Growing a bonsai tree from scratch is the ultimate success story for any bonsai artist. Most of us will settle for purchasing a developed tree, learning of a few tips here and there to care for it along the way, hoping that we don’t do anything to end its strange little existence.
The more adventurous of us, however, will learn to prune and shape the tree as it grows year on year. There are some brave people though, who take things into their own hands and grow bonsai from seed.
It seems impossible that a tree can grow from seed, but they do in fact do just that. They can, of course, be brought on from seedlings, cuttings or offshoots, but when growing from seed, first phase of completion is germination.
In the natural world, early growth of the seed is stimulated by the cold and damp of winter – the shell softens and bacteria of the soil aids the process. By planting the seed in the fall, it will begin its transformation slowly and naturally. Artificially, the same natural scenario needs to be created. ‘Cold Stratification,' the name given to the process, is a simulation of the natural process whereby the seed is placed in a container in a refrigerator.
Germination, may take up to a year or longer to occur, with seeds starting to germinate in the second following spring. Time will vary, however, depending on the climate and the type of seed.
The seed needs to be sown approximately ½ to ¼ inch deep in a container of good drainage and fertilization is always helpful to bring the seed on. This must only be in moderation for the bonsai, however. In early spring to mid-summer when the soil gets warmer, fertilize only once per month with 10-10-10 NKP (nitrogen, phosphates, potassium). An indoor pot can be manipulated with a heat lamp but is far more time consuming.
Finding the right balance of temperature and moisture level will come naturally after practise and experience but can also be monitored with the use of garden equipment such as a moisture gauge which works in a similar way as a thermometer. Keeping the soil moist is important but care must be taken not to over-water. Over-watering will just as easily kill a developing plant as under watering.
During the year, monitor the seed’s progress, and the following year and the following year. No one said this would be a quick process, growing bonsai from seed takes several years and lots of patience!
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