I started growing a bonsai seed. Was doing well then suddenly died. These seeds I have must be at least 20 years old, have never been refrigerated and have been in plastic bags all of these years. I have this kit that my uncle gave my mom many years ago. So, I thought I would plant one just to see if it would germinate or not. I was so shocked to see a baby seedling about a month or two later. The vague booklet said to plant them in a mixture of vermiculite and perlite that came in the kit along with some leaf mold that also came with it. The booklet also said to water it every day. I was afraid to water so often so I watered every other day. Do you think this is why it died?? I would be so grateful for any help or advice anyone can give me.
tinkerbell
Has anyone grown a bonsai from seed??
Perlite and vermiculite are only good until the seed do germinate, after that the little tree need nutrients and you must put it in some soil with some compost to provide some energy and other materials that the plant need to grow.
I feel that the cause of your little tree death was that all the carbohydrate available from the seed was used and the inert medium starved it to death.
cristina
Wow!! Thanks so much for your help Cristina!! I am soooo happy to know what the cause of my seedlings death was so that I can prevent it in the future. I wish the kit that I have said something more about what to do after the seed germinated. At least I know now. Thanks again for your help!!:o)
Here is a Privet from seed. 5 inches high, about 5 years old.
aTinkerbell, I'm really surprised that your seed germinated. Too bad you didn't have better instructions with it. I have 40 year old Jap. Pagoda tree that i greww from seed. Will try to post some bonsai pictures when I find a few minutes from all the planting that is very necessary right now. Donna
Thank you Ulrich and Donna! Been a while since I've had the chance to check in here. I would love to see a picture of your Jap. Pagoda tree Donna. I'll be sure to keep checking in to see if you've posted a picture of your bonsai tree. One of these days I'd love to try again. When/if I ever get around to starting a bonsai tree from seed I'll be sure to do some research beforehand. :)
I have a 6 year old japanese maple grove (5 trees) I started from seeds (off my mature tree in the front yard).....I'll send a pic once they break dormancy, right now it would be a pic of planted sticks. LOL
RikerBear
I have a little grove - 3 Honey Locust trees, that also would look like sticks but I see the buds are swelling. If I don't forget I will take a picture of my quince when it blooms, the buds are looking good right now. I also have a lilac bonsai that is quite small, it is about 7" tall. I have had it for four years and it always blooms. Donna
hi all. steve here...new to dave's, first night. i have started black pine, zelkova, red maple,dawn redwood,acorns from seed this winter. all the seeds needed cold stratification of 30 to 90 days, except the redwood which can be sown right away after soaking in water for 24hrs. the red maples are still germinating in the fridge. what i do is moisten a paper towel then place seeds on towel and overlap towel then put in ziplok bag in the lettuce compartment and wait. check once a week to make sure paper towel is still moist. my pines started germinating after 60 days right in the fridge, also the zelkova. once several seeds germinate i plant all of that variety. i use a seed starting mix and ad vermiculite for drainage. cover the flats with plastic wrap and wait for the show. in 20yrs. i hope to have some bonsai. haha. i plan on growing several in the ground for faster growth.
A year later, removed wire.
Tinkerbell, here is another "perhaps" as to what happened to your seedling. If this seed was part of a kit, I'm guessing it was a pine of some sort. You didn't really say, but they use pine seeds in these kits a lot. Pine seedlings are susceptible to "damping off" which is caused by a fungus at the soil level. Did the seedling just go mushy at the soil level and then fall over and wither? If so, that was damping off. In that case, yes, you may have been overwatering it. If you try this again in the future, you may want to treat the soil and seeds with a mild fungicide and you should increase your chances of success. Commercially also, you can buy seed starter soil mix which is designed to help eliminate some of these problems.
Good luck!
Promises, promises!
Ok, where are all those follow-up pictures you guys were talking about? LOL