Japanese Black Pine, new growth

Horticulture
1

Hello all

I over wintered some Young JBP in an unheated room for my cold winter in Vermont.

The window was open all winter, except one day when the room dropped below 28 degrees.

I run a intake and a exhaust fan to keep the room between 30-40 degrees F

January and February have been pretty cold and the room has averaged out at about 35 degrees F

The pines are pushing new growth already, they started pushing during the coldest month of the year, February

Is this a normal thing?

I don’t have the same species in my overwintering shed so I don’t have anything to compare it too, but the native white pines are not pushing new growth

I used no fertilizer of any type and watered once a week
I did apply Eden base a few times as it is supposed to help with heat and cold tolerance so I figured it can’t hurt as it has no nitrogen in it.

Any insight would be great, Thank you!!

2

It is not unusual for trees that are kept mostly above freezing to push out early. They have seen their required days for dormancy (generally below 40F, 4.4C). Japanese Black Pine is a coastal pine that does not need too much cold dormancy, and I have found that they can’t handle temperatures much below 15-20F (-9.4 to -6.7C). I have not checked mine that were stored under similar conditions, but I would expect them to start growing now that we are seeing temperatures well above 40F.

3

As always
Thanks for your input.