Lots of rain this Spring already, which means lots of fertilizer through cakes being pumped into these 5 year old seedlings.  I've even got a few cones going, though I doubt these would produce viable seeds.  I'll probably remove these soon, I just thought it was neat to see these developing.

These pines are in colanders being grown out with the Bonsai Today 20 technique.

I thought you broke candles?

ok, thanks.   

Andrew, have you tried hot pepper? When I set out fert cakes, I put a drop or two of Tabasco sauce on each one to keep away the tree rats and their cutesy striped cousins. So far, at least, it has worked very well.

Red pepper won't deter birds: they can't taste capsaicin, the "hot" component. But mammals can. (And the only mammal that eats capsaicin by choice is Homo sapiens.  )

Steve, they don't "taste" it because some where in the evolution of birds they lost the receptors. ;-}

John

Andrew, have you tried hot pepper? When I set out fert cakes, I put a drop or two of Tabasco sauce on each one to keep away the tree rats and their cutesy striped cousins. So far, at least, it has worked very well.

I can attest to the fact that tabasco, texas pete, habanero sauce, and cayenne pepper powder (and those weber hot shots grill things) did NOTHING to deter my lab from  eating the cakes.  The only thing I've found to keep her away from my fertilizer cakes is a fence.

Not this early in the development, not for what I'm trying to accomplish at this point, on these trees.  

Right now I'm going for big strong growth to thicken the trunk.  On older, more refined trees I may (will?) break overly long candles in mid April, to rebalance energy on the tree.  These are not there, yet.

Do you reduce the leader to one candle?