Strange JBP Candles

[DrBonsai]

Started de-candling a small JBP and noticed most of the candles are strange/deformed .
I have had the tree about 9 years and this is the first time I have noticed this behavior.
I read somewhere that it may be adelgids but I am not sure.
Looking for other opinions.

 

[DrBonsai]

Any ideas ?

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Yes. In low humidity the sheaths can stay too strong and not drop off when the needles expand. This will cause the needles to curl up, like blowing up a balloon with a rope around it.

Could be that the sheaths are too lignified for some reason. But I'm not sure what causes it. Usually I see this in just a bunch of shoots, and not all over the entire plant.

 

[DrBonsai]

It's also perplexing that it was only this JBP . I have at least 10 others that did not suffer this
condition. In the Midwest, we did have a bit of a drought, but the trees were watered daily.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I have seen this occasionally, but only on weaker trees and/or weaker shoots. If the tree is super healthy and super strong, it doesn't seem to happen.

I wonder if your tree is strong enough to decandle? Decandling is a very stressful procedure, even for black or red pines, and you should only do it if your tree is very strong.