Hi everyone!

I recently planted a few black pine seeds around Aug 2019 with normal garden soil and a bit of sphagnum moss.

At the beginning, a few of the seeds sprouted, but only 1 survived till now. I recently reported it to a moisture of garden and akadama soil, and then I placed a layer of volcanic rock at the top for aesthetic purposes.

Pls advise whether I should be pruning it at this point, and if yes, is it safe to cut it at the tip (or where should I prune it..? Help!!)? If no, when can I start to safely prune it?

PS. I live in SG where there's sun all year round (apart from monsoon season which lasts about 1-2 months).

First thing to do is trying to get it trough the next few years, just keep it alive and well.
So no, better not to prune it until some suffcient growth.
You can start with reading this;
www.bonsaiempire.com/basics/cultivation/from-seeds

Thank you, FrankC!

You have put får too much stress on the tree allready by repotting.

My first year jbp is allready at 20 cm with a few branches allready emerging.

Just ler it be until you have more than 5 growing points more than 10 cm. By then it would be safe to cut a smäll part of the tips for ramification. Just leave a few to thicken the trunk and maintain health.

Tropfrog wrote:

You have put får too much stress on the tree allready by repotting.

Maybe, maybe not. I repotted them at this stage too.You can even do this (but I didn't, I only dut the long root)

bonsaitonight.com/2011/07/01/how-to-crea...japanese-black-pine/

That is likelly one more case of different climate. Jbp is not really hardy in my climate. I have to be far more careful with that species than People in better suitable climate.

Anyway....there are nothing to prune at this stage.

Tropfrog wrote:

That is likelly one more case of different climate. Jbp is not really hardy in my climate..

That's not really the case, as it's not done in winter.

Auk wrote:

That's not really the case, as it's not done in winter.

Hmm, what do you mean?

Tropfrog wrote:

Auk wrote:

That's not really the case, as it's not done in winter.

Hmm, what do you mean?

I'm a bit lost myself now

We were talking about repotting, you said that stressed the plants too much, I said not necessarily, then you started about climate, and I was referring to the fact that repotting wasn't really done in mid-winter as OP: lives "in SG where there's sun all year round (apart from monsoon season which lasts about 1-2 months)"

My point was that the tougher the climate the harder it is to keep the tree strong. The stronger the tree is, the more you can stress the tree. People in better climate might be able to insult the tree more than I can. Like potting up such small seedlings, proboably not possible here.