Japanese Black Pine, #2327
Japanese Black Pine: Pinus thunbergii, gifted from Joshua Diaz at SBBK Show 2023. In development.
Apr 2024 development
Joshua Diaz
You can definitely pick out one of the candles in blue or let one of them just run and the other just break it to give energy to the tree.
I would also just pull some of the needles on top portion if you want to keep the stuff in the red and vigorous.
The stuff in the red I would cut back hard just keep lots of needles buds and terminals buds for the future.
I’ll take a picture of one I have. To give you an idea.
Looks super healthy.
Around June you can cut candles of the smaller lower stuff to divide.
I would not decandle the top portion of the tree.
You can also wire the whole trunk of the tree if you want to change something or just let it thicken.
I fertilize heavily. I use a commercials fertilizer that is 15-15-15 and I use this on young material it’s granular form. Then I’ll feed kelp and fish emulsion I try for once a week during growing season but if not twice a month and then I’ll supplement with an organic like dr earth or something like that.
Dec 2023 maintenance
Reduce new growth needles (8-10 pairs upper half; 10-12 pairs lower half)
Select a Sacrifice branch—don’t reduce needles on this branch
Example from Joshua Diaz
what I did with one of mine: I keep a lot of needles and options towards the base, wire some of the lower branches and then I have like a ladder
almost where the one I. Yellow I might wire and that one might take over once the trunk gets thickness but it could serve as my secondary sacrifice branch.
