Love your videos !!! I feel like i always get a lot of good information from them. Do you plan on making a video of some general tips on how to grow from seeds ? I always wanted to grow a bunch from seeds but they dont always sprout and it seems like you have an amazing success rate with your seedlings. Thank you very much
We're almost done drying the 2021 cones for JBP from Alameda - perhaps I'll make a video about that. But, TBH, in most areas people should wait to sow them until early spring. Fall sowing works fine, but if you're in a cold area it requires much more attention and finesse. (or a greenhouse.)
This was an excellent video & planning on getting some seedlings. Would you suggest waiting till spring to order seedlings from your site as I don’t have a green house .
Well, perhaps yes. We do sell bare root in winter sometimes. You'll need to protect them eventually anyway, so consider making a small cold frame or similar protection. Depending on your climate it's sometimes as easy as just putting the pots on the ground in a wind-protected area and mulching over them.
Great content 👍 quick question.. will seedlings do better in felt pots in the ground or in the pond baskets.. my soil mix happened to be about the same as yours.. I live in sw Washington.. thanks 🙏😊
Felt pots will do some air pruning, although you have to keep them out of contact with other felt pots - e.g. if they are stacked together in a flat it doesn't work quite the same. Felt pots in the ground makes no sense to me. In my tests the JBP roots easily find a way out of the pots, so if they were in the ground it would be no different than just being in the ground without the felt pot. Pond baskets ON the ground are great, you can just pick them up every once in a while to sever roots, or you can let them run longer. Just be sure to keep them watered like a bonsai. Pond baskets IN the ground would not be particularly useful or interesting. Pond baskets off the ground, like on a bench are truely air pruning, but you'll see slower growth and I'm not sure it's the most efficient method TBH. If you're looking for great root structure, they'll help get you there, but you still need to do the root work in years 1-2 and then again as they start to bulk up. Don't be shy about correcting problems if you want a perfect root display....otherwise you're just getting to imperfect faster.
@@Bonsaify dang! Thanks for the detailed response.. my thoughts were that the stability in ground temperature and maintaining stability in moisture content would equal heavy weight gains. I am not a professional grower but I'm probably up to 200+ trees in the ground?? I feel like I have been decent with initial root structure set up as well as early trunk wiring.. I guess my intent may be to cull and keep for my self some, and the remainder sell affordably and or donate to my club BSOP..... keep up the good work 👍
You seem very knowledgeable on Japanese Black Pine. I have a question I'm not sure if you could give me your opinion. This year I successfully air layered 5 JBP shoots about 1-3 times the thickness of a pencil (last year's growth.) I've been overwintering them in an unheated garage so far where it stays above freezing. I live in Zone 6a Indiana. We had a few mild days so I had them outside, but the other day I messed up and left them outside through the night/morning while the temps. got down to around 20 degrees F. They are in individual pots and bonsai soil, and were on a bench and not the ground. My question is, in your opinion, What are the chances they would survive?
Hi Eric, in preparation for my bundle… my question is about the conical wire wrap on the roots down the road… it seems that removing the wire above ground will be easy and obvious as the tiny trunk swells, etc. But below would be hidden. Is this basically done at the 1st repot? Does that typically need to be done pretty much at the same time the upper portion of the wire needs to 🐝 removed? BTW: 4 baskets ready and one will go in the beauty of a pot I have ordered from you!! Excited!!
It does sometimes get buried in there, but I usually have no trouble getting it out within the first couple years. Even during the first summer, you can scrape some of the top soil back to expose a bit of it.
That's a good point, but generally at this age and size I wouldn't worry about chopping the roots too much. The particle size I was using around the roots and a little tapping was all I did. I'm planning a follow up for some of these videos so when the time comes I'll add these to that.
What sort of aftercare to these need upon arrival? I live in the northeast USA and if I remember February was one of the coldest months last year. My unheated garage space where I protected many of my trees got down to the low to mid 20s °F.
You would want to keep them indoors for a while - keeping the roots above 50 degrees would allow them to start growing again. You can use a seedling heat mat in your garage, and then some sort of cover and that would probably be sufficient to keep them warm until temps rise. The heat mats are on Amazon ( amzn.to/3EQIYfA )and elsewhere for reasonably cheap, get one that has a thermostat and set it to 50, or you can set it higher and encourage more growth. If you don't want to go that route, then keep them on a tray near a window in your house for a couple months. They can get cold, just not below freezing. The roots will start growing in early spring well before the top starts to elongate.
If it's just the tips yellowing that can be sun stress or a root problem but unlikely a fertilizer problem. Be sure not to over water; if you start to see yellowing at the base of the needle that's overwatering. I have seen seedlings with yellow tips (like the outer 1/4") have root infections also. Fertilizer - anything will do - in fact relying on pelleted time-release like Osmacote is the easy button. But alternating fish emulsion one week and miracle gro the next is a time-tested successful pine fertilizer option.
Great question! 🤦♂️. I had meant to include that in the video! Yes, these are all from the same parent tree - so they are as genetically close as seedlings can be. Pairs and clumps are a great use because you can get the base of the trees very close together.
I'll be getting my first batch of 1 y/o black pines probably in a couple weeks. Everything I read is like "don't even look at the roots because the tree will die and you might die too." Even during the right time of year (which I assume this is not). Anyway, should I just throw them in a nursery pot until dormancy and work on the roots then? I do have access to greenhouse if that changes anything. Why is everyone scared of pruning conifer roots? What's up with the whole micorrhiza is the only chance of survival?
1YO's can be a bit unpredictable, but generally tolerate root work well. The top issues are pathogens infecting cuts, conditions being too cold (so the greenhouse is great!) and poor aftercare. Young conifers tolerate root work fine. Old conifer bonsai are a bit more challenging, but given the right techniques are not a problem either. Good luck with your growing and your batch!
Perlite and Coco Coir are both available at Hydro shops and online. You may find them at garden centers also. We mix about 70%perlite to 30% coco coir.
@@Bonsaify I'm from Russia, and looking for how to start my bonsai journey now. I like black pines and junipers, Could you give some advice how to start and what to do so not to wait till spring?
Mostly 80% perlite / 20% coco coir. But you can use a bit more coco for many plants. The size of the particles should be 1/16" plus, no dust for pines.
Look back through our videos, there are three that I started in 2006 that I did discussion/critiques of. Here's one: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Xwhkha9qjYY.html
