bonsaiTALK Community - View Single Post - Back budding in Scots Pine

Hi GraemeK,

Yes please post a picture! Also keep in mind that pines really hate having wet feet. It can result in root rot. One sign of that is new growth dying off.

Pines soil should be allowed to dry off a little more than your maple or elm. They aren't cactus, but they should not be overwatered, either.

If you keep a broken piece of chopstick pushed down into the soil, you can extract it periodically and use it as a "dip stick" to check for soil moisture. If your pine tends to stay too wet, from rain or just too much watering, you might look at adding more sand to your soil mix to increase drainage. By sand I mean ideally good clean river sand size #3 or larger, not beach sand!

In my experience, pines need to be worked on just a few times each year:

LATE WINTER - Grafting
MID SPRING - Repotting
LATE SPRING/EARLY SUMMER - Candle pruning
EARLY FALL - Bud Selection
LATE FALL - Needle Thinning and Wiring

1-Nov-2001	#4
TreeBay Tips:5¢ Advice:Free *MODERATOR GROUP* Join Date: Aug-2001 Location: Silicon Valley Country: USA USDA Zone: 9 AHS Heat Zone: 4 Posts: 9,743	Re: Back budding in Scots Pine Hi GraemeK, Yes please post a picture! Also keep in mind that pines really hate having wet feet. It can result in root rot. One sign of that is new growth dying off. Pines soil should be allowed to dry off a little more than your maple or elm. They aren't cactus, but they should not be overwatered, either. If you keep a broken piece of chopstick pushed down into the soil, you can extract it periodically and use it as a "dip stick" to check for soil moisture. If your pine tends to stay too wet, from rain or just too much watering, you might look at adding more sand to your soil mix to increase drainage. By sand I mean ideally good clean river sand size #3 or larger, not beach sand! In my experience, pines need to be worked on just a few times each year: LATE WINTER - Grafting MID SPRING - Repotting LATE SPRING/EARLY SUMMER - Candle pruning EARLY FALL - Bud Selection LATE FALL - Needle Thinning and Wiring __________________ Want to be a seller on bonsaiAUCTIONS? Get authorized today! bonsaiTALK: Over 100,005.36 Megabytes Served this Month!