Hey ppl.

Last season I collected this little ungly Slash Pine (I got other two (way nicer), but they died because I couldn't preserve much of the roots, this one came out with a nice rootball).

It was on a shady spot under other trees, so because of that it's necky and has very long old needles (even for a slash pine), but I think it can be shaped lower by bending, right?

As you can see by the pictures, it is full of new candles, but it's envased on mostly the poor soil that came with it.

So what should I do next? Repot? Plant on the ground? With or without root work/inspection?
I have no experience with pines.

Pines dont really like to be repotted too often. I would leave it in this pot at least for two seasons. If you want to put more mowement into the trunk you can do that before.

Thanks Tropfrog.

Done... It's already looking better, and I kinda can see a path for it now.

I also cleaned the top of the pot, added more soil and fertilized ir for the first time (with castor cake).

I've also took a peak on the border of the pot to see how are the roots doing, and It seems very good and healthy.

Hey guys!

So, it has been almost two years that I've collected my ugly pine.
It developed healthy tru this growing season, it thickened well, gave me some good ramifications to work on it's structure and developed a decent base.

After about a year thinking a way for it, I have decided to go for Bunjin Literati style, I'm not much of a Literati fan, but I think it suits this tree.
Maybe a big Moyogi would fit it too, but I think I would have to graft a scion on the bottom to make the first branch, so I decided to let this option for a more suitable material, once I have it.

So I've decided to put some new techniques for me to practice, and give it a style.

This you'll see on the trunk is a native palm tree's leaf fiber that I've made myself, raffia is kinda expansive and hard to find here, so I came up with this idea and tested, seems ok, also looking forward to test with joshua tree leaves.

And I've made my first Jin, very proud of it, lol.

On your left will be the crown, and that branch on the right is planed to be a Jin also on the future.
I feel like I've got some progress on it, and I'm actually learning something, hahaha.
Any comment will be apreciated, thanks for being this awesome community, sorry for the long text.

Very nice, thanks for sharing!