Hey,
I have a JWP in development and i’ve repotted it into a grow pot in the spring just past after 4 years in the ground.
My question is when do i reduce the strong leader so i can start to transition the energy to the lower branches that i want to keep for the design so they don’t become weak?
I’m letting it grow for a year to rebuild the root system but i’m just wondering how long do i wait until making that chop and taking off the strong leader? Will i do it next spring 2025 or 2026?
This JWP is just a small project that i’m working on and its nothing of value just yet.
I will provide pictures soon.
Thanks
How much more girth are you going for 20-50%+ or more? You might want to check out the telperian farms field growing podcast. I also believe last weeks Q&A had a few JBP with this similar question at different stages, might be worth seeing how closely they align with your stage.
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I am not familiar with field growing/ developing JWP but I do have a lot of Scots pine in various stages of development in grow bags in raised beds and also containers with long sacrifice leaders.
There may be some specific species nuances for JWP compared to Scots pine, but as a single flush species I suspect they will be closer to Scots than JBP.
Having said that most of what I have learnt is trying to adapt the JBP techniques to a single flush pine. I figure apart from not decandelling they are likely to need similar development techniques.
The main aim is to try as far as possible to balance out the energy between the sacrifice leader and the part of the tree you want to keep. The natural tendency is that the growth in the leader will be much stronger and divert energy from the lower branches you want to keep. Trying to manipulate this is the key. Also bear in mind the thickness of the sacrifice leader and the size of wound it will leave behind when you remove it. Having a second sacrifice leader may be useful which you can transition to when you remove the first. So the stumps are a smaller but this will lead to overall slower thickening. When it comes to removing the sacrifice it is best to do this gradually over the course of a year to prevent shock to the tree.
It all depends on the tree and your goals. If you post some photos of the sacrifice leader and the growth on the lower part of the tree and give us some indication on how much thicker you might want the trunk and overall intention for the tree I might be able to give some more specific advice.
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Hey,
Ok here is a picture of my JWP. I have spent many years growing this in the ground to get a thicker trunk but i would like to start transitioning the energy to grow the lower branches.
I’m not sure on the final design so i have wired branches differently for when i decide to go ahead with what i choose
