Starting my Japanese Black Pine Journey

[Jetson1950]

I’ve away thought the JBP Bonsai’s I see are beautiful and I’ve finally got to the point of giving them a try. I am starting from scratch (2 year seedlings), but that seems to be my calling to take something from the start of its life and see the entire process of turning it into something I would be proud of. Basically, if I bought something someone else started, I wouldn’t feel it was truly my creation.

Here is one I found on line that is a vision of where I want to go with it. I don’t think I would ever be happy with one that has a trunk that looks like spaghetti. I want to see a strong looking small tree. Patients is not my strong suit, but I think I’ll enjoy the journey.



Here is what I’m starting with. I bought, what I think are three 2 year seedlings. They came bare root and I think were in seedling cones before shipment because the roots are in the shape of the little seedling cones they start them in. I potted them in 6” pots with a bonsai mix. The shortest one is 8” tall and the longest one is 12” tall



I’ve ask a few questions on other treads about them and for now I am only going to put a little movement in the trunks and that’s it until next year. I’ve been watching Eric Schraeder’s videos to get a feel of how to proceed. First question I have now is did I pot these things correctly. Looking at the bases, the first inch or so I left above the soil line looks thinner than the trunk above it. Did I pot them too high in the pot and is that actually part of the root?



Also reading about decandling, I’m still not smart enough to know what I’m doing yet, so I brought pictures. It appears there aren’t extra buds on the top other that the main bud. I see a few tiny ones, but very small. I assume I should not worry about them until next year. It appears there are very small lower branch’s starting, but I’m going to have to wait see what really grows down there as I go along.



So, if I’m right, as we get into autumn, I would be safe to wire the trunk and put a little movement into them. It will be very slight movement with the first picture above being my ideal guide of there I’m going. I think I want to have these be about 12-15” tall when they grow up. What do you think? Is there anything else I should be thinking of right now?

Thanks for any guidance you can give me. I’m quite green when it comes to Japanese Black Pines.

 

[River's Edge]

Let them grow until next fall, introduce some movement with wiring at that point. They will be very pliable and easy to wire for the next several years. The next time you repot take care to spread the roots radially, cutting some length off and any roots too high or too low. In other words selecting the best group of roots available in the best available level. I would repot in two years choosing a bit wider container at that time. Staying with a four to five inch depth in the container for now.
Decandling is for the refinement process. usually begins after a decade of development sometimes much later. Focus on learning how to water and care for pines.
Check out the articles written by Jonas Dupuich as well on developing Pines.

 

[Jetson1950]

Let them grow until next fall, introduce some movement with wiring at that point. They will be very pliable and easy to wire for the next several years. The next time you repot take care to spread the roots radially, cutting some length off and any roots too high or too low. In other words selecting the best group of roots available in the best available level. I would repot in two years choosing a bit wider container at that time. Staying with a four to five inch depth in the container for now.
Decandling is for the refinement process. usually begins after a decade of development sometimes much later. Focus on learning how to water and care for pines.
Check out the articles written by Jonas Dupuich as well on developing Pines.

Thanks! I’ve read about growing pines in flat colanders or other containers like them. Good idea or not? I’ve got some colanders that are 8” wide and 3” deep and the sides are very porous.

Guess I’ve got some time to figure out everything about candling pines.

 

[Wulfskaar]

I have found that JBP are fun because so much is known about them and they tend to react very predictably.

Check out the 5 year JBP from seed contest threads. Some people grew really nice ones in that very short amount of time.

Also, I like Eric Schraeder's JBP videos because he explains things in ways I can easily understand. He also shows how to work on young JBP, where a lot of others focus on trees that are already in the refinement stage.

https://www.youtube.com/@Bonsaify/search?query=black pine

As for the colander, it might be good in your neck of the woods since it's so humid. Just a thought.

I have several JBP, so I am going for a few different things: root-over-rock, literati, big fat trunk, small shohin.

 

[pmalelis]

It may interest you to do research on field growing in root control bags like Telperion farms used to do. Trust me your vision is a ways away , having several projects to scratch you bonsai itch my help because it sometimes is more just letting time pass than "Bonsai" involved to get to a tree in your OP

 

[River's Edge]

Thanks! I’ve read about growing pines in flat colanders or other containers like them. Good idea or not? I’ve got some colanders that are 8” wide and 3” deep and the sides are very porous.

Guess I’ve got some time to figure out everything about candling pines.

Colanders can be effective at certain stages and under certain conditions. I would suggest you are several years away from using that approach if you choose to do so! There are many effective approaches to growing Pines. You have some time to figure out what approach will work best in your climate, space and time availability. Key factors will be what options you have for growing out, what time you have for regular care and maintenance. Experienced growers can advise what works under the conditions if they know what your situation is and are familiar with your climate. I would encourage you to seek out local experienced growers of pines on the east coast. The principals will be the same but timing and consideration for Floridas climate will create substantial variation.
Best of luck with your research. Some of the best information is published and readily available in written form.

 

[Jetson1950]

I have found that JBP are fun because so much is known about them and they tend to react very predictably.

Check out the 5 year JBP from seed contest threads. Some people grew really nice ones in that very short amount of time.

Also, I like Eric Schraeder's JBP videos because he explains things in ways I can easily understand. He also shows how to work on young JBP, where a lot of others focus on trees that are already in the refinement stage.

https://www.youtube.com/@Bonsaify/search?query=black pine

As for the colander, it might be good in your neck of the woods since it's so humid. Just a thought.

I have several JBP, so I am going for a few different things: root-over-rock, literati, big fat trunk, small shohin.

It may interest you to do research on field growing in root control bags like Telperion farms used to do. Trust me your vision is a ways away , having several projects to scratch you bonsai itch my help because it sometimes is more just letting time pass than "Bonsai" involved to get to a tree in your OP

All great stuff guys. My first love are the Japanese Maples, but they may not be the best for my climate. Time will tell and I’m branching out to more options. The JBP and Atlas Cedars are looking really good for my taste.

 

[Jetson1950]

Morning everybody. Taking a look at my JBPs and I have another question. I guess as expected, they haven’t had a chance to grow much, but they seem to have accepted my initial potting and are looking healthy. One is showing bud growth a top.

My question regards back budding. Is that something I should see as it grows, or is that something you need to help force as it gets bigger?

 

[Potawatomi13]

You're learning to swim at the deep end of the pool. JBP will grow 2 or 3 flushes a year and require busy busy maintenance to keep up with trees that to me grow too fast. The plus is quick trunk development, bark development and branch development but you have to stay on top of all this growth. As for the base of your trees presently; where your root spread/nebari is at is the level where you want to plant your trees and the trunk growth will take care of itself as the tree develops. When you wire your trunks exaggerate the bend you eventually want to see because a bend in a skinny seedling trunk softens and becomes less and less apparent as the trunk thickens over the years. Best fortune Grasshopper.

 

[Wulfskaar]

@Jetson1950

Now is the time to wire. If you want smaller ones like I do, you can follow this video:

If you want to grow big trunks, then you might wire some movement in now and then let them grow. More drastic wiring will shorten the visual aspect of the trunk and bring branches lower.

As for budding, this is how I have experienced it over the last few years:

1. In spring, they will extend into candles that are several inches log.
2. In late spring/early summer, you can cut a candle if you want branching at that location. If you want a branch to extend further or want to grow a sacrifice, then don't cut.
   1. The base of the candle has buds around it.
      1. If you cut just above the base, those buds will grow. With this, you know you can get branching at that exact spot.
      2. If you cut below the base into last year's needles, needle buds will push at random places below the cut. This is good if you want branching further back down the branch towards the trunk.
   2. Considering what candles to cut or leave alone, you need to consider the goal. Do you want branching at a specific point, or would you rather have a fatter trunk, leaving it as a sacrifice? Allowing all growth up top will slow growth down low, so there may be a balancing act. On most of mine, I have chosen the route of building the structure first, then worrying about fattening the trunk later. I'm doing it this way because you can't just chop a JBP like a maple and it will backbud. On JBP, you need to develop the lower branches as you go. At least, this is how I understand it.
3. In fall, those new buds will have already extended to new branches. Choose 2 to keep and cut off the rest.
4. If all, you can also do wiring.

With yours, there is no low branching whatsoever. I would consider cutting down into this year's needles in May or June 2026. It's scary, but they will react. I've made those cuts in a cold sweat, but they grew new branches within 3 weeks.

I've found JBP to be really fun, because they react very much as expected from pruning and because they grow very fast. As we've seen in the 6 years contest, you can grow them from seed and have a bonsai in a short amount of time.