Repotting Cork Bark Pine

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Cork Bark Pine, also called "Japanese Cork Bark (Black) Pine" or "Brocade Pine" or "Nishiki Matsu" occupies a very unique place in bonsai.

The plant is prized for the wings of bark that form around its branches. The effect varies from strain to strain, but the pronounced corking bark is the main characteristic.

This corking develops at an early age, making specimens no more than five years old have the appearance of great age. Unfortunately, as rugged as these plants appear, they are notoriously fragile. Despite the thickness of the branches, the active portion of the plant is no bigger than a Japanese Pine of the same age. Consequently, you have a delicate pine structure beneath an armoring of corked plates. This puts a lot of weight on the branches, especially where they join the trunk and at those points between the corking flutes, as this is the only position at which teh branch or trunk can readily bend.

As a result, it's not uncommon to lose entire branches of of the tree as a result of trauma. So we need to treat them with extreme care. During cultivation, the branches are not allowed to grow very long without support. Sometimes a bamboo staked "Teepee" structure can be used to tie longer branches in place against movement in wind. Transporting these babies can be very difficult. As a result they are hardly ever imported and specimens of good size and quality are not often shown.

As if the problems with cultivation were not difficult enough, repotting can be a chore. Today we repotted five specimens ranging in size from just under a foot and 20 years age to nearly three feet (1m) in height and approximately 60 years old. The focus of this article is on the repotting operations and how it's possible to repot a tree of this size and delicate nature without breaking anything.

Photos will follow at a later date. For now we have just trade-out pictures.

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This is one of the larger cork bark pines. It was featured in a past issue of GSBF Golden Statements. It was developed by Mr. Umehara, who grafted and developed many of the early cork bark specimens in the United States.

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A smaller Cork Bark pine, standing about 12 inches tall. This one came from Grove Way Bonsai Nursery in Hayward, CA.

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Preparation is critical to success in procedures of any kind. Here in repotting it's no different.

Required Tools
Wire Cutter
Wire Pliers - for securing wire
Ashinaga shears - for trimming roots and cutting screen
Root Cutters
Soil Sieve
Root sickle
Spray bottle (hand sprayers are OK, but pump action sprayers are much better when you have your hands full)
Tined cultivating fork
soft brass brush
Root hook



Required Supplies
#16 copper wire - for tying-in
Drainage Screen - for covering holes
#14 copper wire for securing drainage screen
Bonsai soil, prepared and screened
Several pair of latex gloves

Misc:
A clear work area with a bench of a convenient height.
An assistant you can call on to move pots and support things as necessary
Watering can or hose with a rose
Pot cleaning supplies (Nylon bristle brush, Scotch Brite pad, Dishwashing soap)

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first step is to clean up the tree, removing any leaves, litter, fertilizer on the soil, etc. The cultivator tool can come in handy to remove stubborn weeds.

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Next you'll tip the tree a bit and cut all the wires that secure the tree in the pot. You can leave the drainage screen wires in place for now, but be sure to get the main tie-down wires and bend any stubs out straight.

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Getting the tree out of the pot is the first problem.

To tackle this, you'll need to release the tree from the pot by removing soil and impacted roots from the edges of the pot. Using either the root hook or the Repotting sickle, scrape along the edges of the container a bit at a time, , all the way to the bottom of the pot.

This may take several passes around the tree. It is particularly difficult if the container has an inward lip on it.

AVOID TOUCHING THE PINE AT ALL TIMES

This is difficult, but very important to avoid cracking or brushing plates or entire cork wings off the tree. Never grab it at its base and use it as a handle.

With luck, by the time you reach bottom your tree is loose enough that you can tip it out into the hands of an assistant. If not you may need to work some more with the root hook, using a couple of stout bamboo sticks (chopsticks are fine for small trees, larger sticks for larger trees) to lever it out.

If the drainage holes are large enough, you can use a section of broom handle to push the tree up and out.

Remember, gravity is your friend, and while the root ball, loaded with soil, is heavy, it's your best shot at getting the tree out of the container without damage.

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Many older bonsai specimens were grown or developed with field soil (earth or clay) as a component of the mixture. This can be particularly difficult situation, because portions of the mix will drain freely, but the older soil, next to the trunk will not drain well and could result in crown rot. In any case the compacted soil will not promote good root growth in those areas and it's best removed.

Develop a realistic plan for this. It's not a good idea to completely strip a pine of its soil (although this exact procedure is required by law for importation in many areas). Instead, plan to remove the field soil over a number of transplantings. Work off the outermost in the first transplanting and be sure to drive a chopstick through the clay or earth masses closest to the trunk so you can work some free draining bonsai soil into those troublesome spots.

If the tree is healthy, you can be more aggressive, but if not, you just want to remove what soil you can without damaging any of the succulent roots.

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Healthy pine roots (as well as the roots of many other species of tree) grow in association with a beneficial micro-organism/fungal matrix called mycorrhizae (pronounced "MIKE-O-RYE-ZAY") This white cottony growth envelops the root system and offers a number of benefits. In addition to protecting the root system from attack by disease, it increases the effective volume and efficiency of the root system, protects the roots from bad pH and humidity conditions and fixes nitrogen in the soil.

Organic fertilizers tend to promote mycorrhizal growth because the hyphae ("HIGH-fay") strands will be able to break down the organic components into nitrogen elements the plant can use. Inoganic fertilizer already has the nitrogen available, so there is less dependency on the mycorrhizal activity.

You can promote the growth of mycorrhizae by using an organic fertilizer and by innoculating the soil of newly transplanted pines with some hyphae-rich soil taken from another pine.

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