Bonsai From Seed: Essential Steps for Success - Full Lecture

 Source material: Nov 20, 2022

        Have you ever tried one of those bonsai-from-seed kits and nothing grew? Or maybe you had a few seeds grow but had no idea what the next steps were to transform your seedling into a bonsai! Growing a bonsai from scratch is an intoxicating idea for beginners, but it is also one of the hardest feats to accomplish. In this lecture, I explain the basics of seed collection, storage, and germination to help you optimize your success at waking seeds up. I also explained the steps necessary to shape seedlings over the years following germination which will help you build sizable trunks and tapering branches to create a convincing and stunning bonsai. You can also participate in the active learning questions from home by commenting below and listening in on the discussions and questions from the Columbus Bonsai Society (CBS) members who attended. I gave this lecture in November 2022 for the Columbus Bonsai Society. Join us at www.ColumbusBonsai.org

Find the full lecture here:

Read on for more resources on growing bonsai from seed....

Bonsai Seed Myths

          For people new to the art of bonsai, the idea of growing your own bonsai tree from seed is often irresistible. In theory, growing a bonsai from seed can be a rewarding journey that allows you to give birth to your own ideal image of what a bonsai should be, but unfortunately, in practice, seed-growing is a journey which is fraught with frustration for the vast majority of beginners. It has been said that it takes 10 years of experience in bonsai before you understand how to grow from seed well. I share this not to discourage you, but to brace you for the challenge ahead. If you're a new reader, I would encourage you to check out the first post in this growing from seed series, "The Root of All Bonsai." In that previous post, we talked about the various alternative ways to start your bonsai and the advantages and disadvantages of each method. However, if you are dead-set on growing from seed, you're in luck! Drawing on my own 15 years of bonsai experience and the 60+ years of experience of my bonsai teacher Dan Robinson, today we're going to cut through the BS and dispel common myths about growing bonsai from seed before we proceed to analyze the essential concepts that will help you realize your bonsai-from-seed dreams in the subsequent weeks. 

         If you're looking to buy seeds for bonsai - full disclosure - I am writing this series with the intent to sell my own seeds for growing bonsai (see here). At the risk of sounding too sales-pitchy, I am sending an exclusive hard-copy version of this blog series to all my customers. The hard-copy guide will simply guide you through the complicated 10+year challenge of growing bonsai from seed. If you can't wait for our weekly release of future blog articles in this series, you will receive the full guide right away with your purchase of seeds. Thank you in advance for supporting my bonsai work!

Sections

1. Last Week: The Root of All Bonsai
2. This Week: Bonsai Seed Myths
      2A. "Bonsai seed kits are a great gift!"
      2B. "Bonsai seeds are rare."
      2C. "All bonsai are grown from seed."
      2D."Growing from seed is the best way to learn about bonsai."
      2E. "Bonsai should be pruned often and pruned hard to build their trunk."
      2F. "Growing from seed is a waste of time!"
3. Next Week...

Stay tuned to this series to learn how to transform these...

Left a Japanese black pine, and right a European beech. Both 2-3 years old.