Got candles? JBP development

Just wanted to share a couple pics of a shohin Japanese Black Pine under development, highlighting the difference in candle size between the sacrifice branch that was not decandled last year, and the lower branches that were decandled.

In the areas that were decandled last year, this year's first flush candles are currently 1/2 to 1 inch long. They will be a fair bit larger by the time I decandle again in the end of June or beginning of July.

In contrast, the sacrifice branch that was not decandled last year has candles up to 16 inches long currently. I'm going to let them continue to grow at least 1 more year, but possibly even 2-3 years, depending on how much trunk thickening I get.

This is how you get a thicker trunk on a shohin sized tree. Decandeling the areas you plan to use in your final design, while allowing sacrifice growth in other areas.