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CARE INFORMATION
Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) "Ponderosa, also known as western yellow, black jack or bull pine is the most widely distributed American pine, being found in the mountain forest of western North America, from British Columbia, east to South Dakota and south to Texas and Mexico. It is one of the principal pines in the Rocky Mountain region. Easily distinguished from all other native conifers, as the needles are 3 to 7 inches long and in clusters of 2 or 3. Generally prefers elevations of around 5500 to 7500' in Colorado, and grows to 150 to 175' high with bases of 4 to 6 feet in diameter. When young the bark is grey-black and is often called 'Black Jack' pine. When older (around 400+ years) the bark gets yellowish to rusty orange and occurs in thick plates. "An ideal material for bonsai culture with rugged bark texture, good natural taper of the trunk, transplants well to most locations, drought resistant and needles could be reduced to about an inch with basic horticultural practices. "Collecting from the wild has been the principal method of acquiring specimens for bonsai culture in the region but seedlings started for bonsai develop beautifully at a good rate in a container or on a rock slab. "Ponderosa Pine is relatively easy to train into bonsai because of its flexible branches and growth habits. Ponderosa adjusts well to container culture by putting on a lot more foliage than in its wild state. Needle length can be reduced by first fertilizing heavily during the late fall and early spring to stimulate growth. Thin out the needles so only 4 or 5 bunches remain on each branch. (Mid-May in Denver.) A week or ten days later remove all candles from middle size branches. Another week later remove all candles from the large or strongest branches and leave candles uncut on weak or small branches. By October many newly formed buds can be observed on middle and larger branches with buds about the same size. "With the above charateristics and with the ease of training into bonsai, the Ponderosa pine is the favorite of the Rocky Mountain Bonsai Society." (Sasaki, Harold "Ponderosa Pine," Bonsai, BCI, Vol. XXV, No. 2, March/April 1986, pg. 19) "When growing long needle pines [such as the Ponderosa, Japanese red, Japanese black, Pitch, and Virginia], the grower is working toward artistic refinement through the technical aspects of reducing needle growth. Compact design must be carried out in both spring and fall. To encourage dense branches and short needle foliage in the spring let the candles elongate to at least one inch or more and then break them off at the base. In fact, all the candle can be removed and within a month new candles will appear. These should be allowed to mature. They will be shorter and needles smaller. Many new buds will appear within the interior sections of the branches. "In the fall, (August in the Northeast) after the needles have matured, needle cutting should be practiced to encourage dense budding within the interior. Only the old needles that are one or two years old should be cut to one-half or one-third in size. This procedure will open the branch to sunshine to promote new buds. If these practices are to be successful, the bonsai should be fertilized with acid fertilizer every two weeks during the growing season. In two or three weeks those old needles will brown and fall off. New buds will appear in the axil where they were attached to the branch. Do not pull them off because you will damage the dormant buds." (Stowell, Jerald P. "Some Thoughts On Refining Pine Bonsai," International Bonsai, 1982/No. 4, pg. 17) |