Should I wait to plant seedlings in the ground?

[Hump]

Nuts,

Still sorta new to bonsai, and have been trying to read up on best time to put one in the ground.

I have some 1-2 yr old seedlings I purchased (Hackberry, JPM, Trident, Elm, and Zelcova) that came in regular 2x2 plastic pots with turface. (at the moment I have the plastic pots in sitting in slightly larger pots with a wet paper towel at the bottom just to keep the roots somewhat moist until I figure out what I'm going to do)

The roots at this stage are really just many feeders. Should I grow in a training pot for a year or two before putting in the ground, or should I just put them in now? I want to place them on tile, but unsure with just those fine feeders if it will hurt.

Thanks,

 

[Shibui]

Those seedlings are large enough to go into the ground provided you can keep the weeds at bay and provide water when they need it over the first summer.
No problem with planting over a tile provided you supply enough water to keep the roots hydrated until they get to the edge of the tile and get down into deeper soil. It is not necessary to use a large tile (not actually necessary to use a tile at all really). You are only ever going to use around 6" diameter root system on any bonsai except the very largest - measure some bonsai pots to see the real size - so larger tiles are really just a waste.

I grow a lot of trees in grow beds and have found that tiles are not infallible. I get much better results with good, regular root pruning.
Good luck with your growing projects.