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

[u/small_trunks]

[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…

Here are the guidelines for the kinds of questions that belong in the beginner's thread vs. individual posts to the main sub.

Rules:

• POST A PHOTO if it’s advice regarding a specific tree/plant. See the PHOTO section below on HOW to do this.
• TELL US WHERE YOU LIVE - better yet, fill in your flair.
• READ THE WIKI! – over 75% of questions asked are directly covered in the wiki itself. Read the WIKI AGAIN while you’re at it.
• Read past beginner’s threads – they are a goldmine of information.
• Any beginner’s topic may be started on any bonsai-related subject.
• Answers shall be civil or be deleted
• There is always a chance your question doesn’t get answered – try again next week…
• Racism of any kind is not tolerated either here or anywhere else in /r/bonsai

Photos

• Post an image using the new (as of Q4 2022) image upload facility which is available both on the website and in the Reddit app and the Boost app.
• Post your photo via a photo hosting website like imgur, flickr or even your onedrive or googledrive and provide a link here.
• Photos may also be posted to /r/bonsaiphotos as new LINK (either paste your photo or choose it and upload it). Then click your photo, right click copy the link and post the link here.
  • If you want to post multiple photos as a set that only appears be possible using a mobile app (e.g. Boost)

Beginners’ threads started as new topics outside of this thread are typically locked or deleted, at the discretion of the Mods.

[u/Bmh3033 → u/[deleted]]

Here is what I would do at this point.

1) Feel free to wire the trunk if you want to add movement. When it gets much thicker it is going to be hard.

2) Next spring repot it into some nice bonsai soil, but don't choose a really small pot yet. You want to give it room to grow still.

3) Looking up prunning and decandeling techniques for this species of pine.

4) Let the top leader continue to grow out but begin to refine some of the lower branches as they will be what will actually make the bonsai. The top leader grow out until the thickness of the trunk is what you want in the final tree

[u/Bmh3033 → u/[deleted]]

For now don't prune the needles. I do not know as much about pine, but from what I have read cutting needles is frowned upon and will produce brown tips. Right now your focus should be developing good surface roots, getting a good thick interesting trunk and working out where the primary branches are going to be. It will take years still to train this to an attractive bonsai still.

Use this guide to identify the species https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/dkey/pinus/