名媛直播

For my birthday the other month, my girl got me a Black Pine bonsai-in-a-cup kit. Once I had soaked up and re-assembled my melted heart, I decided (not too popular perhaps) to try and do a naturalistic forest style stand of black pine bonsai trees. I wanted to create a landscape that had some natural root obstacles and such, then plant the seeds and let them grow out naturally, watching the way certain of the trees reacted to the proximity of "boulders" and the like.

HOWEVER, about 1 month later only one seedling has broken the surface. I am of course stoked as all get-out about said seedling, but it is some way short of what I wanted, as you'll imagine.

- Do you think it's a case that some of the seeds in the 'bonsai-in-a-cup' set weren't viable?
- Have I used the wrong soil? What you see in the pictures is a mix of the special soil that came in the 'mug' set (I assume pretty tailor made for a black bine bonsai), surrounded by a bed of special soil that I got from a local hardware store, advertised as being good for black pine bonsai. I'm wondering if I was wrong about the special soil? Did I miss something in translation? Is it perhaps just an anti-insect top layer, or something similarly inappropriate for seedlings?
- Or does it just look like I have to be patient, and the other ones will come up in their own time?
- Should I put a layer of real soil, or maybe Spagnum moss, or somesuch, on top of what you can see, to hold in a bit more moisture, perhaps? The container is very well drained~ But naturally the success of one of the seedlings suggests that this kind of thing might not be the cause of the problems~

..so many questions....

First let me explain that your "bonsai " seeds will NOT turn into bonsai on their own: they are just normal tree seeds that will grow into normal full size trees.
That being said: these seeds follow the normal routine of nature iow they sprout after a cold period and in a medium that is favorable for them.

So, what you should have done is or put them in the freezer for a while and plant them , or plant them in autumn, just leave them outside during winter and watch them sprout in autumn.
Once sprouted you just do what every general gardener would do: keep them alive, place them in a bigger pot when needed, or just plant them in the garden/growing field for 5 years or so, after which you can start training it to becoming something remotely looking like a bonsai another 10-15 years later.

hope this helps a bit...

Sorry, are questions taxing?

thanks for the info well it looks like it's a case of watching and waiting, if nothing else! They came as 'bonsai' seeds, I gather, at least they came in a back specifically named a 'bonsai' pack. It's a pretty grungy way to get my hands on them, but them's the breaks I guess i'll just wait them out longer. One of them has come up and seems to be going well (the second of my photos) so I'll live in hope!

I guess my key wondering is whether the soil I've used is best or not. As you didn't mention it, I suppose I'll have to wait and see if anyone else knows~ I'm dying to know if the soil in the first photo is the right kind~
thanks very much

There is no "right" kind of soil for seedlings , anything where a plant grows in is ok.Remember , a seedling a such has nothing to do with bonsai, it's purely horticultural .if you want to buy expensive bonsai soil then that's fine, but totally useless ( because your normal potting soil would do the trick too...)
Your seeds have been labelled " bonsai" seeds so they can be sold 10 times more expensive.

thanks again.
the soil was pretty cheap I'm just wondering if it's hard for roots to grow in, it seems to be made up mostly of small chunks, rather than mulchy, rich soil as one would usually expect~ Maybe that's just my naivety speaking~
i dunno if they were labelled any such way, they came in a 'bonsai kit', so i guess they'll serve as 'bonsai' seeds as well as any others... and as they were a birthday present i dunno how much they cost
it rather seems like i've learned little here except how hopeless I am about my chosen hobby well anyway, i'll just sit back and see how the trees grow~ I live in Japan in a neighborhood of old people with very pretty gardens, so I guess if I want real help I aughta bone up on my Japanese and ask those folks

tajimishiRich wrote: it rather seems like i've learned little here except how hopeless I am about my chosen hobby well anyway, i'll just sit back and see how the trees grow~ I live in Japan in a neighborhood of old people with very pretty gardens, so I guess if I want real help I aughta bone up on my Japanese and ask those folks

patience grasshopper, a journey of a 1000 miles starts with one step.
Being in japan i'm sure you will find lots of places to go, bonsai nurseries to visit and people to ask for help. Doing bonsai is not something you learn in a few days: i have really green fingers, but started with bonsai about 6 years ago and still feel i don't know much ... but the same thing happened when i started with jujutsu, am doing that for 7 years , feel like i know less every time , but i did become a black belt all of a sudden.