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Candle must still be green. To break a candle grasp with the tips of your fingers and pinch until the candle breaks. We want to develop these so that they taper from larger (at the trunk) to small (near the tip). Removing part, but not all, of a spring shoot. Because you want two branches that are opposite each other you might choose to keep the buds shown to the right. Youll need to need to replenish it every couple of months. To do this we develop larger secondary branches near the trunk and smaller ones near the tip. Not long after the candles appear pine cones and pollen sacs may appear, growing at the base of the candle. During the Refinement Phase, when we are growing more compact branches we can speed up the development process if the tree can produce a second set of candles (new growth) instead of just one. When grown as a landscape plant the needles of either tree may be 4 inches long. These buds are pretty rare and theres not a lot you can do to stimulate more to develop. Copyright 2001- 2022 by Kusamura Bonsai Club, Palo Alto, California. Trees in Development Phase should be left alone except for minor pruning to remove small branches you know you wont use, like branches coming out of the bottom of a branch or growing within the crotch of two branches. Cutting, breaking or removing spring growth before the spring needles emerge. It will be easier to do if you have thinned needles first. 8-10 needle pairs on the bottom of the tree, 6-8 needle pairs in the middle of the tree. Once the candles are fully open you have about 3 weeks to complete your pruning. If you have a Black or Red Pine, both Dual Flush Pines, there is an alternative method that may be applied. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Because pines are evergreen they produce sugar year round and dont store it in their roots during dormant season like a maple or other deciduous trees. For pine trees that means slowing down the growth on each branch when it is at the correct size. It is easy to distinguish between the two varieties by looking at the number of needles within each bundle technically called a fascicle. After the weather has turned cool it is time to remove old needles early-December is a good time. more than 90-degrees, it releases very quickly we recommend removing half or more of the Osmocote from the top of your soil. The female cones are generally located near the top of the tree but the pollen sacs are usually lower reducing the chance of self-pollination. Younger trees grow faster than older trees so you may need to repot every year or two initially, but only ever three to five years after the tree is mature. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. If the strong buds were on opposite sides of the branch wed use them, but in this case it makes sense to remove them. Black pine needles start off soft in spring and become very sharp in summer. For many years weve recommended pulling needles one-by-one, leaving the sheath the gray covering that is found at the base of the needle pairs. See Autumn section later. See Mycorrhiza Basics for more information. See Pest and Fungus Control Basics for more details. Candles on the tips of the branches receive more sun than candles closer to the trunk and be stronger than those that are partially shaded. In the past we would pull / pluck one needle at a time gently so that the sheath remained on the tree. Buds on a pine tree grow in three different places and each has different characteristics and names. Its a bit complicated so not described here. And they will be shorter than the original candle. Two weeks after youve cut candles you should see new buds growing at the base of the shortest stubs. Producing cones or pollen takes energy and so we remove both. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. But sometimes you have needles you cant get to with scissors so you use tweezers to reach in and pull one needle at a time. Do the same for candles that are inside the tree (partially shaded). Needles take a couple more weeks to grow to their full length. Let these trees grow until the trunk reaches the desired size before decandling. You can opt-out if you wish. The tasks described below apply to all pines. The next phase of work is to identify which buds you want to develop into new candles. This is easier if you use tweezers, especially deep inside a tree. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Move your trees where theyll get full sun in the morning but filtered sun after noon. Branches coming out of the trunk are primary branches. There are also some Pine-specific Pest Control you may need to follow. You may want to wear gloves because you will get sap on your fingers. Later in this phase the focus is on removing branches that are in the wrong place and fatting up the ones you want to use. This gives a head-start to new candles on parts of the tree that were weak. You can help buds grow bigger by making sure the tree is well fertilized after new buds appear. See De-Candling Dual Flush Pines at end of article for details. Cut candles on upper branches so that the stub remaining is between 1 to 1.5 times as long as the diameter of the candle. But there are a couple more things you should check first: We recommend cutting all candles at the same time but to vary the length of the stub being left. Well describe techniques that will shorten branches and needles. Candles will begin growing a bit later at the base of longer stubs thats by design. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Needle buds form inside the gray sheath that wraps around the base of the needles. Cutting the candle will force new buds to form at the base of the old candle. Weve still have two buds that are opposite each other and similar size so well use those and remove the remaining one. Pines that need to be repotted and are very healthy can be repotted before candles come out, generally mid-March to early-April. When the weather is hot, e.g. Pines dont produce flowers but they produce seeds located inside the female pine cones and male pollen sacs that open to release pollen that will float with the wind to fertilize nearby cones. Is it difficult to push a chopstick into the top of the soil? Heres a good rule of thumb for very healthy trees. Longer stubs will take longer to die back which means that when new buds form at the base of the candle they will start growing (aka pushing) several days later than on shorter stubs. It begins with what we call a candle. Only if the tree is strong. In November remove all high nitrogen fertilizer pellets and replace with low nitrogen variety, 0-10-10. However, this is only applicable to very healthy dual flush pines black and red pines. Because these dont release fertilizer from the resin coated pellets until the weather is warmer, we also recommend applying a liquid fertilizer like Miracid at quarter strength every week or two . Because each new candle becomes a branch next year we need to short candles this year. Rain and overhead watering can spread the fungus to new needles. Japanese Black and Red pines are the most common examples of dual flush pines. Stubs that are different lengths die back at different rates. This distinction between single and dual flush only matters during Spring while Controlling Growth. There may be several new buds, but youll remove all unneeded buds. If its starting to turn light brown / gray, youve waited too late. Candles that are already very small (e.g. Look at the figure below. If you decide to pull needles, it is important to pull one needle at a time to minimize damage to the bark and any buds that may be hidden. Our goal is to keep branches short enough that they look in scale to the trees height. Longer candles should be broken so that they are similar in length to the 1 to 2-inch candles. Youll have to wait until next year. All Rights Reserved. Double flush pines also produce one flush per year, but can be stimulated to produce a second annual flush of growth. (Details), Kusamura Bonsai Club is affiliated with the Golden State Bonsai Federation |Privacy Policy, John and Sandy Planting 50+ Years of Bonsai, Needles are the same color as black pines but arent as sharp or as long. And if you remove too much you may even kill the tree. It is very large and strong compared to the other types of buds. White pine needles are usually soft if you press against the tip of the needle. For branches that are closer to the trunk (and so get less sunlight) leave an additional 2-3 pairs of needles. InJanuarytake a look at your plant again. The easiest to use is Osmocote 19-6-12 timed release fertilizer pellets. The two most common types of pines used in bonsai are Black pine and White pine. Unsubscribe at any time. This is known as the terminal bud. Tweezers can be used to move adjacent needles out of the way so you can more easily cut the needles. Cut candles on middle branches so that the remaining stub is about the same as the diameter of the candle. Any significant pruning should take place in autumn. But over 90 degrees and there is a risk of drying out and sun burn. You may cut them off using sharp scissors, or gently twist them off. Each candle is different but hopefully these examples will help you decide how to choose the buds to use and the ones to remove. Pines that are native to mountains, such as white pines, may do better with less heat. Secondary branches, aka lateral branches, should alternate from side-to-side and not be directly across from each other, aka bar-branches. By removing needles we are promoting extra sunlight inside the tree. By adjusting the size of the stub left after cutting we can slow down stronger candles and allow weaker ones to become stronger resulting in more balanced growth. The goal is to have two horizontal branches, so if there are more than two buds youd pick two and remove the rest. We recommend adding 1-2 tablespoons bone meal to the soil when repotting. These instructions only apply to trees that are in Refinement Phase. If otherwise healthy pine bonsai have not received adequate fertilizer in spring or have been weakened from stresses like repotting or inclement weather, take a break this year and decandle the following year when the tree is stronger. Because pines grow more vigorously at the top of the plant and on the ends of the branches, we balance the growth by leaving different numbers of needles on different parts of the tree. Developing Yaupon holly bonsai a tale of when not to cut . This green stalk grows longer over a couple of weeks. This can help buds which havent opened yet to do so next year. One technique for balancing vigor in pine bonsai involves the reduction of spring candles as they are elongating. Decandling is stressful for pines only decandle trees that are healthy, vigorous and insect-free. Leave them alone. Black pines are popular as bonsai but they are more complex to care for than junipers or deciduous trees, like maple or elm. Like other bonsai, pine branches should look like a diamond or arrow shape when viewed from above. So, while thinning needles remove more needles at the top than the bottom. Heres a couple of easy ways to tell if its time. Black pines use the conifer mix described in theSoil Basicspage. The wood in pine trees are very springy, so if you are making major bends the wire will need to remain on for 3 to 6 months. Candles can vary a lot in in length. This is also the time to develop good surface roots. Make sure that you make your cuts perpendicular cutting a candle on a slant means dormant buds at the base will get an uneven start. They are more likely on branches that receive a lot of sunlight and thats one of the reasons we remove old needles more sunlight reaching inside the tree will stimulate these buds to appear. They can appear almost anywhere on the branch. Old needles are more susceptible to attack by fungus. The basic way we do this is to control how long each new branch will be via pruning and removing unnecessary branches. Pines can hold their needles for three or four years, but it is important to remove older ones for a couple of reasons. If you are trying to fatten up the branch you want to let this bud grow. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It supplies nutrients not found in bonsai soil which is mostly inert. How do you know that your pine needs to be repotted this year? The shortest candles should be left alone. Now were changing our recommendation cut needles on all types of pines. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. These are less commonly used as bonsai, but occasionally you see one of these varieties. Most trees put out new growth continuously from spring to summer. Heres how this works and why we care. 1/4-inch long or hidden inside the tree) shouldnt be cut. Heres how to choose which to keep and which to cut off. To accomplish this the tree will be allowed to grow wild (a bit) and bulk up. During this phase the focus is on developing a good size trunk with good taper and the lower part of the trunk flaring out to meet the roots. Reducing spring growth by half or some other percentage can be used to address vigor in pine bonsai, but produces different results from decandling. Once you have had a couple of years experience pines can be very satisfying to work on. You may need to spray. In the Palo Alto area this is typically between mid-June to early-July depending on the weather that year. Pine trees grow more strongly at thetopof the tree, so candles at the top will always be longer than the candles at the bottom of the tree. There may be just a few pollen sacs or more than a dozen. At the base is a sheath the short, light gray wrapper at the base of the cluster of needles. Now look at whats left. But, you want the new branches to be of equal strength. Remove wire before new buds appear in late-summer to early-autumn. When a tree is unhealthy. Heres how to distinguish them: Recently bonsai people have been categorizing pines as single flush or dual flush. Let the tree grow instead. Black pines have two needles per sheath vs. five needles for a white pine. If you pulled too hard the sheath would come off too so now the preferred technique is to cut the needles off just above the sheath. If you prune away green growth at the same time you repot you are depriving your tree of the ability to recover as quickly. In this case the ones on the top left and right are the obvious choice to keep. After a short time the sap on the top of the candle will dry out and Stages 2 and 3 of Candle Development will occur. Most new candles will be longer than we wan but there are ways to shorten this years candle before it becomes next years branch. Black pine needles are bright grass green in color vs. slightly blue-green for white pines. Only then will you use the following techniques to refine branches. Most pines only have a single flush of growth each year so pines take longer to recover from mistakes. It is also important to collect some mycorrhiza from the old potting soil and include it to the new soil. There are a few cases to consider. There are a couple of techniques to preserve any buds that may be hiding inside the sheath. Do not do the steps described in the next section Breaking Candles to Control Growth. We won't send you spam. Warm weather, up to 90 degrees, is great for black and most pine trees. On any species of pine you can break the candle. To achieve a shape like this we need to be able to control the number and size of each branchlet both the diameter and length. The best time to do major pruning and wiring is between November and January. On this tree the two largest buds are on the bottom. These often are yellow in color. Keeping trees well watered should minimize infestation. Decandling involves the complete removal of given spring shoots. In that time the tree may grow substantially so its important not to wire too tightly. Are roots coming out the bottom drain holes? What does that mean and how does it affect how you work on pines? Cut candles on Lower branches so that the remains stub is about 1/2 the diameter of the candle. But if there is a bud within the sheath you can certainly remove it accidentally as you remove old needles. New buds begin appearing late summer and develop further throughout autumn before slowing down in winter. The exception was on Cork Bark Black Pines which are more fragile. After a few days later bumps appear on the surface and after a few more days those turn into needles. The following technique may be used to get even shorter candles than by breaking them. Adventitious buds are those that form on the surface of the branch away from the tip. New growth needs nitrogen, so we recommend a high nitrogen fertilizer be applied beginning in late-February or early-March. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. Pulling needles were more likely to pull the sheath off the branch and so we recommended cute just above the sheath. Weak trees should only have candles cut every other year. Is the plant pushing itself up out of the pot? You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Pine trees are different they only produce one or two sets of growth each year. We may also substitute a secondary branch and make it become the end of the primary. As a result, the new candles will be more nearly the same size. Check your wiring in March to see that it isnt causing damage to the bark. Your scissors should be extra sharp for a clean cut. That second set of candles will be shorter helping us meet our goal of compact growth. Single flush pines dont have the energy to grow two sets of candles in a year and you may kill the entire branch if you use this technique on those pines.. Previously we were recommending pruning around June, but we now know that pruning in June results in longer growth and fewer buds developing than if we prune later. These cookies do not store any personal information. Because buds are easy to break off we recommend any fine wiring be done after buds have emerged as candles. When a tree is weak or under-fed. Cool climates (Seattle, Pacifica) late May, Moderate climates (San Francisco Bay Area) early June, Warm climates (Los Angeles, much of the Midwest) mid to late June, Hot climates (much of the South) early to mid July, Make the cut square angled cuts can yield uneven summer growth, Leave some new tissue adventitious buds sprout from new tissue; cutting into last years growth will reduce vigor and stimulate needle buds, Dont cut surrounding needles its easy to accidentally cut surrounding needles; make cuts with care, Decandling different branches at different times, Strong shoots stub length is about 2x diameter of shoot, often between 1/4 1/2, Medium shoots stub length is about 1x diameter of shoot, often between 1/8 1/4, Weak shoots stub length is about 1/2x diameter of shoot, often between 1/16 1/8, Leave no more than 10 pairs of needles per branch. This is done in spring before needles have emerged just after Stage 1 of Candle Development shown above. These buds can appear on any branch that still has a smooth surface but not once flaky bark develops around the branch. The West-Coast Monterey Pine (Pines radiata) can be dual flush if the tree is very healthy. On a bonsai we usually want them to be 1 inch or less. These techniques produce very different results from decandling and will be considered separately. And rather than a single candle we usually get multiple meaning we have more branches to use. On the tip of each branch is one bud that will be the next years new candle (growth) around which the new needles will form. That means pines take longer to style than other trees but you can achieve a great pine bonsai in a few years. Specifically, we want the stub length to vary according to the size of the candle and its location on the tree. This is also faster than pulling one at a time. Log in. Basically single flush fines have one flush of growth every year. These will turn into more than one candle so more options for us to produce fine branching. These spur root growth in newly potted trees. If youre new to bonsai we recommend waiting until you have more experience. Its easier, often faster and seems to result in more buds later. Its important that you dont do much pruning of green needles / branches while repotting. Better to wait a few months to let the buds turn into new candles and become stronger. Generally sometime in March to April pines grow new foliage. Next youll remove extra needles to help balance growth. What kind of bonsai fertilizer do you use? All trees need fertilizer all year round. Excessive needles reduce sunlight and air flow inside the tree. In spring they will develop more and become new candles. For a more complete description of Development vs Refinement Phases see Bonsai Lifecycle. Repotting causes pines, and all plants, to restart their clock and will act as though it is the beginning of growing seasons. It looks a bit like a skinny stalk of asparagus. Begin by removing old needles those from last years growth. We also want to shorten the needles so they fit the scale of the tree. We went more buds so now we recommend pruning in late autumn to early winter. If this isnt practical consider using shade cloth. All bonsai begin in what we call Development Phase. Red spider mites are a problem for pines when the heat gets too high. During Refinement Phase the focus is on removing branches that are in the wrong place and fatting up the ones you want to use. Some may be 1 to 2-inches, some may be 6-inches+, and some will only be 1/4-inch. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. Cut this years new candles as soon as the candle is open and needles on the candle are fully pen and spread Stage 3 of Candle Development in the figure above. But its a bit more complicated than that. The branch could be rotated by wiring it at this stage it is easy to break off buds. When the goal of training is to increase the size of the trunk. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Also, extra airflow can help reduce fungus growth. You should not be pruning your tree if the trunk is still being developed. You may want to remove a couple more pairs of needles on branches that look like they are growing more rapidly than the others. Bjorn Bjorholm says that the East-Coast Pitch Pine (Pinus rigia) may be a dual flush but hes not certain yet. The Osmocote package says that it is good for about 6 months, but in reality it doesnt last more than a couple of months when used on bonsai because we water so frequently. Also, weve found the Osmocote releases at different rates depending on the temperature. Only cut candles if the needles are bright green and free of insects.

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