I'm no expert, but I read a lot on the container garden forum. You might want to check into bonsai soil or Al's gritty mix.

Are you going to name it "Methuselah II?" After its famous relative out in California?

I don't know a lot about mountain plants, but my gut tells me they like wetter conditions than their neighbors down here. The high country gets a lot more precipitation than we do. But they also probably prefer fast drainage. A lot of mountain soil is made up of decomposed granite and very porous.

That's a a hard combination to get right. So, once you figure out the conditions that they like, and if it turns out they like moist, but fast draining soils, maybe go with the gritty mix, but put it somewhere it gets hit by a sprinkler when they come on? Just brainstorming here and I could be totally off.

Hey this might help, there's a section on "site characteristics" that might be good!

http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/pinari/all.html#

"Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine is most common on dry slopes. Slopes are typically steep (20-35°), and aspects are usually south- or west-facing, although Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine may occur on any aspect with well-drained soil...Annual precipitation received varies greatly on Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine sites in the central Rocky Mountains. For example, Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine stands near Pike's Peak on the Front Range receive as little as 16 inches (410 mm) of annual precipitation, while stands further west in the Sawatch and San Juan ranges receive 40.2 and 59.8 inches[Mean annual precipitation is 34 to 45 inches/year]...Soils supporting Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine are cold, and generally nutrient-poor and acidic...typically skeletal and shallow, ranging from 2 to 4 inches (5-10 cm) deep...Parent materials for Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine soils vary. In Colorado, granite and extrusive igneous-derived soils are most common"

They say "dry slopes" but, 45-60" of precipitation is about 3-4 times as much as we get here on the plains. Interestingly, they grow on acidic rather than alkaline soils, ranging in pH from 5.1 to 7.7. (I guess the granite has something to do with that, according to the fact sheet).

Personally, I wouldn't worry a lot about trying to duplicate ideal soil conditions in the pot - lol, I suppose if you are really determined you could go up into the hills and dig up some soil from the area where the bristlecones are growing (is that even legal? dunno,) but "soil" really doesn't do well in a pot - it compacts, etc. I would just get some good potting mix - Black Gold perhaps - and pot up the little seedling. Once the tree is big enough to plant out doors - a bit more growth, another year of root growth - then you can worry about a proper site for the plant and trying to prepare the soil for it. Overwintering it in the pot may be tricky, but it should be OK if you sink the pot down into the soil in a protected area for the winter.

Good luck! Someday I hope to have a Bristlecone pine in my garden - have tried and killed two of them so far. :-( I have great hopes of finding the ideal cultivar at Kirk's nursery in Fort Collins (LaPorte Avenue Nursery)

Holly

Msty,

Congrats on your new tree! You can use a good potting mix, but pines want good drainage and you may be inclined to water too often. I'd go bigger than a one gallon pot and plan on checking the pot for moisture a couple of times a week. If you water a bristlecone daily, you're likely to drown it. If using a black pot, tuck it inside a more decorative pot that will shield the pot from the sun, so you aren't baking the roots, but keep the top of the plant in full sun.

The 2 main versions of Tapla's mix are below. Either will work and give you better drainage than a standard potting mix. For the first mix, I substituted Sunshine #1 potting soil for the peat/perlite. For the second mix, I couldn't find Turface, so substituted Napa Floor Dry (diatomaceous earth). For pine bark, I use Soil Pep (pine bark fines). I didn't screen the mix and and didn't have problems with it.

I agree with oakiris, for winter you'll want to either bury the pot or slip it out of it's pot and overwinter it in ground.

I love bristlecones, I have 2, a standard species and a grafted 'Blue Bear' from Kirk at LaPorte. I also killed a 3rd, a standard species from O'Tooles that I didn't acclimate properly before planting, my bad. Pines can burn, especially if it's been shaded for a long while or came from an area of the country that doesn't have our intense sun. Harden it off over a period of time, start with half day of sun and gradually increase the hours.

Tapla's mix:

Small batch:

3 gallons pine bark

1/2 gallon peat

1/2 gallon perlite

4 tbsp lime (or gypsum in some cases)

1/4 cup Controlled Release fertilizer

Tapla's mix for long term potted woody plants:

1 part uncomposted screened pine or fir bark (1/8-1/4")

1 part screened Turface

1 part crushed Gran-I-Grit (grower size) or #2 cherrystone

1 Tbsp gypsum per gallon of soil

Controlled release Fertilizer

Thanks everyone!

Like that link you gave, Zach - lots of interesting info there. I never
heard of Methuselah (all the years I lived in CA, too!), so looked it up
- wow, how beautiful!
http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/photos/the-worlds-10-oldest-living-trees/methuselah.
Would be really cool if my little got to be that old, even if I'll have
been waaaay long gone by then. Incredible that tree is believed to be
4600 years plus (and the site I found that age estimate was written back
in 2003, so add another 13 years!).

I think I'll skip going up to the mountains to get the perfect soil,
oakiris - lol. Although it's kind of tempting! I like popmama's, yours
and treebarbs suggestions for soils I can buy nearby instead :)

Treebarb - thanks so much for the recipes! And so cool that you have 2
bristlecone pines! I'm going to try the first type - I went to HD this
afternoon, but they didn't have everything. I picked up some MG organic
soil mix, since it said it contained processed forest products, peat
moss, and coir. I also picked up the lime. I have a lot of pine needles
in my yard from neighbors trees - would they made a good substitute for
the pine bark in your recipe (maybe if I break them down to small
pieces)? If not, we have some pine logs I could break off some bark
from. I still need to get the perlite (forgot to get it), but I just
now noticed the Nature
Care soil mix has fertilizer in it as well (I picked it because I
thought it didn't as I wanted to add the slow release fertilizer
that I already had). So now I'm not sure it I should use this mix or
not. I did stop by O'Tooles on my way home to check what they had, and
prices - but they were closing as I drove up. So will stop there
tomorrow before I make up my batch.

Thanks for the tips and caution on over-caring for it - I'm going to
really try not to do that (been there done that in the past ;)

Pine needles are good for mulch, not so much for using in potting mixes. You'll be getting poked a lot checking soil moisture.

I'd look for composted pine bark fines, it's sometimes sold as Soil Pep. O'Toole's should have something similar. It'd be quite a pain to chip off enough pine bark from logs into small enough pieces to mix in. The Soil Pep comes in a big bag, more than you'd need for one pot. You can mix the rest in with compost for your plantings or veggie beds.

Is the MG Nature Care a potting soil or garden soil? You definitely want potting soil. I would add perlite if it doesn't have it. After a few weeks I think most of the fertilizer in the mix will have leached out and you'd be fine adding in the slow release fertilizer to the top of the pot.

Have water handy as you mix. Peat can be really difficult to moisten.

I've been there, killed that a few times! Pines in pots are very different than annuals or perennials. It's really easy to overwater them.

Tapla's mix is same as Al's gritty mix. If you don't want to make your own, you can purchase a close mimic online from Bonsai Jack. I have made several purchases from them and have been quite pleased. Shipping is included.