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When I stratify in the fridge I don't like to use a medium that is the same color as the seeds. Its a guaranteed way to lose them when you are ready to sow. Paper towels in a bag works just as well. I would also recommend using a heat mat and humidity dome to increase your germination rates...

Yup, a second on the notion that door or window screen is too small

First I'll start with a 2024 success: Overwintered a Sango-kaku Japanese maple. (I'm zone 5 and the tree is a zone 6) Now my goals: Started some hardwood cuttings of JM, Atlas Cedar and Bald Cypress. I'll be happy if even one grows. Started a wide variety of seeds both fall planted and fridge...

I'm game. I have started English Oaks. 30 in pots and about 20 sown into the ground.

Overwintering anything that is hardy to your area requires that the soil be kept moist. It seems counterintuitive but watering them well before a freeze actually insulates the roots. Plants will go through many freeze and thaw cycles throughout winter because of warm days and freezing nights...

Have you checked your soil acidity?

I am located in Logan, Utah and have found a source of pumice. Both are sold in 50 lb bags and there are two grades, 3/8 and 5/16. Here is the link. you w need to contact them for shipping quotes. https://steveregan.com/search?q=Pumice+

Go and order from Chief River Nursery. They can do bulk orders like what your friend is looking for. They take orders now and ship in the spring.

Yup, found one that has acclimated quite well.

Collected a single cone this summer and now have about 40 seeds. I have consulted Dirr and Heuser and a two month cold stratification is recommended. my questions come from relating that knowledge to my zone 4 environment. Our winters are much longer than two months. seeds are currently being...

Fall 2022, had no luck with the above mentioned cuttings for the blue atlas cedar. Found a pine cone from the same tree this summer and will try seeds instead. One question, when attempting hardwood cuttings do you root from the branch or the whorl?

The important factor is this. Are all those trees cold hardy to your USDA zone? for Example if you have a genus of tree that is cold hardy to zone 7 and you live in zone 5a there is nothing you can do to keep that tree alive outside overwinter. If any trees aren’t hardy to your zone than you...

I have pinus densiflora and the bag says no pretreatment is needed. I was going to put mine in a seedling tray around late April. I have no idea for the others. Where do you buy your seeds from?

I read this in one of my books. I, being a beginner am guilty of it. “Do not compare/copy your tree to another, even if they are the same species.” and “Pictures are 2D and cannot represent an actual specimen in its full glory.” I used to look at bonsai pics and wonder what I would need to do...

I am trying hardwood cuttings of Cedrus Atlantica I have 15 or so. Would guess the wood is two or three years old. Stuck in paver sand, and are now frozen in my backyard. All of us would recommend this book. Simply put, it’s a gold mine for propagation technique and it’s extensive notes on...

For question # 2 anecdotal evidence. For two years now I have had a juniper (unknown variety) in a pond basket. Coming into its third year in said basket there has been no thickening trunk.

I would recommend The Complete Book of Bonsai by Harry Tomlinson. Here are some pics so you can see it’s teaching method.

Bonsai outlet is good. Wilson bros nursery based in Georgia but they offer free shipping on plants. What books have you started with?

I have actually drowned a mouse in a bucket of water. It was disturbing to watch the bubbles finally stop.

Field maple English yew Bald cypress Japanese maple “shigitatsu sawa” Scots pine European beech Japanese larch

I have a flat right now that I have fall sown. Checked 6 or 7 and a majority had an embryo.Put them inside my hoop house to overwinter. The substrate is a pine bark fines/vermiculite/perlite mix I have heard soaking seeds in kelp can increase germination rates.

I would suggest Bald Cypress, and English and Japanese Yew.

Disclaimer* I am still developing my eye for styling, so take this advice as a grain of salt. I have read that when doing a twin trunk you want to avoid anything that looks like a slingshot. I vote chop

Thanks for the reminder about how close the light should be.🙂 while I can’t change the distance, I have surrounded the tray with reflective insulation as a sort of grow box to redirect the light. I know it’s an experiment but let’s see if it works

Last winter trying to start seeds indoors over winter I found out my basement stayed too cold. So I was inspired to set this up tonight. Located in an open closet near my back door it is narrow but tall. I had to build the frame piece by piece inside the closet The frame is from one of those...