Bonsai guidance

[Jamboy95]

Hi there, I’m new to this game and would love some guidance. I have been growing my Japanese mountain pine for about 10 weeks now and I would love it if someone could clear up a could of questions of mine seems as I don’t have much of a clue but I’m wanting to learn.
Is my bonsai looking healthy?
how regular should I feed/ water my bonsai?
And when should I re-pot my bonsai? Thank you! All your help is much appreciated

 

[coltranem]

Please post pictures and add you location. It will be hard to give good advice without these.

 

[Shibui]

Welcome to Bonsai nut. I'd love to help but there's no photos - yet.
Use 'attach files' button below the reply box. Files will need to be less than 1mb I think before the site will accept them so you may need to reduce file size a bit first.

It also helps to add a general location to your profile because advice might be different for different parts of the world. This is particularly important when talking about repotting times.

 

[Jamboy95]

Thank you for the help

 

[coltranem]

Thanks for adding the picture. These will not need to be repotted until they out grow that pot. Are you growing these inside? Pines should be grown outside. However assuming you are in the northern hemisphere and in a cooler climate it might be difficult to make that transition now. It depends. If you add your location to you profile it will help others give advice.

For watering wait until the pot is fairly dry. Pick up the pot periodically. You'll be able to get a feel for its weight when it needs water. I'd let them get a little bigger before adding any fertilizer.

 

[Shibui]

OMG - so tiny. You have a really long way to go to get these to be bonsai but don't be discouraged they are at least on the way.

Water when the soil starts to dry out, not just on top but down under the surface. That's a tiny pot and it will be difficult to manage watering in that.

Still no mention of what part of the world you are in. Here in southern hemisphere it is spring and lots of seeds germinating. I will be transplanting little seedlings like these whenever they are big enough to handle - any time in the next couple of months. If I don't get round to doing it they can grow in the seed trays for months or even for years but growth tends to be slower when they are crowded so it is better to pot up sooner rather than later.
Pines generally do not grow well indoors but if you are in a colder place you may need to keep them under grow lights until spring. See what I mean about location being important.

One thing you will soon discover about bonsai is that many of us have different ways of doing things. That doesn't mean some are wrong, just means there are many ways to reach the same destination.

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce

 

[Jamboy95]

OMG - so tiny. You have a really long way to go to get these to be bonsai but don't be discouraged they are at least on the way.

Water when the soil starts to dry out, not just on top but down under the surface. That's a tiny pot and it will be difficult to manage watering in that.

Still no mention of what part of the world you are in. Here in southern hemisphere it is spring and lots of seeds germinating. I will be transplanting little seedlings like these whenever they are big enough to handle - any time in the next couple of months. If I don't get round to doing it they can grow in the seed trays for months or even for years but growth tends to be slower when they are crowded so it is better to pot up sooner rather than later.
Pines generally do not grow well indoors but if you are in a colder place you may need to keep them under grow lights until spring. See what I mean about location being important.

One thing you will soon discover about bonsai is that many of us have different ways of doing things. That doesn't mean some are wrong, just means there are many ways to reach the same destination.

I am from north England, Yorkshire? I thought I added it to my profile but it must not of worked, sadly we’ve just gone into autumn so there weather isn’t the greatest at the moment in time. Would you suggest getting a grow light? During the colder seasons?

 

[Jamboy95]

Th

Thanks for adding the picture. These will not need to be repotted until they out grow that pot. Are you growing these inside? Pines should be grown outside. However assuming you are in the northern hemisphere and in a cooler climate it might be difficult to make that transition now. It depends. If you add your location to you profile it will help others give advice.

For watering wait until the pot is fairly dry. Pick up the pot periodically. You'll be able to get a feel for its weight when it needs water. I'd let them get a little bigger before adding any fertilizer.

ank you for the advise on when I should repot my little Groot thank you for the watering tips too.

 

[Cypress187]

Welcome to the forum! I wouldn't work on it too much!

Crazy

Ozzyman is brilliant!

 

[Jamboy95]

Sor

OMG - so tiny. You have a really long way to go to get these to be bonsai but don't be discouraged they are at least on the way.

Water when the soil starts to dry out, not just on top but down under the surface. That's a tiny pot and it will be difficult to manage watering in that.

Still no mention of what part of the world you are in. Here in southern hemisphere it is spring and lots of seeds germinating. I will be transplanting little seedlings like these whenever they are big enough to handle - any time in the next couple of months. If I don't get round to doing it they can grow in the seed trays for months or even for years but growth tends to be slower when they are crowded so it is better to pot up sooner rather than later.
Pines generally do not grow well indoors but if you are in a colder place you may need to keep them under grow lights until spring. See what I mean about location being important.

One thing you will soon discover about bonsai is that many of us have different ways of doing things. That doesn't mean some are wrong, just means there are many ways to reach the same destination.

Sorry I didn’t see the but about the growing light, do you have any good recommendations for a good growing light?

 

[Jamboy95]

Welcome to the forum! I wouldn't work on it too much!




Ozzyman is brilliant!

Thank you my friend! I’m already loving the Community you’ve got on here! Very helpful!

 

[Jamboy95]

OMG - so tiny. You have a really long way to go to get these to be bonsai but don't be discouraged they are at least on the way.

Water when the soil starts to dry out, not just on top but down under the surface. That's a tiny pot and it will be difficult to manage watering in that.

Still no mention of what part of the world you are in. Here in southern hemisphere it is spring and lots of seeds germinating. I will be transplanting little seedlings like these whenever they are big enough to handle - any time in the next couple of months. If I don't get round to doing it they can grow in the seed trays for months or even for years but growth tends to be slower when they are crowded so it is better to pot up sooner rather than later.
Pines generally do not grow well indoors but if you are in a colder place you may need to keep them under grow lights until spring. See what I mean about location being important.

One thing you will soon discover about bonsai is that many of us have different ways of doing things. That doesn't mean some are wrong, just means there are many ways to reach the same destination.

I have just bought this grow lap, would you say this is ideal? I will leave them for a couple of weeks and then I will separate the seedlings into separate pot? So I can get better growth.

 

[eryk2kartman]

I wouldn't put them under grow light, they are outdoor trees, i think would be better for them to be outdoors.
And also you dont need to do anything with them for probably another 2-3 years, they can stay in the same pot thats not a problem, you wont notice different grow in 2 pots vs 1, you will just stress them by repotting and more likely they would die.
Its not a spring here, winter is coming....I would mulch that pot is some sunny and not windy spot in the backgarden and hope for the easy winter.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Now that theyve germinated, I would get them outside but protected from wind and snow/rain. Maybe heel the pot into the ground or into a flower pot to protect the roots from extreme temperature swings.

Fall is a good time to transition becausr the sun is not so strong. Water as mentioned above.

In two years, you may have a pine like this:


Pinus Rigida (Pitch Pine)

At that point, you could add some wire to give the trunk some style and flow.

Fertilizing should hold off until you see some true leaves/needles. You only have cotyledon at the moment and roots will likely not be able to handle fertilizers. You can use a diluted liquid fertilizer or full strength less frequently.

In 15 years you may have a pine like this:


Pinus Mugo (Mugo Pine)

After much more growing and wiring and pruning and care and fertilizing, in 25 - 30yrs you might get a pine like this:



And if you really put alot of effort and time and self-education and join a group, and read a lot and have a real skill... maybe one day you'll have a tree like the one in @Adair M's profile picture.

Enjoy.

 

[cheap_walmart_art]

Welcome to the forum! Useful links below, will keep you busy for hours if you're down the rabbit hole.

Evergreen Gardenworks Bonsai Beginners Page

Basics – Bonsai4Me

bonsai4me.com

 

[Shibui]

Sorry I didn’t see the but about the growing light, do you have any good recommendations for a good growing light?

Not something I can offer advice on. All my trees are outside all year round so I don't need to find out about indoor growing.
As these are mountain pine which I assume is Japanese white pine I would think they should be OK outside even if it does get a bit cooler. So many people have problems growing trees indoors. There can also be problems keeping smaller trees alive outside but generally seems to be more successful.

White pine is not really familiar to me as other species. I only have a few of them here for around 8 years now so I know relatively little about their needs. Add to that the difference in climate so please take my advice as such.
The pot is tiny and will cause problems but I am not sure that it is a good time to transplant such small seedlings at this time of year in your climate. Here I would have no problem because it does not get really cold. It could be OK for you but I just don't know.
The advice to just plant the entire pot in a larger one and get them outside seems like a good, safe option for you this winter then pot up separately in spring.

Good luck with the project.
Note that few of us actually grow bonsai from seed because it takes so long and for the first few years (up to 5 or 6 years for pines) there is very little to do. It is far quicker to start with larger, established plants and find the bonsai hidden within that to grow from scratch in most cases.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

One more piece of advice, spend a lot of time reading in the "Pines" subforum.

 

[Wulfskaar]

I'm slightly further along. I am growing black pine, black spruce, bristlecone pine, and jacaranda. I had a lot of problems when they were inside due to heat. I had grow lights on them but they were looking sickly. I put them outside and within a day or two they started coming back to life. I also made sure to give them more water than I had been. I was so nervous about overwatering that I underwatered. Instead of using a mister or anything like that, I now just carefully pour in water until it's dripping out of the bottom of the pot (I have the same pots you have). Now that they've been outside a while, they are looking much better. Make sure they get plenty of sun if possible. Good luck!

BEFORE:


AFTER:

 

[coltranem]

I am from north England, Yorkshire? I thought I added it to my profile but it must not of worked, sadly we’ve just gone into autumn so there weather isn’t the greatest at the moment in time. Would you suggest getting a grow light? During the colder seasons?

Given your location you might want to talk to someone local to see if you can move them outside now. In the future these will want to be outside all the time.