Growing Japanese Black Pine From Seed for Bonsai - cleaning up sacrifice branches Oct' 2022

low buds on my 3yr olds are starting to look pretty weak, so im removing any extra growth along the sacrifice branch to hopefully stimulate the lower buds with extra light. reducing the sacrifice should tell the tree it might want to keep those lowers. the young pines that have been growing in the cylinder style pots were repotted in September when the nighttime temps dropped to low 60s F.
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[@jonathanhaag81]

just great bonsai content.

[@jkleczewski]

Thanks for documenting all this, it's awesome to see the results!

[@DarthMasiah]

excellent. i try to film stuff, but im not so great at it. but, we've resolved ourselves to make a bonsai or die trying, so ill be around. until im not 😊

[@barbarajoanncombs9431]

Looking good😮

[@alexhobbs2226]

Hey, I’m just wanting to ask a quick question. The lowest buds above the soil surface, do they come up out of nowhere over time of letting the tree grow? Or is there a technique used to create budding on that area of the trunk.
Thanks

[@DarthMasiah]

these lowest buds come out from the lowest needles on the new baby pine. usually these buds get shaded out and die very early by strong upper growth.

[@alexhobbs2226]

@@DarthMasiah thanks for the quick reply. Is your intention to keep the lower buds along with the extended tall growth, then cut it down to shohin sort of size?

[@DarthMasiah]

@@alexhobbs2226 yep, pretty much. eventually ill cut back to the lowest buds. id like one of these low buds to be the next section of trunk. i want to make branches from the lowest buds that come out of the lowest needles on the low buds. 😁

[@alexhobbs2226]

@@DarthMasiah may I ask how you manage to keep the buds alive? if they tend to get shaded out and die early.

[@DarthMasiah]

@@alexhobbs2226 if your seedling is healthy, the lower buds will start forming along with the upper buds during the first and second years. to keep them healthy you have to make sure they're getting enough light. best way to do this is to wire the shape you want into the trunk in years 1 and 2, before the tree gets too woody and hard to bend, and move the upper growth to the side. you can see i didn't move the upper foliage out of the way enough on my pines in the red colanders, and the low buds didn't quite get enough sun to stay strong. in my case here, i removed a bunch of upper growth in hope of getting more light and extra strength to the weak lower buds to keep them from dying.

[@jameswalker3416]

Is that mesh drywall tape?

[@DarthMasiah]

yep

[@berryfrenkal]

Is it okay to remove those little buds on bottom of the trunk? My pines is 1-2 years old. Im afraid it could hurt the tree since its my one and only JBP 😅
Thanks

[@DarthMasiah]

i wouldn't cut off any small buds low on the trunk. i was only taking off side shoots on the sacrifice branch.

[@berryfrenkal]

@@DarthMasiah but would it hurt the tree if i cut that part?

[@DarthMasiah]

@@berryfrenkal not much. it'll just send more strength to the top of the tree.

[@berryfrenkal]

@@DarthMasiah thanks!