Eric shares the progress of his submissions to Bonsai Nut's "2018 Six Year Japanese Black Pine Contest". The winner of this contest will be whoever grows the best tree from seed over the course of six growing seasons. Eric began with five trees.

00:00:51 Fall repotting and thinning on needles of Eric's most promising result.

00:01:43 Combing roots and clearing out soil.

00:02:07 Root problems! Root cutback.

00:03:09 Sacrifice branch removal.

00:03:50 Prepping pot (https://www.bonsaify.com/products/mit...) and repotting tree.

00:04:37 Extra caution regarding soil - no air pockets! Multiple rounds of adding smaller size soil.

00:06:19 Needle removal to clean-up tree's aesthetic.

00:07:00 Eric shares the other trees he began for the contest, beginning with the healthiest (though not the tree ready for contest submittal).

00:07:47 Tree #3 needs an angle change and has an interesting base.

00:08:54 Tree #4 is sadly, dead. (Hey, it happens to all of us at one time or another!) Eric previously shared a video about this tree:    • Bonsaify | Japanese Black Pine Bonsai...  

00:09:12 Back to the first tree, with an analysis from Eric of aftercare requirements to keep the tree healthy.

Have you been participating in this Bonsai Nut contest? Share your experiences growing pines from seed in the comments below. Thank you for watching; please give this video a like and share it with your bonsai friends!

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