White patches on pinus mugo

[doender]

Hi all,

I've just started bonsai as a hobby and repotted a Pinus Mugo (nursery stock) a couple of weeks ago.
The last couple of days I've been seeing white patches on the branches and on the wire (not on the needles).

I'm worried that this is some kind of mould. We've got hard tap water in my area, so I was also considering calcium deposits. As it has been very hot I've been watering and I just repotted I have been watering and misting the foliage almost every day. The soil is 50% akadama and 50% kiryu.

Anybody knows what this is and whether it could hurt the tree?

 

[BuckeyeOne]

Lichen. Good sign.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Could be resin too.
Lychen on copper wire is pretty rare.

 

[0soyoung]

Could be resin too.
Lychen on copper wire is pretty rare.

Agreed.
Pine resins seem to contain a fair amount of sulfur as it reacts with copper wire it creating copper sulfate blue.

 

[doender]

Thanks! The wire is aluminum btw

If it’s resin, will it disappear eventually? Or could I do something to remove it (as it doesn’t look great)?

 

[0soyoung]

It wears away in my experience.
Like, you probably won't see it next spring.

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce