I am mostly new to bonsai trees, had one many years ago, but have wanted to have another again. Today I purchased a small, few years old, Japanese Black Pine unpotted. I have a bonsai pot and media, will be getting the fertiliser and mycorrhiza to pot it. My main question is about placement. I read these like outdoor year round except for the occasional extreme of heat or cold. I live in a hardiness zone 6. I am concerned about placing it outside after potting it after I imagine it has always been in room temperature, since potting and then the sudden drop 40-50 degrees might be too much for the young plant. So should I keep it inside until Spring and then move it outside permanently? I appreciate any advice.

I am not sure why you assume they were kept indoors. If you bought them as bare-rooted seedlings, they will have come from a growing field somewhere, and kept in cold storage for sale. Under warm conditions bare-rooted seedlings do not survive long.

Get them in substrate as soon as possible. No need for fertilizer, and you can add fungi later. Getting the roots into substrate again as soon as possible is a huge factor in surviving.

In zone 6 the tree will benefit from some protection in the coldest time of winter. Cold frame, unheated greenhouse or a shed.

Japanese black pines are rated cold hardiness zone 5. Normally they should be able to deal with zone 6 when in a pot. Only the most extreme cold weather might be a challenge. Just keep in mind what kills bonsai in winter: www.growingbonsai.net/what-kills-bonsai-in-winter/

Did you write that article Leatherback?
Very useful.

Yeah. But not just recently

Thank you all for the information. The plant has been potted. I couldn't find mycorrhiza so I will wait on that and fertiliser until Spring I guess. I placed it on the ground where it will receive full afternoon sun. In the next week the lowest temperature forecasted is 17 degrees Fahrenheit, so I'm assuming it will be ok? And finally, we may receive quite a bit of snow in the next few days, should it be under some sort of shelter? Is being covered in snow a problem? Thank you again.

Always look at nature: do trees hide from snow, frost, rain?

lucR wrote: Always look at nature: do trees hide from snow, frost, rain?

The right question would be, if given an umbrella, would they use it, I think.
:woohoo:

leatherback wrote:

lucR wrote: Always look at nature: do trees hide from snow, frost, rain?

The right question would be, if given an umbrella, would they use it, I think.
:woohoo:

imagining it now... :lol: :lol: