2020 From seed!

[Bayard]

This thread.. I recently found my way to the bonsai community and the love for bonsai. I got a couple of seedlings that I was prud of. Lemon, pomegranate, Zelkova, oak, chestnut, silk tree, emperess tree and some more. Then I saw someone writing "I got 216 chinese elm..."

 

[leatherback]

Then I saw someone writing "I got 216 chinese elm..."

Not sure.. Somehow it sounds like you think that is many?
I think I planted 2000 seeds this winter. Guess I will have a few leftovers.

 

[Bayard]

Not sure.. Somehow it sounds like you think that is many?
I think I planted 2000 seeds this winter. Guess I will have a few leftovers.

I planted 20 seeds. We are obviously not on the same level here =) Though we are moving in 8 weeks to a country house with more room!

 

[leatherback]

I planted 20 seeds. We are obviously not on the same level here =) Though we are moving in 8 weeks to a country house with more room!

I think I have realized that out of 20, 10 might not germinate. Of those 10, 5 get killed by something stupid. And the rest.. I just do not like. My cull rate in the first 3 years is over 90%..

 

[Bayard]

I think I have realized that out of 20, 10 might not germinate. Of those 10, 5 get killed by something stupid. And the rest.. I just do not like. My cull rate in the first 3 years is over 90%..

I can see the logic in that and I thank you for the insight.

 

[Scott B]

My Dawn Redwoods I just moved into their own pots. Outside I have trays of mugo pine, scots pine, japanese maple, birch and beech. No point in posting pics of those though, only a handful of pines are up yet out of them all!

 

[It's Kev]

Last year I planted cherries, just seeds from supermarket cherries so I didn’t have very high hopes. None of them sprouted so I just chucked everything back in my soil mix which I layer used to repot one of my trees.
Today I yanked out a ‘weed’ and got a surprise.
Hope it survives, I repotted it gently

 

[Shibui]

There is no reason that seedling should not survive. We tend to think of young seedlings as delicate babies but the truth is they are often way more resilient than the older trees. Consider seedling cuttings of pines - older pines are difficult to strike as cuttings and we need to be careful when root pruning but young seedlings can have the entire root system hacked off and still continue to grow!
I routinely remove most of the root on nearly all seedling species and replant. They nearly always respond by growing a mass of lateral roots and continue to grow. I would have taken the opportunity to cut that root a couple of cm below the seed before replanting it.
I'm also not surprised to see that seed from supermarket fruit is growing. The fruit we buy is just fruit. There have been some developments in seedless fruits of some varieties but any fruit with a seed inside should be able to germinate. That, after all, is why trees produce seeds. The fruit is only a strategy to get us and other animals to take the seeds to a new location and plant the seeds.

 

[atlarsenal]

I have 126 hedge maples sprouting.

 

[AlainK]

... enough to make a 60 metres/yards hedge

 

[leatherback]

I have 126 hedge maples sprouting.

126.. 100% succes?

 

[BuckeyeOne]

I have 126 hedge maples sprouting.

Damn Son!! How many did ya plant?
128?

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Had about 50% on acacia. Gonna have about 6 of them.



The three mountain ebony seeds I planted all sprouted. 100% germination. I only had about 6 or 7 seeds and about half were broken in transit. No biggie. Im taking more seeds out of the fridge in the next few days.

I also have a tray of lodgepole that sprouted.

 

[Ryceman3]

I have Melaleucas on the go for this year... about 7 or 8 varieties either collected by myself or swapped/traded with others. I focussed on species with paper-like bark primarily, it's the part I love about Melaleucas, they can have the most amazing bark. I have had a reasonable germination rate with them all so far. Looking forward to developing these, there are some great examples as bonsai locally for inspiration.

Here they are just after they popped through (about a month ago).

... and here's a few of each type I planted out from the seed trays to let them grow on. Fast growers under the right conditions!

 

[AlainK]

Among those that are germinating, A. p. 'Ryusen', A.p. 'Sango Kaku', and Malus 'Van Eseltine' that are just beginning to sprout. One of the 'Ryusen' has three cotyledons, it's the first time I've seen "tricotyledons" on a maple seedling: have you?

 

[Shibui]

One of the 'Ryusen' has three cotyledons, it's the first time I've seen "tricotyledons" on a maple seedling: have you?

I picked 3 of those out of a batch of trident maple seedlings a few years ago and kept them separate to see if the plants would be different too but there seemed to be no real difference in the trees as they got older.

 

[AlainK]

there seemed to be no real difference in the trees as they got older.

That's what I suspected, thanks for the info.

 

[Bayard]

I have 126 hedge maples sprouting.

How big do you let them grow until repot and what´s the size of the new pots? Curious since I´m not sure on how to think about my seedlings (new to the game).

 

[leatherback]

How big do you let them grow until repot and what´s the size of the new pots? Curious since I´m not sure on how to think about my seedlings (new to the game).

I mostly leave them in the container for a year. Sometimes I am impatient and will take them out once the first real leaves come out, trim the main root and pot them up. But I find that leaving them for the first summer gets you stronger seedlings.

 

[atlarsenal]

How big do you let them grow until repot and what´s the size of the new pots? Curious since I´m not sure on how to think about my seedlings (new to the game).

I start most of my seeds in jiffy pellets and then try to get them in 3.5” pots when they get their first set of real leaves or shortly after. They will stay in those for a full season and then any that I have not sold I pot up in a 6” pot.