A Primer on Seasonal

Pine Tree Bonsai Care

My goal tonight is to give a brief overview of seasonal Pine tree
care for Bonsai in the SF Bay Area, show some photos of buds,
candles and bark, show some representative Pine Bonsai, and to
inspire you to appreciate Pines as Bonsai.
I would like to de-mystify pine tree de-candling
Michael Greenstein, September 2020
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Outline of the Talk on Pine Tree Care
• Inspiration
• Background
• Classification
• Fun Facts and General Care
• Needle Biology
• Concepts of flush, fuses and de-candling
• Black Pine, Cork Black Pine, White Pine details
• Bonus Tip 1 & Bonus Tip 2

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Outline of the Talk on Pine Tree Care
• Inspiration
• Background
• Classification
• Fun Facts and General Care
• Needle Biology
• Concepts of flush, fuses and de-candling (Demystifying
hopefully
• Black Pine, Cork Black Pine, White Pine details
happens here)
• Bonus Tip 1 & Bonus Tip 2

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 Japanese White Pine Bonsai Inspiration: 1625

(2020 – 1625 = 395 years old!)

For scale, the wooden platform is 4 x 4 foot 4

Japanese White Pine Bonsai Inspiration
• White Pine cultivated since 1625
• 5 generations of bonsai masters in one family
• In a garden in Hiroshima in 1945, and it survived
• Offered in 1976 as a peace gift to US by the family
• You can see this tree in the US Collection, in WDC

(2020 – 1625 = 395 years old!)

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Pine Tree Introduction / Overview
• Pinus, with over 100 species, is the largest genus of
conifers and the most widespread genus of trees in
the Northern Hemisphere.
• The natural distribution of pines ranges from arctic
and subarctic regions of Eurasia and North America
south to subtropical and tropical (usually montane)
regions of Central America and Asia.
• Graphically…
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Pinus World-wide Range

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Pine Tree Classification (1)
• Phylogenetically: sequence the genome, classify by similarity
• Hard / soft wood
• Numbers of needles in a sheath
• 2: Bishop, Japanese Black, Lodgepole, Japanese Red, Scots
• 3: Jeffreys, Monterrey, Pitch, Ponderosa
• 4: Pinyon
• 5: Bristlecone, Japanese White, Western White
• 6: ?
• 7: ?

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Pine Tree Classification (2)
• Most classifications of Pinus recognize two major
lineages, consistent with data from wood anatomy
and secondary chemistry, and is supported by recent
molecular phylogenetic studies:

• subgenus Pinus (identified as hard pines)

• subgenus Strobus (identified as soft pines)

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Pine Family Organization: CA/Bonsai Examples
Subgenus (3) Section (5) Needles Common / Familiar Examples
Japanese Black, Mountain,
Pinus 2 Japanese Red, Scots, Mugo
Pinus Pinea
2 Aleppo, Stone
(hard) (2 subsections)
Trifoliae Bishop, Jeffrey, Lodgepole,
(5 subsections) 3 Monterey, Pitch, Ponderosa
Strobus Quinquefoliae
5 Japanese White, Western White
(soft) (2 subsections)

Parrya
Ducampopinus (6 subsections) 5 Bristlecone, Pinyon

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 Categorizing Pines by “Hard/Soft”: US Examples
Hard Pines Soft Pines
*

*
* *
*

Subgenus Pinus Subgenus Strobus

* Some common US bonsai material

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Pine Tree Fun Facts
• Pinus is the largest genus of the Pinaceae, the pine family,
which is the oldest and largest conifer family.
• Conifers evolved about 300 M years ago, and pines about
153 M years ago.
• The genus Pinus is thought to have diverged from other pine-
like trees about 95 million years ago.
• Pines are prone to inter-species breeding (hybridization).
• Pine needles can stay on the tree between 1.5 and 40 years!

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General Pine Care
• Pines like
• Full sun: as much as your water conditions allow
• Rapid draining soil: high sand or lava content, minimal humas
• Lots of mycorrhiza: inoculate from old soil or other pines
• To get the best out of your pines, follow a regular schedule of
• Fertilizing
• De-Candling work
• Needle work (removal + thinning)
• Red Spider mite spraying (pesticide + overhead water)
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Pine Tree Spraying

I like:
Bioadvanced
Insect, Disease & Mite Control

(I get it at Summer winds,

Use 2x per season: spring & fall
Use a mask; it irritates my throat
if I spray the whole garden with
hose-end version)
Insecticide, Fungicide & Miticide
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Pine Needle Biology
• Narrow shape reduces the surface area for dehydration, and the waxy
coating, or cuticle, provides a barrier to water loss
• The openings in leaves for gas exchange through which water also
escapes, or transpires (stomata) are set within small pits to provide a
“boundary layer” of still air
• In Strobus the “soft” or “white” pines, the stomata line one side of
the needle (less transpiration).
• In Pinus the “hard” pines, stomata are found on both upper and lower
surfaces of the needle (more transpiration).

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 Pine Tree Stomata
Pores for transpiration (breathing)

10-25 um in diameter

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Goals of Needle and Candle Work
• The goal of needle / candle work includes:
• Energy balance (growth rate) : pines are top dominant
• Ramification (including back budding) to fill out the tree
• Needle reduction: reduce 6’’ needles to ~2”
• This procedure is only for mature, healthy pines!
• Dark green, stiff needles, > 2”candles all over the tree
• Pines come in 2 broad categories (flush: growth spurt)
• Each category requires specific care!
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 Pine Structure Basics: Candles, Sheathes, Needles

Each sheath
Candle (may contain
(1-8” long) 2-5 needles each)
2 Needles
Healthy Pines have
3 Needles
strong candles with
a long bare shaft 5 Needles
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Single Flush: One growth spurt per season
• Japanese white pine, Pinus parviflora If you cut the candles of
• Mugo pine, Pinus mugo these trees, they cannot
regrow candles in the season!
• Ponderosa pine, Pinus ponderosa
• Limber pine, Pinus flexilis
• Bristlecone pine, Pinus longaeva
• Foxtail pine, Pinus balfouriana
• Western white pine, Pinus monticola
• Shore pine/lodgepole pine, Pinus contorta
Based in part on information from Jonas Dupich
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Multiple Flush: 2 -3 growth spurts per season
Annually If you cut the candles of
• Japanese black pine, Pinus thunbergii these trees, they can
regrow candles in the season!
• Japanese red pine, Pinus densiflora
• Pitch pine, Pinus rigida
Occasionally (if very strong)
• Cork Bark Japanese black pine cultivars
• Dwarf Japanese black pine cultivars
• Monterey pine, Pinus radiata
Based in part on information from Jonas Dupich
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Second Flush: Non-Reliable
• Virginia pine, Pinus virginiana If you cut the candles of
these trees, they might
• Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris regrow candles in the season,
• Austrian black pine, Pinus nigra so be careful!

• Aleppo pine, Pinus halepensis

• Italian stone pine, Pinus pinea
• Pinyon pine, multiple species

Based in part on information from Jonas Dupich

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Seasonal Black Pine Bonsai Candle Care
• I want to repeat: It is very important to apply the correct
technique to the category of pine: applying the multiple flush
technique to a single flush pine could kill it.
• Pine care can be divided into several activities, described
here in terms of months in the SF Bay Area.
• The technique described below is only for healthy Black
pines; they should have dark, stiff needles, and multiple
candles over 2 inches in length over most of the tree.
• If you are not sure about the health, better to wait

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1-Step Black Pine Tree De-Candling Technique
• I was taught this technique by Kathy Shaner about 15-20 years
ago in a class. She learned it in Japan from Mitsuya.
• Previously, in Japan, the practice was to use 3 de-candling steps
to get the individual candle timing optimized. It still works, but
requires 3 steps, each a couple of weeks apart.
• This technique from Japan uses 1 de-candling step and so is
more efficient for those of us with limited time (or too many
Black Pines, or a combination…)
• My only contribution was: visualize the candle as a chemical fuse
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Black Pine De-Candle Cycle (for SF Bay Area)
Oct / Nov
Open up

July 4th January

Light Fuse Budding

March
1st Flush
Black Pine De-Candle Cycle (for SF Bay Area)
Oct / Nov
Open up
Needle,
Candle Work
De-candle July 4th January
1st Flush Light Fuse Budding

Transplant
March
1st Flush

Fertilize
Black Pine De-Candle Cycle (for SF Bay Area)
Oct / Nov
Stimulate
2ndFlush Open up latent buds for
grows weaker back budding
Needle,
1-2”
Candle Work
De-candle July 4th January
1st Flush Light Fuse Budding

Transplant
1st Flush March 1st Flush
grows strong 1st Flush appears
1-6”
Fertilize
October-November (Open Up for Back Buds)
• Open up the tree for winter light to encourage back buds.
• Pines must be stimulated to back bud (not their natural inclination) to
maintain their size, otherwise they will eventually grow too leggy. It is
hard to get old pine branches to bud back

• Needle removal (pulling or cutting at the sheath): pull all 2-3-year-old needles
leaving only the current year needles
• Needle thinning (pulling or cutting at the sheath): reduce the number of
needles on the top of the tree to balance the energy; A typical pattern is 5
pairs @ top, 7 pairs @ middle, 9 pairs @ bottom. This can be modified to suit
the health condition of the tree; these are only guidelines (also: 3/5/7)
• Candle stubs: remove dead candles stubs (old fuses) from July with sharp
pointed scissors to minimize length of residual stub (image later)

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March-July (1st Flush Grows Strong)
• Fertilize strongly and let most candles grow wild.
• Really strong candles at the top (where there is the most
sun) can be broken off at the 3-4-inch length to balance
energy to other candles below.
• A 6-inch candle on the lower part of the tree is OK (don’t
worry, your tree is happy!) as it builds power and will be
totally removed later. See example on later slide.

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July (4th: think about lighting a fuse) (1)
• De-candle the entire tree. The idea is to cut off most of the new candle to
force a second flush of candles at the base of this year’s growth. This allows
us to rebalance the energy and enables the cutting to happen in one step
(session): we vary the length of the candle stub as a timing fuse.
• The remaining candle stub acts as a chemical fuse. The longer the candle
stub is, the longer it takes the chemical injury-response signal to get to the
base to initiate second flush growth. The sooner the second flush starts the
stronger these candles will be.
• On a healthy pine the second flush can have 6-8 new candles; eventually
we will only keep 2 second flush candles in a horizontal plane (in October).
(In Japan they can get 10-12 second candles on a really strong, healthy tree!)
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July (4th: think lighting a fuse) (2)
To balance the growth over the whole tree, weaken the top
relative to the bottom (since pines are top dominant):
• Top of the tree: leave a stub two candle diameters in length
(to delay the 2nd flush)
• Middle of the tree: leave a stub one diameter in length
• Bottom of the tree: leave shortest stub possible (to speed up
the 2nd flush)
Wait until the 1st flush needles are at least 45 degrees open
(depends on seasonal conditions, but usually July for me )
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 Three Lengths of Chemical Signaling “Fuses”
Top: Cut candle to 2 Diameters long
2D This is a long fuse with delayed signal
to restart growth

Middle: Cut candle to 1 Diameter long

1D This is a medium fuse with average signal
to restart growth

Bottom: Cut candle to 1/2 Diameter long

1/2D This a short fuse with a prompt signal
to restart growth the soonest
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1st Flush Candles: Grow Long for Strength

Before
De-candling

After
De-candling

(only last years

needles remain)
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 Black Pine De-Candling Images (August)

Second flush candles emerge from the base of the

stub: length does not determine bud position.
(These stubs will get trimmed later in October)
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 Black Pine De-Candling Images (September)

Second flush candles emerge from the base of the

stub: length does not determine bud position.
(These stubs will get trimmed later in October)
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 Black Pine Stub Trimming (October–November)

Trim the dead stub from the 1st flush candle

in October with a sharp pair of shears, to get
a close cut. (photos from September)
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July-September
• Let the second flush grow; including all of the multiple candles
• A really strong branch can put out 10-12 new buds!
• A strong branch will put out 3-4 new buds
• A weak branch will put out 1 new bud and this is OK (but you need to
strengthen the tree)

Do not worry about number or length of 2nd flush candles: this balances
their power and will help to further reduce the length of the candles you
eventually choose

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October or November (depends on growth)
• Reduce all second flush candles to 2 candles at each location,
in a horizontal plane.
• Candles in a vertical plane will weaken the lower one
• Leaving more than 2 will produce an ugly swelling in later
years. (can leave three at apex to strengthen trunk)
• Continue with Needle removal / thinning as described above.
• The seasonal cycle is complete; and you begin again.
• Doubling the active tips for 3 years = 8x!!! 5 years =32x!!!!!
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Black Pine that was NOT De-candled (too weak)
Source: John Planting (Carl Brown /Tosh)
Pot: 18 x 14”
Trunk Diam: 6”
Age: ~ 55 yrs
Note:
• too weak to de-candle this year
• Removed all old needles in July
• Weak: yellow needles in spring, short
candles < 2
• Skipping de-candling means another
year of no ramification…

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Black Pine Bark Examples (I like flaky bark)

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Cork Bark Black Pine Process
• Cork bark black pines are considered weak black pines; the bark is
delicate, branches are brittle
• Cork bark pines can use the normal black pine de-candle process, but
only every 2-3 years, if extremely healthy.
• Needles should be cut within the sheath, not pulled to avoid bark
damage
• Remove 2-3-year-old needles in October
• If not de-candling, break all candles to ~ 2 inches length in mid-
summer (June-July) to maintain compactness and remove last year’s
needles to clean up and wire as required (careful of wires in heat).

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Japanese Cork Black Pine (De-candled Last Year)
Source: John Planting (Tosh graft)
Pot: 12”
Trunk Diam: 3”
Age: ~ 60 yrs
Note:
• Partially de-candled last year, ~ 2”
candles
• Old needles were cut in July.
• Potted this way to support rock
while building roots. Will repot this
spring season into wider pot

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Japanese Cork Black Pine De-candling (Last Year)
Ramification
Near Apex
Ramification From last
From last Year’s
Year’s de-candling
de-candling

Not Every
Year!!
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Cork Bark Pine Bark Examples

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White Pine Process (Single Flush)

• Do not de-candle White Pines: these pines cannot set a

second set of candles
• Cut all 2-3-year-old needles in October to open up the light
• Break all candles to < 3 inches length in June-July to maintain
compactness and spread energy. You must leave needles!
• Typically top candles are stronger and will require breaking.

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Western White Pine (Single Flush; 5 Needles)
Source: Stephanie North (Bill Sullivan)
Pot: 19 x 13”
Trunk Diameter: 6”
Age: ~ 90 yrs
Note: Bill Sullivan collected in 1945
Albuquerque, NM)

Needle Sheath
remains on tree
during the summer

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Western White Pine Back Buds

Back budding
Is enhanced
by breaking
candles on a
healthy tree

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Western White Pine Bark Examples (flaky)

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Bonus Tip #1: Osmocote in a Bag; neat & tidy

• Place a tsp of Osmocote in a tea bag

• 2 bags per pot keeps the Osmocote tidy
• Loose tea Bags from Amazon
• Come in different sizes
• Paper: recycle
• Nylon re-use

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Bonus Tip #2: Clean Sap off YourTools Easily
AM Leonard (http://www.amleo.com) sells a
nice tool cleaner. I use a drop on a stainless
steel or brass brush and scub off the sap.
Works very nicely, without dulling the finish!

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 A Primer on Pine Tree
Bonsai Care
My goal tonight was to give a brief overview of seasonal Pine tree
care for Bonsai in the SF Bay Area, show some photos of buds,
candles and bark, show some representative Pine Bonsai, and to
inspire you to appreciate Pines as Bonsai.
Think about what it took to give a 5th generation tree to the US!
Michael Greenstein, September 2020
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