How to grow bonsai at home from seeds: step by step instructions

Plant seeds you can simply collect from nearby trees or buy them in the online store.

Indoor bonsai is a constant care item, an object of contemplation, an important element of feng shui and a heirloom that is inherited. Growing a tree from plant seeds can bring you complete creative satisfaction and rave reviews. Despite the fact that it will take quite a long time (at least three years) before you can begin to fully care and shape the tree, this is the only way to grow a bonsai from the very beginning at home.!

How to grow bonsai at home from seeds

If you collect seeds from trees growing in your area (such as pine or maple), then it is best not to plant them in the fall, but if you want to plant them in the spring, or if you want to grow a tree that is not typical for your climate, then plant seeds will need stratify.

There is no such thing as “special bonsai seeds” – bonsai plants are created from ordinary trees

Stratification is the pretreatment of a plant’s seeds to simulate winter conditions, a kind of hardening. Growing and caring for a beginner florist can be difficult, so it is worth first germinating the seeds of local trees in the fall, just as it happens in natural conditions..

Where to get bonsai seeds, germination and care

You can harvest seeds from coniferous or deciduous trees in your region (spruce, pine, maple, oak, etc.) in the fall. Seeds, like fruits such as chestnuts or acorns, are easy to find in the forest..

Coniferous seeds can be found in pine cones.

After you collect pine, spruce, or cedar cones, you need to store them in a warm place so that the seeds stick out between the loosened scales..

Seeds of various types of trees can also be bought in special stores or online portals, where you can see photos of all available products.

The seeds of the sakura plant or other exotic trees can be obtained from China and have received mostly positive customer reviews. Exotic seeds can be used to make bonsai mix, which is easy to care for..

The germination ability of a seed depends on a number of factors:

From the quality and vitality of the seeds;
From ambient temperature;
From the way of collection and storage;
From how much time has passed since ripening.

It is advisable to use fresh seeds ripened this or last year; the seeds of some trees remain viable for a very short time.

The pine tree produces seeds that are viable for many years.

The plant’s seeds are biologically programmed to germinate in their native habitat when natural conditions are most favorable. For most species, this means seeds that are ripe in late summer and fall will be dormant during the winter and then germinate when the soil warms..

Germinating in spring, a young seedling has all spring, summer and autumn at its disposal to grow and strengthen for its first wintering..

Therefore, many seeds ripen all summer long, and, falling to the ground, do not grow, but hibernate under the snow, of course, if they are not eaten by birds or animals. Conifers especially suffer from animals – pine, cedar, various spruces.

Seeds can be stratified by simulating the effect of repeated freezing and thawing in the refrigerator during the winter, and then gradually warming the soil and increasing daylight hours.

Plant seeds should be rinsed in water for 5-6 hours and then placed in a damp plastic bag and left at room temperature for 3-4 days. Seeds that swell in water are viable, and any floating seeds are essentially empty shells, they will not germinate and must be removed, no matter how many..

Very small seeds can stick to the water due to the sagging of the surface film. They need to be shaken in water to see if they really swell and drown.

A plastic bag with seeds is placed at the bottom of the refrigerator, where the temperature is about 4 ° C. The bag is then gradually transferred to the top shelves in the refrigerator over two weeks until it hits the top shelf where the temperature is just above freezing. Over the second two-week period, the bag should be slowly moved down to the bottom of the refrigerator. After that, the seeds can be removed from the refrigerator and sown into the soil..

Bonsai: Getting to Know the Art (video)

How many bonsai grow from seeds

Growing a beautiful home bonsai from seed is a very long and difficult work process, but caring for such a bonsai is the highest pleasure. It can take years, or even more your entire life, but it’s worth it. Miniature pine, oak or cherry blossoms are incredibly beautiful.

Newbies usually buy ready-made bonsai seedlings in stores or online resources, but you can find plant seeds right in the forest in your area.

It is quite difficult to dig up a tree; you can damage its roots. This must be done in the first weeks of spring, before the start of sap flow.

Conifers – spruce, pine, fir – generally hardly tolerate transplanting, since they have a single-root system with very delicate root hairs. Seeds from trees in your region (not tropical or equatorial ones) are best planted in the fall so that they will start germinating in the spring. You need to start caring for them as soon as they appear from the soil..

In Japan, it is customary to grow family bonsai, care for them and pass them on from generation to generation. A tree lives for hundreds of years, maybe even a thousand or more, and what does human life mean before the practically eternal life of a tree? Conifers live the longest – sequoias live up to 4000 years.

How to care for bonsai: expert advice (video)

Bonsai carmona home care

Carmona or Fujian tea is one of the favorite types of tropical bonsai. Seeds and seedlings of the plant are readily available in online discounters, bonsai nurseries, and are sold on many online sites. In another way, it is called small-leaved carmona. Under natural conditions, it grows in the form of a small tree or shrub no more than 4 meters high. Carmona is distributed from India and Malaysia to the Philippines. Photos of karmona can be seen on many resources dedicated to floristry and bonsai.

Carmona has an attractive gray bark with dark, warty branches. Its small leaves are appropriate for even the smallest bonsai.

The tree is constantly wrapped in small white five-petal flowers. When pollinated, the flowers produce miniature red drupes. Although karmona is not as beautiful as cherry blossoms, many people find charm and beauty in it..

Carmona does not have a dormant period, it grows all year round. The tree grows upward, so you need constant care – you will have to twist the branches with wire to achieve curly shapes. The tree needs to be pinched constantly, but the lignified branches are almost impossible to bend.

Large scars on the bark practically do not heal, that is, you need to think about how to hide them in the bark. Caring for the bark consists in periodically etching it with a weak solution of potassium permanganate.

The main disadvantage of karmona is its attraction to insects, especially the mealybug, which can kill the tree. In addition, bonsai are affected by aphids and scale insects. Unfortunately, carmona is sensitive to many systemic pesticides, especially diazinone. Before spraying carmona with anything, try on a separate leaf, and if it does not turn black within 7 days, then you can process the whole plant.

All types of karmona have leaves with an uneven surface, similar to sandpaper with small gray spots. This is normal and not a consequence of insect infestation..

Fertilize the tree weekly, throughout the growth period. Do not fertilize newly acquired, transplanted or diseased trees.

The plant tolerates typical room temperatures, but should not be cooled below 12 ° C. Carmona likes humidity above 20-25%

It is best to keep the carmona on the south or west side of the house. If the window faces north or east, then you need to illuminate the plant with a fluorescent lamp from a distance of 10-15 cm for 10-12 hours every day.

It is very easy to grow a plant from fresh seeds. All you need to do is remove the juicy rind from the fruit, plant fresh seeds in the bonsai soil, and water lightly to keep the soil moist. The seeds will sprout within 4 weeks. Let them grow for a year, and then start shaping the trunk and crown with the wire. Stem cuttings are also very easy to root..

Bonsai pine from seeds (video master class)

This MK describes how to plant and germinate pine seeds for bonsai in the early stages. The correct care and maintenance conditions of the seedling will also be shown..

Part 1: where to start (video)

Part 2: the first shoots (video)

Podocarpus bonsai home care

Large-leaved podocarpus (Buddhist pine or yew) is a rather slow-growing evergreen tree, very often grown as a bonsai.

The podocarpus will grow well outdoors, but can also stand indoors. Place it in a well-lit place, protected from the midday sun.

It’s pretty easy to care for:

Water regularly, Buddhist pine does not like drought.
Top dressing – every two weeks during the growing season, in winter – in small amounts and less often.
You can trim at any time of the year. Regular pruning will help form a lush, beautiful crown..
Transplant every 2-3 years, avoid too much root cutting. Podocarpus prefers slightly acidic soil.
Propagation by cuttings, in summer.

Bonsai at home: decorative thuja (video)

The Bonsai culture came from Japan and China and is firmly established throughout the world. The most favorite bonsai are pine, yew, oak, as well as sakura and carmona. There are numerous guidelines on how to grow bonsai at home. To grow bonsai from seeds, you just need to collect them in a forest or park, or buy them from stationary or online stores. Japanese cherry trees are very popular – sakura, podocarpus, carmona, as well as conifers because of their unpretentiousness and exceptional beauty. Bonsai care is reduced to watering, feeding, replanting, protecting from pests and forming a crown by pruning and twisting with wire.