Bald Cypress Seedlings

[mapleman77]

Hey everyone,

I collected some Bald Cypress seedlings from a friend's tree a few months ago and then put the into the fridge to stratify. None of them germinated after 2-3 months so I just took them out of the fridge and put them where I keep my new cuttings, basically where I can ALMOST forget about them but still look at them every once in a while.

Today I was outside and glanced at the bag. 4 seedlings had germinated and a few others were sending out roots! I quickly made a 1/2 turface and 1/2 organic component soil mix and then repotted the 4 into their own pots, I'm leaving the others to reach the same stage as those 4 before I remove them from the bag.

My question is, should I treat them like normal seedlings or are there any special things I should do? Louisiana is Bald Cypress central so I won't have a problem growing them here; I just wanted to know about any of those "quirks" that this species might have.

Thanks,
David

 

[shohin kid]

you sure like growing things from seeds mapleman

 

[mapleman77]

Well, I'm 15 so I want to grow as much as I can from the start so I can have maximum control over how they look (nebari, low branching, etc). but yes, I do like growing lots of stuff from seed.

David

 

[R_F]

Well, I'm 15 so I want to grow as much as I can from the start so I can have maximum control over how they look (nebari, low branching, etc). but yes, I do like growing lots of stuff from seed.

David

I started out in bonsai around your age (I was 14 and now soon to be 27). I wish I had enough insight back then to grow something from seed. I finally did some trees from seed about 4 years ago. Not that you should do this for all your trees...but you can learn an awful lot by doing it and absolute control over the design is nice.

Good Luck with these. All I can tell you about bald cypress from my experience is that once they are established you should root prune before the buds start to swell (around Feb/March in Central Florida).

 

[Thomas J.]

Nothing more than any other seedling from my experience. Let them continue to grow for this year and when it comes time for repotting next spring, probably in Feb. if your in the deep south, then seperate them and trim their roots. Here's a link to an article I wrote about Bald Cypress seedlings:

http://www.dallasbonsai.com/bonsai_tree_care_TomM_baldCypressForest.html



Good luck.

 

[shohin kid]

yes, I do like growing lots of stuff from seed.

I heard satsukis grow well from seed, you should try some of those.

 

[mapleman77]

Thanks all for the replies. Shohin kid, I don't really do azaleas that well, and when so many others do, I am just going to leave it all to them. But I do have 2 Kiusianum azaleas from Julian Adams, a purple and a white.

Thomas J., thank you so much for the article! I enjoyed reading through it...I learned a lot. I can't wait to do something like that in the next few years!

Ryan, thanks for the repotting tip. I don't really know when to repot a LOT of things, and these "baldies" as others so affectionately call them are not an exception.

In any case, I'll post a picture of the seedlings in the next few days. they seem to be growing fast!

David