Norwegian Spruce

[Orion_metalhead]

Anyone work with this species as a bonsai? Picea Abies?

Seems like it could be a good potential species. Curious for info on:

1. Seed stratification time. Sheffields says no strat necessary but other places say 30-60 days cold strat.
2. General maintenance routines.
3. Fertilization suggestions.
4. Pictures of natural style older Bonsai.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

Tons of info on here, just do a search. @WalterPaul has posted lots of his photos.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Yes, either way for stratification, you can cold stratify, and you will get germination, or you can sow without stratification and you will get germination.

I prefer to start seed outdoors, so in that case, I would set them up now, set the tray in the back yard. The remaining winter will give them a cold stratification and they will sprout in spring the minute it is warm enough. Because you have them outside in full sun, they will be less likely to damp off, or other fungal diseases, and have nice tight growth because full sun is available. If you start them under lights, they will end up weaker lanky seedlings.

For the rest, do some reading of the many threads in the ''Other Conifers'' sub-forum of BNut. Lots of good info, that will have answers to all your questions.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Thanks Leo for the info on stratification. That was my main concern. I have some seeds from two different sources and was curious what I should do with them. Both sources had very little viability though when I soak tested them overnight... I only had two sinkers out of the 30ish seeds so they were probably old. I'm going to cold stratify them like you mentioned... just more convenient.

I've been doing a lot of reading today on them on the forum. Some really nice specimens. I'm going to look more closely at Walter Pall's on his site. Thanks as always.

 

[eryk2kartman]

I got some young Picea Abies (bare rooted) this year, planted in one bonsai pot with enough room for root growth.
I will use candle pruning technique on them to balance the vigor, don't have any real plan for them yet.
Dont mind the mess in the pot, it was straight after re-pot, they seems to be doing fine, i can see new buds.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

I was looking at some of the spruce on Walter Pall's site. Obviously they are awesome but im not sure i like the thinned out foliage look. In nature, the biggest trees by me have big swooping branches that curl upward with a lot of drooping growth on them. I really like that look but havent see a bonsai in that styling.

 

[eryk2kartman]

I like the foliage on them, nice smooth and soft feeling when touching. Seems to be quite delicate compare to pines or larches.

 

[bonsaichile]

I got some young Picea Abies (bare rooted) this year, planted in one bonsai pot with enough room for root growth.
I will use candle pruning technique on them to balance the vigor, don't have any real plan for them yet.
Dont mind the mess in the pot, it was straight after re-pot, they seems to be doing fine, i can see new buds.

With spruce you dont "candle" prune to balance vigor. You will only weaken the tree. You let the shoots extend and then cut back to a bud. Also, those trees look too young to use refinement techniques on them. If I were you, I would plant them in a colander and let then grow for some years, hoping to get them to trunk up a little more.

 

[eryk2kartman]

Sorry i wasn't clear, yes that's the way i will work on them.
I know they are babies but i will see how the get on in spring, i want to start training them as young as possible to get more branching in future.
I will let grow one leader untouched for a whole year, that should help with trunk size a bit.
Im not in rush with them, they need a loooong time to become nice bonsai.

 

[bonsaichile]

Sorry i wasn't clear, yes that's the way i will work on them.
I know they are babies but i will see how the get on in spring, i want to start training them as young as possible to get more branching in future.
I will let grow one leader untouched for a whole year, that should help with trunk size a bit.
Im not in rush with them, they need a loooong time to become nice bonsai.

They will not grow much in that pot. Generally speaking, a bonsai pot is one of the last things one does when trainimg a tree for bonsai. If you want some growth, either put them in the ground or in a grow box/larger colander or pond basket. Otherwise, you are looking at decades before you'll get a decent trunk. What you could do now, in the winter, is to wire some movement in those trunks. Do not wire a spruce when it is actively growing though. Do it now and leave the wire in for at least a year. They have a tendency to revert back to pre-wired state fairly quickly.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I'm wondering if it's worth the effort and time to work with seeds. Here in Europe we can find seedlings all over the place, or buy them for 50 cents per plug and even larger picea abies are fairly cheap.
Of course, do whatever pleases you. But a 50 cents '5 year time skip' is still an option.

 

[eryk2kartman]

Thats exactly what i thoughtthey cost me 1 euro each, but seeds could be fun as a side project.

I think i will all plant them as a small sort of forest at the end of the cliff or something like that, i will keep them as medium bonsai.
BTW - the root system was quite small so that bonsai pot is waay to big, i could plant each in 3x2' pots.