Good job, Nate
Extreme nature from so near!
The apophisis is rather killerish for human hands.
Zsolt

Prickly ponderosa!

Nice pics...

Thanks Zsolt and Alex.

Took another dig at the Ponderosa Project today.
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My little ponderosa from this year (2013) growing up stubbornly where other conifers died

Looks great! Please keep us posted on how it does.

Well, after good germination rate on vermiculite soil inside a plastic box (100% humidity), the seedlings struggled to root and survive so I took them to two different soils with various results.
Three of them went to a river bank with a soil rich on sand but essentially clay. they didn't make it.

The ones in pots with standard garden soil (compost rich in organic matter) did very well and thrived to reach 8 cm (3") tall, and that compared to the Scots pine I grew last year means they're growing fast

Looks good, raulkender!