Scott Pine, when to cut for back budding

[allbato]

Hello,

I like to narrow down. The timing to cut back Scott pine to produce back budding.
I don't have enough years of experiences to rely on, so I'll ask the community.

The tree is currently pushing next years buds:


it's healthy, well feed and balanced:


The tree was cut back and styled in November 2019:

repoted in 2021 --> let grow in 2022 --> In 2023 I lightly cut back some candle tip around this time of year to see it reaction.
It did generate some back bud nothing out of the ordinary, by this I mean, if I let the tree grow I suspect, I would have add the same amount of adventitious bud as if I didn't cut back.

I'm looking to get a strong reaction from the tree to try to get bud on older wood.

Based on Peter Warren video, he mention cutting back to "6 pair of needle" the current year grow when the next year buds appear to not waste any energy :

Is it the right time to do it or should I wait longer (end of July, start of August)
I know climate change a lot from place to place and so growing season, I'm based near London UK.

If anyone can help me?
Cheers

 

[ShimpakuBonsai]

There is a care sheet available in the resource section of this forum.
Link: https://www.bonsainut.com/resources/pinus-sylvestris-care-cheat-sheet-care-guide.50/

 

[allbato]

Thanks you that's exactly what I was looking for.

 

[Glaucus]

Probably early to mid august. Late August in climates with a longer growing season. But it depends on how it actually looks right now. And where you want it to backbud. It already needs to be healthy. And current real candles that are now shoots need to pump it full of sugars during most of the summer.
Then you come in and prune leaving enough time for new growth before dormancy happens.

You either prune current candles to juist a bunch of needles. Or you cut back into last years's growth, assuming those needles are still there. If you cut into last years needles, you get most of the backbudding near that cut site.
Alternatively, you just reduce the number of candles to two, leaving these and their tips unpruned, and needle pluck it. Both old and newer needles. Then one hopes that the strength of the growth, the intact shoots, the sun hitting the now unshaded old branching results in backbudding. With this method, it won't be able to backbud on or near the new candle/shoot. Because these are either completely gone, or completely intact. This method tries to get the tree so healthy, so vigorous, but unable to use that energy for growth on the current candles. And because the old wood is unshaded, you hope it spontaneously backbuds there.

 

[penumbra]

Thanks for this timely info and for the link to the care guide..

 

[Paradox]

Agree with early to mid August

 

[clem]

Is there here a specialist of scotts pines or someone who has a lot of scotts pines and made the cuts to compare ?
I'd like to know if there is a difference in term of result (the number and size of the new back buds) when we cut back in the end of June, or in the end of July, or in the end of august, or in the end of September ?

In theorie, logically, if you cut back later, for example in september, the tree has more time to produce photosynthesis, so the tree has more energy, and consequently the result is better (more buds)..

There is another way to get back budding : it is removing the old needles and keeping this year's needles and buds. This way, the tree keeps strong, the terminal buds attract a lot fo sap in the branches, the sun light enters inside the tree and the back budding happens naturally.

 

[TomB]

I have had better results cutting in early August than in July (even though next year’s buds are visible in July). I’ve never left it later than August. Southeast England climate.