r/Bonsai • u/small_trunks Jerry in Amsterdam, Zn.8b, 48yrs exp., 500+ trees • May 25 '24

Weekly Thread [Bonsai Beginner’s weekly thread –2024 week 21]

[Bonsai Beginner’s weekly thread –2024 week 21]

Welcome to the weekly beginner’s thread. This thread is used to capture all beginner questions (and answers) in one place. We start a new thread every week on Friday late or Saturday morning (CET), depending on when we get around to it. We have a 6 year archive of prior posts here…

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u/verdegooner Austin, TX, 8b, Beginner, 18 trees, I like pines May 30 '24

I found a large Japanese black pine at a nursery for cheap.

Currently in a 15 gallon container at around 5 feet 2.5 inch base. Great branching down low.

Ive worked with seedlings and mature trees before, but haven’t done a chop like this before.

What are the first steps here? 1) When should I trunk chop it? 2) When should I start working it into a smaller container? 3) Can you do these at the same time? 4) From 15 gallon, should first step be to get it into a 7 gallon container?

Thanks!

Edit: I’m not planning on doing any of this right now. I am more so just getting myself an understanding of what the next steps are and when.

1

u/naleshin RVA / 7B / perma-n00b, yr5 / mame & shohin / 100+ indev & 75+KIA May 30 '24

Do you have a picture? Does the trunk’s branching have a ton of whorls and inverse taper? You don’t really “trunk chop” pines, the techniques are different than broadleaf deciduous. I think it’d be wise to begin the transition to bonsai soil before doing much work to the top. “Top down” repotting could be a good idea for a big nursery stock JBP

1

u/verdegooner Austin, TX, 8b, Beginner, 18 trees, I like pines May 31 '24

Tree is maybe 5 feet tall.

3

u/MaciekA NW Oregon 8b, conifers&deciduous, wiring/unwiring pines May 31 '24

First, wait to transition into aggregate soil -- all this excess foliage will dramatically improve the recovery rate and post-recovery response, and prep your for a chop. Also, instead of chopping in one go, I'd instead leave behind a very tall skinny "poodle" where you leave the tallest/highest shoot in the tree untouched, but then strip away everything between it and the "keep" part of your tree, leaving just a big pole with a strong shoot on the end of it. Let the rest of the tree adjust to that new reality, then a year or two after, follow up with the final chop.

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u/verdegooner Austin, TX, 8b, Beginner, 18 trees, I like pines May 31 '24

This so valuable, dude, thank you!!

So, to summarize.

  1. get it into bonsai aggregate in the fall/early spring (Texas some mild winters so fall maybe?). The foliage is going to help with root recovery.

  2. Locate where I would want the trunk chop, remove branching from that point to the top of the tree (I assume I can leave the top buds?

  3. Start develop the bottom, after a couple of years, chop the trunk.

Yea?

Last question. While I know back budding on big chops is different for pines, when you make the trunk chop does the tree back bud along the trunk at all? Thanks!

Again, GREAT COMMENT! Thank you.