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Pining Away

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bigbabol
Rob Kempinski
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Post  Rob Kempinski Sat Dec 24, 2011 4:09 am

Now that the winter solstice has passed and the days have started to get longer, it's time to work on my pine trees.
I have several to do and a tight schedule so I started tonight with a no longer shohin (11.5 inches /29 cm tall by 17 inches/43cm wide) Japanese Black Pine grown from seed.
I repotted it into this Sarah Rayner square with rivets. I really like this pot with the tree.


Pining Away 2011_125

I will try to post more as I work through them.
Rob Kempinski
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Post  bigbabol Sat Dec 24, 2011 5:44 am

thanks Rob, a nice pine
wait for your next pine Very Happy Very Happy
rgds!
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Post  marcus watts Sat Dec 24, 2011 8:34 am

hi Rob, thats nice, especially from seed.

interesting you plan your work around the solstice, i was reading up on it recently and it turns out the date chosen each year as the winter solstice doesnt always relate exactly to the latest sunrise and earliest sun set (ie the actual shortest day). Apparently it is because we dont use the solar calendar as our choice of calender - just one of those odd facts you stumble across sometimes

I must admit that i find annual temperature fluctuations effect my trees in pots more, so i tend to rely on observation of buds, growth tips etc for repotting, hard pruning etc rather than picking fixed calender dates for tree work - i guess this may be due to the weather patterns where i live being so very changeable in recent years though - but i have been reading into sowing seeds by the moon phases for better germination as this seems quite well proven and documented.
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Post  Billy M. Rhodes Sat Dec 24, 2011 10:57 am

Rob

I have three black pines that badly need repotting, but I thought our weather had been too warm.

One of them is in almost pure Turface is a 10 inch bulb pan, another is also is 100% Turface in about a four inch bulb pan and the third is in a 10 inch bulb pan with a soil of mostly stone.
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Post  Rob Kempinski Sat Dec 24, 2011 11:53 am

marcus watts wrote:hi Rob, thats nice, especially from seed.

interesting you plan your work around the solstice, i was reading up on it recently and it turns out the date chosen each year as the winter solstice doesnt always relate exactly to the latest sunrise and earliest sun set (ie the actual shortest day). Apparently it is because we dont use the solar calendar as our choice of calender - just one of those odd facts you stumble across sometimes

I must admit that i find annual temperature fluctuations effect my trees in pots more, so i tend to rely on observation of buds, growth tips etc for repotting, hard pruning etc rather than picking fixed calender dates for tree work - i guess this may be due to the weather patterns where i live being so very changeable in recent years though - but i have been reading into sowing seeds by the moon phases for better germination as this seems quite well proven and documented.

Hey Marcus,

Unfortuatnely, unlike you guys across the pond, I can't run out to Stonehenge to check out the sun alignment. Smile Smile Although that would be cool.
Instead I had looked up the solstice on the web and noticed it did vary, but its not about the sun for me but really about my personal schedule and the weather here in Florida. I get the time between Xmas and New Year off and it is the best for me to repot my JBP then. I travel quite a bit for my job and can't predict when I will be home for a long enough time to repot all my trees. I have found that JBP in Florida with our semitropical climate never go dormant. They are always pushing buds just at a different rate. The safest time for repot is to give them the maximum amount of cool weather to recover from root pruning. As Billy mentioned while it has been warm here (going to be 80 F today) its not going to not 95 F and the humidity is down meaning the roots won't stay water logged as the soil will dry out nicely between watering - which is about every 3 days for me now. Also we will have cooler weather in January and February but usually not real cold weather so now is the time for the safest recovery. I don't like to wait until February as then the hot weather will start the the trees are more at risk. However, I have found that if necessary one can repot JBP in Florida pretty much any time as long as you take it easy on the roots and monitor their water. This time of year though works best for me and the trees.

I also factor in needle thinning and candle pruning but that's a different story. Suffice it to say that I usually do two cycles a year - Xmas break and August. I might delay this particular tree though until April 1 for candle cutting so as to get uniform small needles in June as I might make it a companion plant for the national exhibition.

Now off to the golf course to take advantage of this great weather. Take care.
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Post  Rob Kempinski Sat Dec 24, 2011 12:01 pm

Billy M. Rhodes wrote:Rob

I have three black pines that badly need repotting, but I thought our weather had been too warm.

One of them is in almost pure Turface is a 10 inch bulb pan, another is also is 100% Turface in about a four inch bulb pan and the third is in a 10 inch bulb pan with a soil of mostly stone.

Get the JBP trees into a better sol mix. 100% turface will have too much water retention. That will work for tropical but not a JBP with our amount of rain.
I use 25% akadama, 25% lava, 25% turface and 25 % sand blast stone - no organic. If I err, I add more lava as I like the way it drains. 60% Lava and 40% akadama would be a good mix but alas it is more expensive and light weight so I add the turface and sand blast stone for mass and to stretch out the amount of lava and akadama I buy.
Plus even though you are only 35 miles north of me, you do get different weather (i.e. cooler) than me. The water around house also gives me more of a tropical microclimate. And being retired you can wait another month. I don't have that luxury. No
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Post  JimLewis Sat Dec 24, 2011 2:08 pm

Great pot with that pine, Rob. Almost looks like leather.
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Post  Rob Kempinski Sun Dec 25, 2011 12:49 pm

More work in on Christmas Eve

A small shohin grown from seed in a Tokonome pot. I think its about 8 or 9 years old.
Needs a few more seasons to fill out.
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I tried to focus initial work on some of the weak trees. No fussing withthe foliage just a repot. This one was suffering from too much water during the fall while I was away on business. Also had a touch off needle cast. Removed all the moss and new soil should help. Pot is a dry river bed by Dale Cochoy.
Pining Away 2011_129

Another seedling, this one is also 9 years old, attached to a piece on conglomerate from Tennessee. The pot was my first attempt to make my own plaster mold and form a pot - not too good. I'd welcome pot ideas for this one. Its about 12 inches tall.
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Post  Rob Kempinski Sun Dec 25, 2011 1:06 pm

Earlier in the year I posted an update status on this twin trunk JBP over rock. Several pot virtual ideas were graciously made but Vic of Erin pottery made a virtual design that looked pretty good with a pot he said he could make. Well I took him up on the offer and a few months passed and then the pot showed up on my doorstep. Yesterday it was time to put the pot into action. Before potting I felt the new pot might be too big, but now that it's in, I think the pot does a great job taking this humble tree to another level. Good job Vic. The left hand tree is a bit slow and still needs more time for the top to fill in. The extra soil on the bottom portions of the pot should help with growth. The right hand tree grows fairly quickly and needs regular hard pruning to push back growth, yet the left hand trunk got fatter - probably due to the sacrifice branch I cut off several years ago. Again both trees were grown from seed by me for about 8 or 9 years can't recall which batch of seeds they were.


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THis tree might need a unique stand - any one have stand ideas for the tree pot combo?
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Post  thomasj Sun Dec 25, 2011 2:02 pm

Nice work Rob,
I especially like your 2nd one grown from seed and the one attached to the conglomerate from Tennessee. Both have good futures. I have a couple that are also from seeds that I'm keeping shohin size and finally put them into bonsai pots recently. I'm hoping they too will have a good future ahead of them. Very Happy
Thomas J.
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