New JBP, wobbly in the nursery pot, looking for some guidance

[boss99er]

Just picked up this young JBP and have a couple quick questions I'm hoping to get straightforward answers to. All I'm wanting to do is situate this tree to grow for a couple years. No shaping, training, etc.

I'm planning to leave this main upright branch marked in YELLOW as a sacrifice branch to keep building up the base and hopefully let those lower branchlets strengthen. The tree got knocked over in a storm the other night, and it was already a little high/wobbly in the pot, so now it really feels tipsy. I considered cutting off the branch marked in BLUE, to help eliminate some weight off to the side. Does all of this sound reasonable so far?

Next, should I just leave it in this pot as it is, or should I try to slip pot it into a larger grow bag? If so, should I try to match the organic soil, or can I just rough up the outter root ball a tiny bit and back fill around it with pumice and coco coir? Thinking 2 gallon grow bag. The current nursery pot is 1 gallon. I live in Nebraska, and it's been pretty warm here already (mid 90s), so not sure if it's safe/smart to try any kind of repotting right now, even slip potting.

This is my first JBP, and only second conifer overall, so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Let me know what you would do in my shoes.

Thanks!

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Not a good time to mess with roots or soil, so instead of slip-potting it, stake it. You could run rebar through the bottom of the pot and into the ground, and tie it off up along the sacrifice branches.

I’d recommend you keep the sacrifice branch in blue for now, and if you cut anything, cut what is above the eventual final tree, marked with a red X to ensure plenty of light is getting to that “final tree” area. If it is still wobbly, you can always pull needles in the sacrifice branches, pulling lower older ones and leaving 10-12 pairs around the new buds setting on this year’s growth. However, that is typically done in the fall and not heat of summer.

 

[boss99er]

Not a good time to mess with roots or soil, so instead of slip-potting it, stake it. You could run rebar through the bottom of the pot and into the ground, and tie it off up along the sacrifice branches.

I’d recommend you keep the sacrifice branch in blue for now, and if you cut anything, cut what is above the eventual final tree, marked with a red X to ensure plenty of light is getting to that “final tree” area. If it is still wobbly, you can always pull needles in the sacrifice branches, pulling lower older ones and leaving 10-12 pairs around the new buds setting on this year’s growth. However, that is typically done in the fall and not heat of summer.

Ahh ok, staking sounds like a great option. I think I have some orchid stakes somewhere. I'll see about finding one or two of those to firm things up until next spring.

I'm not totally sure what you're referring to when you mentioned a red x. Maybe a pic didn't attach or something? I think I kind of get what you're saying though, about thinning the needles on the sacrifice branch. I think...

 

[Shibui]

I'd go for a stake too. A couple of stakes in the pot and tie the trunk to them should stabilise the roots in the pot. If it still wants to blow or fall over the rebar option into the ground should stop that.

I can see the picture @Brian Van Fleet posted. It is thumbnail size but if you click on the pic it will open to full size.
Thinning the needles means pulling a lot off of the sacrifice branch. Less needles means it won't catch so much wind so not blow around so much. Less needles also means a bit less growth. Less needles close to the low branches also means more sun to the low branches so they will grow better.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Honestly one stake in the pot on the side where the trunk is and tie the trunk to that should be enough. I'd also let both the big center sprout and the blue branch grow for at least 3-4 years And give a bigger boost to the trunk size. You likely should put the tree in a bigger nursery or grow box container next spring and make sure tree cannot wobble in new container. The lower clump of branches is where your tree is going to come from as all other branches are too high up on a straight trunk. You also likely have some trunk below ground before reaching the root crown which will raise those lower branches higher and reveal your roots and that should determine your planting angle.

 

[boss99er]

I'd go for a stake too. A couple of stakes in the pot and tie the trunk to them should stabilise the roots in the pot. If it still wants to blow or fall over the rebar option into the ground should stop that.

I can see the picture @Brian Van Fleet posted. It is thumbnail size but if you click on the pic it will open to full size.
Thinning the needles means pulling a lot off of the sacrifice branch. Less needles means it won't catch so much wind so not blow around so much. Less needles also means a bit less growth. Less needles close to the low branches also means more sun to the low branches so they will grow better.

Ah yep, now I see his pic. Weird! I couldn't see it at all yesterday.

I kind of sandwiched this pot between a few others on my bench, so it seems pretty stable for now. I also loosely clipped the tallest branch to an orchid stake, so I'm feeling pretty good about how it's sitting at the moment.

 

[boss99er]

Just a quick update for anyone that was following this or will use it for reference in the future. I was able to just run a couple orchid stakes (see pic below) down into the pot and clip them to the top of the blue branch in the pic at the top of this thread. That was enough to give the tree plenty of stability, and it's gentle enough that I don't think the tree will mind at all. It's already looking great and showing some new growth. I'll likely leave it in the small nursery pot until next spring, then repot into a larger grow bag.

 

[vancehanna]

Cut NOTHING: Dig a double+ size hole, back fill with rough 3~4mm sand and a several hand fulls of peat and plant it. Water, feed etc. Forget about it for a year and then root prune with a sharp shooter and let grow another five years. Each fall sharp shoot the roots and cut back to a few buds and watch it develop into a 'starter' JBP ready for styling. Otherwise you'll probably end up fussing with it and killing it.
In the mean time, join a club and go to the nursery and buy a few Procumens Nana ( hard to kill) and have some fun "bonsai" that you can look at....in pots...and feel like you've got 'bonsai'...LOL

Best plan: buy a dozen or more of them and follow the above instructions.