名媛直播

Hello everyone!

I've never had a hobby other than golf or fishing, and I've never been part of a forum community related to a hobby. So, have patience with me.

I just bought a starter kit today that included seeds for four trees.

Do you have any helpful startup tips?

Hello and welcome.
Tips.... where to start.....
First of all: starter kits are basically scams. The seed in these kits are not bonsai seed , that does not exist. These seeds ( if they sprout) will - if left untouched- will grow out to become full grown trees. The seeds in these kits are from unknown age, and sometimes from unknown species.
Second: horticulture is thé main knowledge to have when growing trees/bonsai. If your plant isn’t healthy you can’t do anything bonsai-ish to it. Going back to your seeds: where are they now, and where do you plan on keeping them. If your answer is inside, they will die. There is no such thing as an indoor tree.
Again:íf your seeds will sprout, and íf you treat them like they need, there is a chance that they will become bonsai. A bonsai is created by a multitude of techniques, executed on specific times in the year/season, depending on a lot of variables and this during decades. So, if all goes well, you will end up with something remotely looking like a bonsai in about 10-15 years.
A better way to start with bonsai is buy a cheap Chinese elm or something like that, and learn to keep it alive first. Meanwhile you can study horticulture, and bonsai related techniques. This site has excellent online courses, YouTube is packed with usefull info, this forum is a good place to ask questions.
Might be overwhelming a bit, but bonsai is a marathon,not a sprint so, no rush.

I started off by buying a ficus pot at a nursery with like three trees, they weren't bonsai trained. I split them out and repotted them into 3 separate pots and I try to keep them alive now.

Buying as seeds wasn't an option for me, I don't have the patience, yet. Buying an already bonsai tree wasn't an option as well, I wanted something I trained in, buying it didn't felt like an achievement itself. Money can buy anything but you don't get the satisfaction.

Starting from seeds, at least to me, requires a lot more experience than keeping a tree alive. So I started by making sure I can care for it first. Then I fell in a rabbit hole, I dug up some seedlings to have more various species, I bought some older trees (still not bonsai trained). And I check everyday if they need anything like water (I don't water everyday, I check).

So far, I killed one of my first ficus and it was due to a bad soil, the soil retained the water and it died. I almost killed a Portulacaria, these are succulents, not really trees and needs dry environment, I watered it like there's no tomorrow and almost killed it. Changing for a more draining soil and watering less brought it back to life.

To me, key of starting off is practice, trying, lower my ambitions (at least for now) and a lot of YouTube videos. Here are some I like if you're interested

• , he's based in the same climate as I am so his tips might be more helpful to me than someone on the other side of the earth.
• , really relaxing and satisfying to watch, I think he's a bit less careful sometime since he has over 50 years of experience, but he goes through a lot of topics (a bit fast, maybe) and has a lovely mindset. I thinks he likes to propagate that 名媛直播 are easy, but sometimes forget we are not all experienced with plants caring.
• , has just a few videos, but I like how he explain. But be careful, if english is not your mother language, is British accent might makes it more complicated, or satisfying, depending on how you like it
• 
  , Most of their videos are on mature material and really well grown, still, tips are useful.

And the very best tips I had:
Don't do everything people tells you. People from different climate can give advice that might not work out for you.
Start off with trees native to your region, you already know that they grow well where you live.

Hope this helps.

I would add just one thing to nboisvert.

Find a group near you. They know what the climate is like, they know what trees do well there, etc.

There may be someone who sprouted way too many seeds and wants to give you six little trees. Someone may have some pots to get rid of cheap.

I once bought a bonsai starter kit from a fundraiser when I was a kid. Basically it was a terracotta pot with some pine seeds. I grew the seeds, but they eventually died after a few weeks because I kept them indoors. That was my mistake.

If you are going to get into bonsai, a starter kit isn't necessary. Most people would say they are a scam, but I personally wouldn't always say that. It really depends. In my opinion, a starter kit isn't the best because growing bonsai from seeds takes forever. But yes, in some cases they are a scam. They might send you the wrong seeds. And possibly possibly invasive species.

What most people would do is propagating a cutting, picking up a small tree from the wild, or simply buying a small tree. Then prune and wire them. I recommend starting with a blue point juniper (AKA Chinese juniper or juniperus chinensis). Those are the most commonly used species for bonsai and most people's start into the hobby.