Don’t remove pollen cones, or

Beginners
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…you might set your tree back a year. That’s exactly what I did with this SW white pine last spring, I guess because I was bored (and stupid). Anyway, don’t be like me! Fortunately it’s coming back strong, though all of the buds were quite small. You can see roots squeezing out of the box

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The tips where I removed the cones did not form apical buds at all. You can see an example here of a damaged bud on the left and a healthy one on the right.

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Fortunately most of these damaged branches are pushing tiny adventitious buds that were invisible only a week or so ago. Fertilizing heavily seems to be helping.

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In summary, don’t be like me. But if you have made this mistake, be patient and fertilize. I was tempted to remove the damaged tips, glad I didn’t.

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Thanks for sharing @Brad
We learn more from failure than we do from success.

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Was it damaged because it’s a single flush pine and the new candles were cut too far? That’s an awesome tree btw. Where’d you get it?

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I didn’t cut the candles, but the buds were inadvertently damaged when I removed the green cones. I think they bled and got dehydrated

Thanks, it’s a yamadori I picked up with a Forest Service wilding permit.

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NICE tree! Yeah, dumb thing to do. Fortunately great care(fertilizer) will give you new branches and buds:heart_eyes:. That could be a great tree one day.