Growing trident from seed, school me

[Smoke]

I guess fresh seeds going early is better than seeds not going at all! I am enjoying seeing new green dots emerging daily. Hopefully they keep coming.

Growing the coral bark from seed should be fun. Hope to see some pics! The seed is rare right? Most people try to buy grafts and layer I would assume.

I don't know about rare, but I planted the tree 6 years ago and this is the first year I have seen it flower and seed. Now I planted a smaller two gallon tree two years ago and this tree also had seed, albeit few. I have no idea why the larger tree never had seed. I'm just anxious to see how it behaves as a seedling on its own roots.

 

[Nybonsai12]

I'm around 20% successful germination rate from the batch of tridents. I've read that if they don't pop, take em out and stratify again, has anybody done this successfully? The blue spruce I had less seeds but am approaching 50%. Placed a screen over them today to try and get some wiggle as seen on smokes blog. Regardless of outcome, I'm really enjoying this process. Ordered some more seeds of other varities to try!

 

[Nybonsai12]

Since many didn't pop, I threw the majority of the seeds back in the fridge to see if another cold stratification period will make them germinate. As for the rest, fortunately I have not lost any. I had one or two weeks that the seedlings stayed too wet and caused some problems, but they seem to have returned to behaving normal. Pics of the damage and one mutant leaf. Also the blue spruce. Lots more varieties of seeds in the fridge stratifying.

 

[barrosinc]

how far off the soil level did you place the screen?

 

[Nybonsai12]

I want to say 2 inches or so, maybe a little more. Eventually all the seedlings were touching it.

 

[sikadelic]

Looking good! Keep us updated.

 

[Smoke]

So far I havn't had any seeds pop. Trident nor the coral barks.

 

[Bunjeh]

I am still keeping everyting outside until 01 March. I just let nature do the work. I have about 50 tridents plants (among hundreds of others). Next weekend I will pull of the covers and put them in the green house. Here is hoping.

 

[Nybonsai12]

So here is where the seedlings are at now. These are from the seeds that sprouted in the bag and have been growing since December, indoors until temps were acceptable to move out. I planted out all of the seeds in December, sprouted or not. Anything that hadn't already sprouted at that time, never did. After some time with no action, I tried putting the seeds back in the fridge to re-stratify but they ended up staying to wet and basically rotted.

I used Smoke's screen technique for a while and think it got some good movement in the trunks down low. I also wired one or two into some really bizarre twists for fun. Pic of one of them included.

Another inspiration from Smoke is the three seedlings in the red colander growing through three tiny holes in a tile. My hope was if I let them grow long enough they will swell and join bases. I did this earlier in the year when they were still indoors and didn't expect them to live as I was literally jamming the roots through the holes with a toothpick. What can I say, I get bored! They looked awful for weeks but seem to be growing ok. We shall see how all of them do adjusting to dormancy this year after having growin for longer than they would in my climate.

 

[Nybonsai12]

Another update pic. Some of these put on good growth over the last 90 days. Seedlings planted through a tile grew well and are starting to push roots above the tile. Can't believe these have been growing for almost a year straight!

 

[sorce]

Ny. Nice.

I would consider removing those roots above the tile in favor of a swelling directly above the tile and roots from the edge of it.

Seems like they may f up your base.
But I'd ask @Smoke as I have not done this before.

Sorce

 

[Nybonsai12]

Ny. Nice.

I would consider removing those roots above the tile in favor of a swelling directly above the tile and roots from the edge of it.

Seems like they may f up your base.
But I'd ask @Smoke as I have not done this before.

Sorce

Thanks Sorce,
I've lifted this technique right from smokes blog and you are absolutely correct, those roots are too high up and need to be removed as ideally I want roots growing just right above the tile. I will likely remove the roots in the spring. I made a mistake with this project when i chose to use a linoleum tile, instead of something stiffer. Not sure if you can tell from the pic, but you can see it starting to flex a little. Hopefully it still serves its purposeand the trunks all continue to swell. Unfortunately it was middle of winter, I was bored and only had linoleum tiles in my house so i just went for it.

 

[szelelaci]

Hey @Nybonsai12! Would be great to see update on your tridents!

 

[Nybonsai12]

Hey @Nybonsai12! Would be great to see update on your tridents!

i killed some, I sold some and I planted some. I think I have about a half dozen left and they are all in the ground. Three singles and three that I put through a tile to get them to fuse together. I’ll get pics in the spring when things thaw out.

 

[Nybonsai12]

This is one ive been growing from this batch of seeds. In The ground a few years, then chopped and tilted over to make a semi cascade. Starting to ramify a bit and that hatchet wound scar is healing. Sold off or killed the rest from this batch of seeds with the exception of a clump that is still in the ground.

 

[Nybonsai12]

A little fall color. Will be looking at branching to decide next steps in the spring and likely repot into something nicer. Internodes seem longer than i'd hoped for, not sure if it's just a too much fert issue or what.

 

[Nybonsai12]

not so cute with it's clothes off lol. will prune, wire where needed and repot in early spring/late winter.

 

[Nybonsai12]

Getting this one ready for a repot. I like this one because it’s grown from seed and has been fun, but as a bonsai it has a number of problems. The large scar is still healing and thr transition to the next section is still awkward. The roots are mostly one sided and I’ve been unsuccessfully trying to coax roots out of the absent side. And the cascading branch has a lousy straight section I failed to get movement into early on. I could remove it entirely, but don’t really like the options left with branching in that area. Open to any suggestions or advice.

 

[Nybonsai12]

well, i love this pot....and that's about it.

I'm going to keep it in this pot this year and then re-evaluate things. I just don't like this one at all but having grown it from seed makes me press on. I'm starting to consider that next spring i should cut back the cascading arm to the first fork, plant in an anderson flat with root grafts because the cascading side has very little roots and start to gear toward an informal upright. I think by doing so, it would make a better tree and help smooth out some of the taper transitions. whats another 10 years, right?

 

[papkey5]

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. Having done that this spring I have had much greater success than fall sowing outdoors. It means you will have to acclimate them to the outside. Caution! grow them indoors until they have several sets of true leaves, and a stronger root system. Put your seedlings out too soon and they will just shrivel up in a matter of days.

Also as far as a great place to buy certified seeds from. I only buy from Sheffields seeds. and they are local for you since they are based in New York. https://sheffields.com/