Here’s the situation. I have seedlings that are about 2 years old. I put them into grow boxes this past month with essentially no removal of soil or root removal. Just slipped out of seedling pot and into grow box. I have noticed in the last few days the needles are changing slowly and wanted to see if I am overreacting or if I need to take action. I just want to make sure that I’m. It actively doing something wrong or if there is something I can do to help. I’m in south Louisiana for reference.
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The more i look into an answer it appears that it is over watering. Would appreciate if anyone else agrees or disagrees.
Not sure in what part of the world you are but I’m moving my seedlings same way to bigger pot every year in spring time with no issue at all.
True re over watering. To me it looks like all yellowing is even which indicates to this problem. Let it completely dry and then try to water only if soil is dry 1-2 cm deep from the top. Pines prefer drier soil and thrive in extreme heat without regularly watered soil.
Hope it will help.
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@CoffeeCherry and Mirai members. Back online after being gone for some time. Looking for some advice/guidance. The picture is from JBP seedlings I started over winter. I had them stratified in the refrigerator for a few months and then put them into 50/50 mix of pumice and turface ~late January. They germinated in a mini Greenhouse. Zone 5B Chicago and gradually introduced them from shade cloth to full sun in Spring. The process seems uber slow but then I’ve never done this before either. Advice I need is the following — do I keep them in this mix in these little pots and overwinter them the same as my other trees where I put them in an unattached & unheated garage with surrounding mulch as insulation. I have thermostats in the garage to keep temps between 32 and 35 degrees Fahrenheit. Is there something I should be doing different throughout summer going into fall with these little things to ensure I have as much success as possible, next spring? Big thanks for any feedback
Hello and welcome back online 
Warning - I am playing a game of mother nature and that can be brutal. Pines in general are growing mostly in extremely cold or harsh climate so I wouldn’t spare them of that. Yes,the difference between your seedlings and JBP growing in nature is the container which is unnatural and only danger when temperatures drop. The only care I would give them then would be mulching them on the ground but still outdoors where they kind of need to experience the harsh season. Think about the native environment this specie originates from.
If you get snow which I believe is the case in Chicago unless global warming made it’s magic, that actually works as isolation and increases the temperature around the seedlings! Also, heavy snow or strong winds a) strengthen the seedling and it’s ‘trunk’ / makes it more resistant b) might add some natural movement.
Also note I am from country with mountains and snowy winters but living in south of Uk which is considered zone 8 so pines don’t even thrive here so mainly deal with deciduous seedlings but if I was you that’s what I see in wild and would do with pine seedlings.
Keep us updated how this goes, you seem to have loads of them. Maybe you want to experiment and split them into two groups - one in garage, one outdoors and compare how they do the season after?
When it comes to repotting, they are fine and have heaps of space in pots where they are currently so wouldn’t do anything ab that at least another season .
@CoffeeCherry massive thanks for the reply. Yep as I was reading through your reply I thought the same thing I’m going to do some experimenting this winter. Last winter was very mild from a snow perspective. Only used the snow blower once. However did have some extreme cold with windshield. Anyhow I sure appreciate it and yes I’m going to see how it goes. I was just thrilled to get them to germinate.
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@Kime I do what @CoffeeCherry does with my hardy seedlings (JBP, JRP, JWP, Scots, etc.). My seedlings are put on the ground in a sheltered (from direct sun and wind) area in their pots (regardless of size), mulched to the top of the pot, and left to winter’s effects. I’ve had great success with this in the Greater Toronto Ontario area. On average I have 30-50 seedlings each year.
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@Bob_McCarlie big thanks. Yep, I’m going to do some outside and the other in the unheated, unattached garage. They were actually easier to get going than I thought and I know it’s not for everybody (i.e. my local buddies) because it’s slow but I really enjoyed the process. One question — after germination and stem turns violet color, do you remove the initial roots, and replant? I tried 6 of them, and maybe dum luck but they all took. Would love to hear more of your process(es), when time permits, around substrate(s) used, when you may put movement into them (>1 yr(?)), etc. etc.
@Kime No I have never done the initial root prune… never had the guts to do it. 
The claim for doing it is to keep initial branching low on the trunk. However, I wire the seedlings in the fall as the trunks are hardending and put big bends in them then. That has let me keep new buds for the next spring low on the trunk and thus essentially doing the same thing as cutting the young seedling, without the risk of killing the seedling.
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