New blog

I had lots of fun with this blog but this just did not work out. I am currently still germinating more trees from seed. I will post more info and photos as they grow, but for now I am moving on to fast and more fun types of indoor growing. Check out the new blog . I will be growing stuff like, celery and pineapple, brought right from the grocery store.

Thanks, 

Matt

Progress Report

Seasons Greetings fellow growers.

I am sad to report that my project has failed. I am down to three seedlings. The only seedlings left are the cedars, the ones I recently planted. I was forced to up root the cedars to a different container and take the tray and dome lid outside. There were just too many flies in the tray. They were starting to effect out house. Also a huge mold growth was covering the soil. I still plan on growing the rest of the the cedars and the other seeds I have in my fridge. I hope that you can learn something through my errors. I believe my biggest problem was I did not have enough air getting to the soil and it could not fully dry out and that cause a perfect breading ground for mold and bugs. I only poked a couple holes at the top of the dome, were I should have had a 3/4 in hole or two. Also my soil was not the greatest. Take the time to create the proper soil mixture. I rushed the project.

It is almost time to pull out the seeds I have in the fridge and plant them. What I think I am going to do is get a tray that holds individual containers and put one seed in each container and place them outside, instead of indoors. The whole reason I created this blog was to grow indoors. I will be growing indoors, but I will not be growing trees.

My next post will be in the middle of January 2013. Feel free to leave a comment, I would like to hear from someone. Thanks for reading.

Progress Report

Just want to start off by saying thank you too everyone for reading my posts. We are moved into our new house now and I am just trying to finish up the final touches so I can move on to setting up a bigger growing room in the garage.

I am in a bit of a rut with my first original three tree species, Royal Azalea, Hinoki Cyress and the Japanese Zelkova. I think I picked the slowest growing trees, for a beginner. I know that it takes years to grow a proper bonsai from seed but I would like to see something happen With these photos you should be able to see the full indoor nursery. I have not given up on the original 3 but I have some what moved on to newer and faster growing trees. As you know from reading my previous posts, I have started to grow two species of Cedar trees. This is now one month from when I planted them, and they are doing great. The Dawn Redwood has two growing right now. The other the Coastal Redwood have one growing and another one still trying to break free of the soil. So that packaging was right. I am seeing about 10-20% of the seeds actually work.

If you have not started your own indoor growing setup yet and you would like too, I recommend you get started sooner than later. The one piece of advise I would have to say is, pick a tree that grows a little quicker for your first one. Its cool and everything to grow trees from seed, but man can it get a little discouraging looking at the same thing everyday with no change. Also I would not use the type of soil that I did. Make your own mix that does not hold water and is made of more fine substrates.

In the coming months I will be taking my other tree species out of fridge to plants in a new tray. This time its game on 100%. So keep checking for updates on that. 

Progress Report

Hello everyone.

I have been busy the last couple weeks. I have been renovating our new house. Anyway, there is little progress with the Azalea's. They seem to be doing fine, growing more leaves but not growing in height. I now have a little bug problem. I am not sure what time of bugs they are. They are very small and grey in color. They do not seem to be causing any damage to the plants. I think that I am going to do monthly updates with the \Azalea's. 

I have started new trees from seeds on November the 9th. One is Dawn Redwood Cedar and the other is Coastal Redwood Cedar. I sowed around 30 seeds of each. The package says that they will germinate right out of the package in 7-14 days. It took 12 days for 2 Dawn Redwood\s to start to pop up. One died a day or two after it poked out. The one still standing is growing every time I look at it. They will grow around 3 feet a year. So far I would say these seeds are the most rewarding. I am worried that out of all the seeds I sowed I am only going to get 1 or 2 of each type. The success rate for these trees is 20%. Not bad though for a $4 pack of seeds.

Thank you for reading. I will be making a post 2 weeks from now.

Photo Above ; Dawn Redwood, 14 days after sowing

Progress Report

Five Weeks In

I have good news. The trees are still alive and I am still watering about once a week. I've noticed that I am getting a little bit of moss and the odd fly buzzing around. I would imagine it is because of the soil I chose to go with. I tried to solve the problem yesterday by taking the dome off and moving the light right close to the leaves. My goal was to give the plants some air and also try to get the soil to dry out a bit. The soil is not wet but it  also does not dry quickly. Also at this stage they trees are not sucking up much water anyway. When I go to plant my other 5 types of trees in the coming months, I will use a betting draining soil and less organic mix. As you will be able to tell from the photos, the spacing is a little off. Those seeds were the size of sand. Next time I will try harder to place them with proper spacing and in a nice row. Well here are some shots. Thanks for reading.

Winter Preparation

Ten Timely Tips

For this post I am keeping it short. Really quick and easy reading for a very import part of the year.

1) Your bonsai has most likely stooped growing by now. If you are going to water, be careful how much. The morning dew, mist and rain will suffice. 

2) Remove all fallen leaves from soil surface and surrounding area. This helps with bugs and anything else that wants to eat and live in the protection they offer. Give your trees there last low nitrogen, or nitrogen-free feed, to help harden last years growth.

3) This time of year it is not recommend to do any wiring. If you still have wire on, keep an eye on it. Pines sometimes have a growth spurt and that could cause the wire to dig in.

4) Pine and junipers could still be pruned in the Autumn. It is recommend that you leave the deciduous trees alone, for this could start the tree to put out new growth. New growth this time of year could harm the vigor of the tree and the chances of the new growth surviving is slim.

5) To prevent root rot, cause by soggy soil, prop up your pot a little to assist in drainage. Now with that said, if you only have one hole in your pot, like many of mine, I would just leave them flat.

6) Generally deciduous tress will be able to handle temp from -10c/14f to 35c/96/f. During periods of temperatures below -10°C, evergreens could be stored in a dark place, there will be no harm to your tree.

7) Winter winds and temperatures below -5 Celsius will freeze dry almost any bonsai. This is our biggest enemy. If some of you trees need protection from the frost or snow starting thinking of an area where you can put them. Tropical's that need warmth and humidity should come inside, unless you have a killer setup in your green house. Sometimes putting your tree under a bench or in a green house will help protect against the frost, wind and snow. It all depends on how hardy your tree is. You will have to do some research on each one of your trees.

8) Do not try to keep your tree warm by putting it into direct sunlight. Deciduous trees have no requirements for light once their leaves have dropped. If evergreens are exposed to direct sunlight during subzero temperatures it could actually do harm to the tree, this is called photo-inhibition. It can be repaired during the following growing season . So if just try to give minimal light during below freezing temperatures. If the soil in your ports is frozen there is no need to water.

9) Cover your roots and or pots to the top with mulch, soil or anything that will help protect from the elements. If you are going to use something that will not let water pass, you will need to check on the soil to make sure it does not dry out.

10) Last but not least, this is a great time to bring in a tree or two for display before they loose there leaves and color.

Progress Report

Still Alive

Well folks, I am happy to say that the Royal Azalea's are still alive and doing well except for one. I made a fatal mistake and decided to water them with a spray bottle and the spray bottle won. So out of 30 seeds there are currently 24 still growing. I presume 3 did not grow and/or the pack did not have a full 30 in it. My watering technique  consists of watering around the seedling very carefully once a week. With my experience in watering I have learned that watering it does not make it grow faster. I do two things before I water. I first look at the soil, does it look dry, if so then I double check by sticking my finger in the soil and make the call after I have check both. When I do finally water I will only water a small amount to start. I try to learn the soil and how it responds to water in the atmosphere it is in. What I mean is just like a buffet, you can always go back for more. Like I said earlier water does not make it grow faster. If you need something to do to keep you busy (talking to myself) go read a forum or my latest posting.

As far as the other guys, nothing. I believe I said earlier that I messed up. Well we will see. The package said that it can take up to 60 days to germinate with out stratification. So maybe we will get a couple going. From reading online it sounds like most all the people say to cold stratify your seeds. Lesson learned.

I found that this week they did not grow as much as they did last week. I'm not sure of the reasoning. This week I finally got my time lapse trigger from an online store. I am super excited to try it. I think I am going to have to wait until the spring when we really will see some growth sperts. Also I bought a cool new program to edit my photos. You might be able to notice a difference in quality.

Tools of the Trade

Lights

The coolest thing about this winter is I am growing trees off season, indoors and in a room with no windows. Now I bought a basic kit from Hydrofarm. It is called the Hydrofarm JSV2 2-Foot Jump Start T5 Grow Light System. It seems to be doing me very well. Notice the wording "T5". They say that the T5 fluorescent tubes are the best of there class. My system has a T5 bulb in it. This is my first grow light so I can not tell you if it is better or not. So far it is just big enough for what I first set out to do. Basically it is big enough to house up to two seed trays under it. I only have one at the moment. I would recommend, if you have the room, to buy a lager one. I thought that it would do me, but when your plants start to grow underneath the light it really makes you think of the next plant you want to grow. As far as light duration, I have been keeping my light on from 14-16 hours per day. I got some info from a guy I found while googling on the internet. His name is Jack Wikle, and he really seems to know alot about growing under light. What he said was, "When I began experimenting with fluorescent light bonsai, I read some U.S. Department of Agriculture publications suggesting 14 to 16 hours of fluorescent light daily is adequate for growing plants indoors. So I thought why not try 16 hours as a compromise. This has worked quite well. I have experimented with longer light periods, but keep coming back to 16 hours." So I am rolling with that. If you have any other suggestion or comment, drop me a line at the bottom of this page.

Table

This story begins in the middle of last week when I was surfing my new favorite bonsai forum, the Bonsai Nut, when I came along a guy named Tom. By the way his blog is sweet. He had commented on something that I was reading about and I decided to read his blog. Well in it I saw that he built a table to hold his bonsai in the yard. So I had to have one. I woke up early Saturday morning and started doing a little research on tables. My wife had left to go shopping with a friend and I was all alone. So I grabbed my drill and headed off the the local Rona and bought some cedar. Wow it is expensive. Over all I spent $75 for two 4x4x8 (for the legs) and two 2x4x8 ( for the bracing). Now that is not how much the table costs. I had some extra cedar deck boards laying around so I could build the top. I am not sure of the price, but I went through 26 feet. Most likely around $40-$50 for two 12' boards. It took me around an hour, hour and a half to complete. I sanded everything money and I have decided I want to leave it o' natural, so I can have that old rustic look to her in a couple of seasons.

Cutters

I have four types of cutters. Big branch cutters or root cutters. Really they are wire cutters iron workers would use in commercial construction years ago. I have linesman pliers that I found in the same old took box I inherited from a family memeber. I also use a small pair of leaf trimmers I bought from Canadian tire this year. My newest addition to my collection are long handled trimming shears that I bought from my new favorite store, Leevalley.  I also have a cultivator, I use that to separate the roots when I am re-potting. Thats it in a nut shell. There are more tools out there and I am working on getting them all. I would really like to get some big branch benders. 

These are all the tools that I use and wanted to talk about. Of course you can buy more. Last but not least, just buy good quality.

Thanks for reading.

Cold Stratification

New Edition

I have added some more trees to the list this weekend. I was at the in-laws having dinner last night and happened to look at this big beautiful Japanese Maple in full seed mode. I mean this tree had a million seeds hanging from it. I only picked a small handful, I didn't want to have a full blown nursery yet. I also bought some tree seeds from a gardening store down the road from my house. I bought a one pack of each. I got a Pacific Dogwood, Douglas-fir and a Tamarack. I feel that the Zelkova and the Cypress will not grow due to the fact that a rushed the germination process and did not cold stratify them. So just in case you feel rushed to get your seeds in dirt take if from me and follow these steps.

For the maple seeds, I collect them fresh right off of the tree. October is the best month to collect these seeds. You could also wait a little bit longer, and allow the tree to drop its leaves. Or with store bought seeds read the directions if they give them too you. This will tell you how long they will need to be in the fridge.

Second, I have placed the seeds in a container filled with water. I am going to leave it on the counter for 24 hours. What this does, is it breaks down the germination inhibitors covering the seeds. The cover is impervious to water and gases. If you do not do this step you will need to do it mechanically. I.E. cutting, scratching or a digestive tract of various animals.

The last step is the one that takes the longest. I will put the seed in a zip-lock bag with a little pit of organic matter and a 1/4 teaspoon of water. You just want the soil/sand moist. I am going to imitate winter by putting the seeds in the fridge for up to ninety days. Now if I have done everything right, at the ninety day mark the seeds should already be growing in the bag.

Progress Report

Hello friends,

I am happy to report that everything is fine, and the Azalea's are growing a millimeter or more day now. It feels like there are just growing so fast. I planted about 35 Royal Azalea seeds in the container. I think that I am going to have lots of trees to deal with. I believe all of them have started to grow now.

I have been trying to take photos every morning and evening. Taking photos of such small things is proving to be a little more difficult that I first thought. I think I have gotten it down. My problem was when I was taking the photos my Depth of Field was very small. So I did some research on how to make my photos better without having to buy a macro lens. I found a cool wed site that had all the info I needed. If you click on the link embedded in the depth of field, you will find all the info in what I am talking about. Long story short I figured it out. I have an older Canon Rebel SLR with only 8 mega pixels and these are most likely the best they are going to get.

 I only water once a week. The dome lid keeps all the moisture in the container quite well. That is not to say that the soil is soaked. It is damp to the touch. When the trees become bigger I will take the dome off and water on a more regular basis.

The Cypress and Zelkova have not even shown themselves yet. This is normal. I believe that they take up to 60 days to germinate. So far it has been twenty day since the seeds have been planted, and that time has gone by quick. If by the the 70-90 day mark I am not seeing any growth in the others I will worry. If they do not grow by then what that means is that they either became to wet and rotted or they are going to take a whole other year to come out. If that is the case I will just leave them out side and let nature do its thing.

Last Sunday night I bought a time lapse trigger for my camera online. What that is going to allow me to do is take a photo, lets say, every 30 min, all day or until my battery dies. Then I will add them together via a movie making program, and the end result will be a cool almost video like show of the days growth. Now it might take me some time to get it right and looking good but I hope to get it online by next weekend.

Thanks so much for reading. If you want me to talk about anything else just leave me a comment and I will get back to you. 

 These photos were taken Oct 20, 2012

Step by Step

Hello there, this is my second post now and I am even more excited about this one than the last. Today I am going to talk about why I decided to grow my own bonsai from seed vs. just buying another one from a nursery, and the steps I have taken to get to this stage. This time for my new tree I do not want to design something that someone else has started. I want to start from the beginning. I love my other trees very much but these new ones are going to be something that will be very special to me. Its funny because my wife and I are having a child soon and I wanted to plant a tree to represent our child’s life, so that he/she could look at the tree at the age of twenty and be amazed. Kinda weird I know but that’s what is happening.

OK, so I have done a little bit of research on the subject of starting trees from seed. A lot of the information on the subject says to you need to coldstratify for up to 60 days. What this means is you have to break down the germination inhibitor layer on the seed by soaking your seeds in water on the counter from 24 hours to 5 days. Then you put your seeds in a container or bag with some organic product and place in the fridge from 30-90 days. What this does is tricks the seeds into thinking it is winter. I did not do this step and I am kind of regretting it. My Azalea's are growing fine but they are also a shrub.

This is what I have done to get to day 13.

Step one; Choose your seeds. I bought mine from seedrack.com. They have a great selection and they were delivered on time. Make sure that you can grow them in your “zone”. They will also give you paper about your seeds with a little bit of germination advise. If at all possible go out for a walk around the fall and see if you can pick some seed right off of the tree. Some species only grow from fresh seeds.

Step two; Buy a standard sized germinating tray from any nursery or box store. Also buy the dome that comes with it. Its going to cost you $8. It helps keep the humidity in the tray.

Step three; Choose your soil mix. This is a huge topic on its own. All I can say is what I went with a good quality potting mix, 100% organic. Other articles will tell you to get a fast draining mix cause you can wrought the roots. I want my tree to grow healthy and strong, quick, so I went with 100% organic soil. I am going to have to be very careful about how much I water. I also believe that the seedling needs lots of nutrients and I do not want to supplement them into my soil.

Steph four; I bought a grow light from an online store. I chose to go with a single florescent tube. It has 24 Watts, 2000 Initial Lumens, 6400k – Full daylight spectrum and the tube is rated for 20, 000 hours of life. From what I understand with will do it. At the moment I do not have enough light to grow on a window, but you totally could.

<---- This is my actual setup. Total cost $125 Canadian. 

So that’s about all the steps I have taken to get here. I am going to have light on them for 15 hours a day with the lid on to keep the humidity up and water them when I feel the soil is getting a little to dry. Thank you very much for your time. I really hope to hear some comments on what you think. Thanks.

Introduction

Day One

This is my first ever blog posting. The reason I have decided to start a blog is because I feel that through my learning curve I could give some else a few good tips. My intention for this blog is to show the steps that I have taken to grow my own bonsai from seeds. I started doing bonsai about two years ago. My first tree was a juniper I bought from a box store. I now have several trees, a Mugo pine, Ruby stars Japanese maple, Chines elm, Boxwood, Canadian Maple, and a regular old pine tree. 

My inspiration for doing this stems from a local gardener who told me that I could not grow trees from seed in the fall/winter. Well with a little research, I learned about grow lights and cold stratification. First I will start off by talking about the seeds that I have chosen. 

The first bonsai hopeful is a Rhododendron schlippenbachii a.k.a. Royal Azalea. It is a wonderful deciduous flowering shrub that many bonsai artists use. I chose this shrub simply because I would like to have some color in the garden, and I believe that it will be easy to take care of.

The second tree growing is an Hinoki Cypress. It is in evergreen tree that grows very slow. This one will grow up to 120' tall. Not in my yard. The popular style of this tree is formal upright or informal upright. I am going to stick with informal upright with this guy.

The final tree, and the most special to me, will be the Japanese Zelkova. It will have beautiful small leaves and I can choose to style it in many different ways. Now with trees I believe that it is very important to soak them in water for 24 hours and then put them in your freezer for 30-90 days.

I started them on October 1, 2012. I am going to update this blog every week with new photos and soon to get some video going as well.

Here are some photos of the seeds in there house 12 days in.

Any comments or suggestions, good or bad, let me have it.

Thanks a lot.