Dealing with Stress: A Minor Miracle – part 1 5/17/09

Uh oh. Looks like a goner. This photo is from an article in Bonsai Today issue 9 (long out of print). The artist and author is K. Onishi. The tree is a Japanese Black pine (Pinus thunbergii).

The cause of the stress is a late freeze, though dessication (drying out) might produce the same effect.

Well, maybe it’s not a goner. The base of the needle clusters (fascicles) are still green, and where there’s green, there’s hope.

In situations like this, it is critical to act quickly and fearlessly.

Without wasting any time, the author prunes the dead roots. The key here is prune each root back gradually until you see white on the inside and then stop there.

Mr. Onishi uses 1/8″ to 1/4″ gravel with large pebbles in the bottom of the pot. Nothing else is added. I’ve been experimenting with clean, large grain akadama, though on less stressed bonsai than this pine. I’ll keep you posted.

In the original article, Mr. Onishi puts the tree into a greenhouse with high humidity. Most of us don’t have greenhouses, so we need to come up with other arrangements. I do a lot of misting and have devised a simple system using a hose and noozle, that I leave on for about 15 minutes at a time, several times a day (when I’m around that is).

Here’s what the author has to say about using a greenhouse and his aftercare (I’ve paraphrased the original translation a little): I place it in a greenhouse where the environmental humidity is high and the soil is warmed by the sun. When the pot warms up, I spay the leaves with cold water. Although this may seems like a strange thing to do, it works much like artificial respiration; forcing the tree to breathe, to draw strength from the trunk in order to bud. I am certainly not an expert, but I do know that when the temperature rises transpiration (respiration) is greater than when the temperature is low. I think that a good stimulus to force a reaction is to expose the tree to abrupt temperature changes.

When the temperature inside the greenhouse is high, I take the tree out into the shade and spray it with cold water. Later I return it to the greenhouse and start all over again.

Stay posted for part 2.