pot.

For watering, I would just give it a good gulp so the water drains down to the roots. Misting might give fungus a chance to grow, which you don't want.

I think for a tiny seedling, morning sun should be fine. JBP does want more sun though. All-day sun would be best.

Bonsai Nut's comment above is good. There are many threads to see JBP grown from seed and developed very nicely.

Here is mine, when I started out exactly like you, asking the same questions! Keep in mind that I made a few mistakes, but my trees still live!
https://www.bonsainut.com/threads/damping-off.46132/

 

[gina1]

Thank you, good info. I think I'll give miyaki-kun a nice drink of water later.

 

[Daniel son STL]

I’ve never brought a jbp inside. Seedling or not, they get covered in snow for a week at a time. Pines love the cold

 

[Shibui]

Does the pot have drain holes to let water run out? Extremely difficult to manage soil moisture without holes in the bottom of the pot.
It is better without a tray under the pot or at least make sure the water runs out before putting the pot back on the tray.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Indeed leave outside 24 hours a day. Keep damp not wet. Damp off is a bad killer of new seedlings. Also would not suggest watering foliage