Japanese Black Pine seedlings separation

lucR wrote:

Water and fertilising stops completely in winter. Your soil looks really wet tbh

Are you saying that I shouldn’t water at all until Spring?!

lucR wrote:

Concerning your fertiliser: there is absolutely no need to use bonsai fertiliser.Any regular all purpose fertiliser will do. Anything labeled "bonsai" is automatically more expensive. You have saplings, nothing to do with bonsai for the first 10-15 years anyway.

Now that I read it out loud, it does make sense (it’s not an undersized tree yet)
Thank you for pointing out the fertiliser!

Razvan wrote:

Are you saying that I shouldn’t water at all until Spring?!

it depends a bit on your local climate, but generally speaking, yes. Pines dislike being too wet anyway, are happier to be kept on the dryer side. But again all this is generally speaking.
In my climate ( Belgium) i generally don't water at all from half/end of autumn till spring, but i do keep an eye on rainfall during that period. Normally it rains now and then during that period, so no watering needed. If it rains a lot ( it happens) i protect my pines a bit ( under the bench), etc etc. It allso depends on the soil you are using. I use a free draining soil, so the protecting is not really necessary but i do it anyway. My deciduous trees are kept on the bench all the time ( unless it freezes below -5/10 for a longer period tn they all ( pines included) go into an unheated greenhouse)

So here I am after 1 year with my 3x JBP.

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According to the forum, I should keep them growing further before applying any bonsai techniques.
However, I’ve noticed the candle on one of the pines.
I am tempted to pinch it. Would I stimulate growth by doing so?

You may stimulate backbudding, not growth. Any interference with a tree limits growth, never increase it.

I would not pinch the only bud on a sapling. It may survive, but I just dont see any reason to risk anything at this point.

I have hit the 2 year mark with 1 seedling, and 1.5years with the other two! I am astonished how beautiful and different they grew.

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I reckon that I can repot them in bonsai pots next spring and wire them.
Any tips how deep should the pot be initially, the pot material (plastic, ceramic, etc) and the shape of the pot?

My JBPs is 5 years old now and it have never crossed my mind to put them into bonsai pots yet. The ones grow in the ground is getting there within a few years. But the ones in pots need at least 10 more years.

But that is one opinion. You can put them into bonsai pots come spring. But you need to be aware that developmen slows down quite dramatically. I don't have that many years left on this planet to see a JBP seedling grow into a nice bonsai in shallow pot so I grow in big pots and in ground to be able to see a somewhat decent tree before I leave.

Tropfrog wrote:

My JBPs is 5 years old now and it have never crossed my mind to put them into bonsai pots yet. The ones grow in the ground is getting there within a few years. But the ones in pots need at least 10 more years.

But that is one opinion. You can put them into bonsai pots come spring. But you need to be aware that developmen slows down quite dramatically. I don't have that many years left on this planet to see a JBP seedling grow into a nice bonsai in shallow pot so I grow in big pots and in ground to be able to see a somewhat decent tree before I leave.

Would you care to showcase your 5yo JBP?
I’m curious about growing them in the ground while applying bonsai techniques :woohoo:

The basic technique is ignore it and let it grow and develop a personality. In a couple of years you could wire the trunk but you need to let side branches develop first.

Here's another update: last autumn I did some mild wiring on the trunk of 1x JBP (the thickest).
I find that the plants are gaining "personality" throughout this thread :dry:

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While digging on the internet for next steps in growing and shaping, I've stumbled across the term: inverse taper.
By looking closely it seems that I'm heading in that direction and I would like to avoid that!

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-	Is it a good ideea to prune some future branches at this stage? 1. I'm thinking of pruning the one going in the same direction (one under the other) 2. MAYBE prune the main future branch to shift the apex Am I locco ?

So starting the third year now? Looks very small for their age.

Decandeling would not cross my mind on that small trees. Inverse taper develops when there are many old big branches growing at the same plave. The branches that develops now will need a few years before they gives you problem. For now, I would let them grow to help the tree streangthen. In the long run some of them needs to be remowed