My favorite is the Bungeana...the Lace Bark Pine. When I say my favorite - I mean my favorite ANYTHING having to do with trees and plants.
I have a beautiful, young, Bungeana - a couple actually. Nursery stock - VERY hard to find in my area.
Here's the catch: They were grown from grafts -?- I assume? They're pretty leggy. Didn't care. (Like I said - FAVORITE!)
Some have decent back budding already... some do not. ALL have somewhat developed buds LOWER on the trunk - which it's exactly what they need to develop a solid base. Fair roots and healthy - but that's my PRIMARY focus right now for development. However, as a secondary goal I need those small, underdeveloped buds to ELONGATE if I'm going to do anything but field plant them in the future.
Here's what I'm seeing: EXTREMELY strong candles higher up in the tree. EVERYWHERE higher up in the tree. I need to refocus that energy to fill out and balance the tree.
AUXIN - suppresses bud development. But, according to R.N. it encourages additional budding... which I'll need, certainly, but which may also stifle the development of the existing smaller buds? Apparently?
I have watched his Willowbog lecture on pines so many times I could almost recite it... but I'm confused on the one point I most need right now. Do I cut the candles to ELONGATE the smaller, weaker buds lower in the tree - or just fertilize to encourage rampant growth?
Wheel it back?
Or let it run?
Get as much energy as I can following through the tree and THEN refocus that energy via management of the needles? OR try to bottle up that energy and redirect with removal of higher areas?
On one, I tried the latter - the lower buds aren't really moving. On another I tried the former... the lower buds aren't moving. On a third (... again - FAVORITE!) I did nothing, lower buds aren't moving.
How do I get them to move?
Photos attached. Colorado, US.