My Video on Japanese Black Pine Seasonal Care

[BenBSeattle]

I've packed a ton of info on this video. It's a 17 month long journey on how I care for Japanese Black Pine Bonsai.

In the video I cover the following topics:

1. Compacting leggy growth
2. Balance energy distribution
3. Create ramification
4. Needle Pluck
5. Develop smaller needles
6. Fertilize
7. When to work on your JBP
8. Candle Pinch
9. How to decandle your JBP
10. and Branch selections

 

[DonovanC]

Already watched it
I don’t have any pines, but I do enjoy your videos.

 

[Shogun610]

Haha I already commented on your YouTube. I enjoy your videos , very informative and entertaining.

 

[Mapleminx]

love it!

 

[Adair M]

Nice job!

 

[Mayank]

I've packed a ton of info on this video. It's a 17 month long journey on how I care for Japanese Black Pine Bonsai.

In the video I cover the following topics:

1. Compacting leggy growth
2. Balance energy distribution
3. Create ramification
4. Needle Pluck
5. Develop smaller needles
6. Fertilize
7. When to work on your JBP
8. Candle Pinch
9. How to decandle your JBP
10. and Branch selections

Started watching, still have to get through. Just wanted to say that the work and effort you put in is much appreciated!

 

[casun]

I watched this video a couple of days ago before seeing this thread. Very enjoyable and informative. Thanks.

 

[MrWunderful]

@BenBSeattle great video. Condensing multiple seasons into one video was really refreshing, and I appreciate the effort you put into it. Im sure it was a ton of work. The hyper lapses of other things you were doing in between was a nice break from the information. Awesome

 

[PieterVE]

Love your video's

 

[A. Gorilla]

You are lucky Adair is in a good mood.

 

[Adair M]

You are lucky Adair is in a good mood.

Sure, he does a few things a little differently than I do, but overall, his approach is very similar to what I do.

He’s taken a lot of time to video his method, and splice it all together into a coherent guide. I could never do that. I think his video was very well done, and effective.

 

[michang05]

Hello Ben,

I think I made a comment out of your youtubeVid regarding some of your videos.

i'm currently taking care of two JBP (~15yr old and ~4yr old) , I'm currently living in the Philippines and our seasons are said to be wet and dry, i wanted to map your yearly schedule but can't figure out on our country , hope you could help me with this.

*Still learning about decandling, buds, half pruning, etc.

 

[Lazylightningny]

@BenBSeattle Great job. Very informative. So do you generally follow Ryan's methodology?
I generally follow Bjorn's methodology, which varies only slightly from your own.
@Adair M Knowing you are a Boon guy, what do you do differently from Ben, and why?

 

[Adair M]

@BenBSeattle Great job. Very informative. So do you generally follow Ryan's methodology?
I generally follow Bjorn's methodology, which varies only slightly from your own.
@Adair M Knowing you are a Boon guy, what do you do differently from Ben, and why?

Geez, that was 4 or 5 months ago! I don’t remember the details, I’ll have to go back and watch it again.

Most all the pros do things similarly, but with slight variations. Boon learned his method from Kamiya, so that’s the source of his methodology.

 

[Lazylightningny]

Geez, that was 4 or 5 months ago! I don’t remember the details, I’ll have to go back and watch it again.

Most all the pros do things similarly, but with slight variations. Boon learned his method from Kamiya, so that’s the source of his methodology.

Yeah the thread is a little old, but it was a good one.

One thing in particular, Ben cut all candles (strong, medium, and weak) at the same time, and he left a little stub. Bjorn teaches to stagger times, but that if you prefer to do it at the same time, to cut medium candles flush to last year's growth, cut vigorous candles leaving a small stub (the stub delays onset of new growth), and to leave weak candles alone.

Regardless of method, Ben's results were stellar, so you can't argue with results.

 

[Adair M]

There’s two methods (actually more) for decandling. One is the “all in one day” method where a bit of stub is left, the other is the “10 day method” where the weak ones are decandle, then 10 days later the medium ones are decandle, then 10 days later the strong ones are decandled.

And then, you can kind of combine the two...

And then, there’s the method of decandling back into last year’s wood, that you use if last year’s growth was too strong.

And then, there’s... well you get the idea. There’s lots and lots of techniques that can be done depending upon the tree’s unique situation.

Other factors that play onto all this is the local climate. Some people have long growing seasons, others have short growing seasons. You have to modify your technique to fit your climate.