AusBonsai

I recently found this radiata on my travels.
I am not sure whether to remove it this late winter or put in a year or two of preparation.
Just after these photos were taken it had 8 inches of rain on it and looks very healthy.
Any advice would be most welcome.

I would start preparing it now, and lift it later this year or even next year if you can.

Nice find, love the shari , Be interesting to see this develop

Ken

Andrew,
I think there was a radiata pine dig in Canberra in April last year, so that may be an indicator. Generally trees are best dug in early spring, so first week in September for Sydney is probably the very best time.
Good luck with it!

it looks like the tree is a ground layer off that fallen tree branch is it or is it just next to if it is your in luck as it will have finer roots i have tried two radiatas one died one lived the thing is they grow in crap soil and you need to get it off all the roots but you will find some white stuff like cotton candy or spiders webs on the roots you need to try to keep that intact as its somthing the tree needs to survive the one of mine that survived was one that i deduced the foliage on cut it back pretty hard but this is a subject of debate the trick part s you wont know its dead till to late about 5-6 weeks as the stay green for a long time what i do is cut a large branch off a nearby tree and sit next to the tree as the branch browns compare it to your tree as an indicator of how your going good luck

the cotton stuff dayne is talking about is mychrozia, it is a beneficial fungi that acts in a symbiotic way with the tree and the mychrozia is generally crucial to pines and cedars.

A lot of the P radiata dug in Canberra came out with no soil (mostly growing in rock) and very few roots.

Most of them died. So do as much prep as possible and try to get as much root close to the trunk as you can.

Also dont be to drastic with pruning the foliage.

Grant

Grant Bowie wrote:A lot of the P radiata dug in Canberra came out with no soil (mostly growing in rock) and very few roots.

Most of them died. So do as much prep as possible and try to get as much root close to the trunk as you can.

Also dont be to drastic with pruning the foliage.

Grant

Where these radiata large?, I have bare root collected lots of radiata without a problem yet I often read that people are having problems with them dying when they do it, the only difference I can see with mine is they were all fairly small, maybe no more than 80cms high and 4 or 5cms thick but mostly small stuff that I can wire the trunks on, no more than 1cm thick, last Spring I collected half a dozen small radiata and just threw them in a plastic bag without any soil at all and they were fine, I'm thinking it must be their smaller size could be the reason I am getting away it.

Correct, mostly the larger ones didn't survive.

I collected a small one and its doing fine.

Grant

It looks like this tree had another tree fall on it years ago, pulling everything but the tap root out. more recently it appears to have shot new roots from under the old jinned roots. I am heading down again tomorrow to have a look and will take some soil preparation gear with me: sphagnum, compost.

Any other suggestions?

Andrew, radiatas are on move at the moment and should start to charge as Autumn rolls in. I am waiting for the 30deg days to be gone and i will be digging some more. As long as you get 300 to 500 mm around the trunk and a good 250mm deep worth of soil and roots. you should be fine. Providing after care is right. I say no pruning at all on top! If you are gonna prep it up for another time. i would give it a light spade 600mm out from the trunk and all the way around. just use a bag or 2 of river pepple or scoria or granite, poured over and around the root base and spading. Not on the trunk though. this wont wash away and will provide a good layer of mulch. a few hand fulls of dynamic lifter would not go astray either. good luck mate.

Good advice Anttal.

Any advice on aftercare? Sorry to milk you, i really want this sucker to survive.

by Jamie » Yesterday, 08:46

the cotton stuff dayne is talking about is mychrozia, it is a beneficial fungi that acts in a symbiotic way with the tree and the mychrozia is generally crucial to pines and cedars.

See http://www.soilhealth.see.uwa.edu.au/components/fungi

I have never found any mycorrhiza on collected pines, perhaps because around Canberra most of the collecting sites were so dry. Or maybe because I didn't see it in the decomposed rock/clay. However, I've had better luck with pines from nurseries and I always keep some of the soil with those special fungi traces for repotting.

Grant, sorry those big Radiata died, after you guys suffered the torments of a freezing day with strong winds! What it takes to be a dedicated bonsai collector....

Lisa

Andrew_Davies wrote:Good advice Anttal.

Any advice on aftercare? Sorry to milk you, i really want this sucker to survive.

The whole idea of leaving the dirt on the root ball is to not destroy the few delicate fine feeders close to the trunk. prepping it up will increase the amount of fine feeders but will still be delicate and is still important to not disturb more than we already have. So before you bring it home get something that will accomodate a large root ball. I usually trim it back to fit and leaving a little room for in fill. Make sure you go over all the cuts and that they are clean cuts. I use large Hydrponic top boxes, for their size and great drainage. A layer of large diatamite on the bottom so the mix dont fall out Shade cloth could work also. I mix 50% medium diatimite + 50 % orchid mix. A friend of mine uses straight Diatamite no prob. A good soaking of seasol to start with. Then depending on the time of year Shade is reccomended initially and to be kept on the drier side. Here in Melbourne could be different to you. I'm now watering every day 4 months later and feeding once a week. It is still in shade on a south facing wall. i will get it out into sun as soon as there is no threat of any more 30 +deg days and extreme uv rays.

Hi

Thank you for all the info. I am a bonsai enthusiast form South Africa. I want to dig a Radiata but not sure when the best time is for this. Pines have a growth period in Autumn, so should I dig now, or wait until Spring?

Regards
Johnathan

Hi johno
I collected some last year in late winter that are doing good
At that tie i prepped a few others that were larger by cutting some of the roots. I went back to my spot a few weeks ago during the real hot weather we have had, and one of those looks somewhat sad and dry
I will wait til late winter before attempting to lift those 2 but there is another smaller one there that I might give a try early autumn, but only because my local area is quite mild in winter and very few trees go fully dormant.

Andrew, Any update on this one?

Ken