As I have been asked a lot of questions about this kit (because the instructions are terrible) I have written this post on my website to hopefully give you a full set of instructions / a full guide/ answer all your questions type thing. - so if you need any extra info, it should be here - www.backgardenbonsai.com/an-instructional-guide-to-help-beginners-with-the-grow-it-bonsai-kit/ If you still have questions, keep askin! :)
Thankyou, it was just what I needed! One thing I still want to ask though, I already had about 1cm seedlings after the 2 weeks before putting them into the fridge, they are now in the fridge, I guess the process doesn’t change even when you have seedlings emerge early?
Wow!! A pleasure to witness. You are a skilled gardener! (Tree grower guy lol) My fiance and I really appreciated how thorough you are at explaining what we're watching. We want to bonsai trees from our woods. Thanks for the great tips/hacks! Take care. Oh, and we bet your wife knew what she got you. I'm sure you guys used to talk about each other's hobbies. I mean, she knew you well enough to get you this really cool kit. Such a thoughtful gift. What a lady 😊
Thank you so much for this and Part 1. I had no idea what to do with mine. They've gone in the fridge today and hopefully I'll have something like this in time. By then we could have a Part 3 I can reference. My fiance got me the same kit and I hope in time they can become something awesome. Good luck and you have a new subscriber.
I never thought to separate the floaters and see if they grow anyway so I threw them away. One of my pockets, only 1 sank out of around 6… It’s so informative to see your progress throughout the seasons for someone like me who is at the early stages just staring at my baron wasteland of pots in the fridge
Thanks for your video. So glad that your seeds were successful especially given that they were from your wife. Very poignant. Thanks for advice and wishing you all the best.
'at least they will remind me of her' I'm so sorry for your loss but you got me so depressed with that line and all these videos actually. I hope you're doing better by now
you should totally make a fusion tree! i currently have a Rowan fusion and a Variagated Ficus fusion and i think they look so cool! im excited for them to grow and fuse more. Good luck with yours.
Cheers. I have been considering a fusion actually. We’ll have to see what happens. We all need a video on your fusions!! They sound awesome, you don’t hear about rowan being used much so I’m very keen to see that 👍👌
@@BackGardenBonsai yeah rowan isnt great for bonsai but i found a sapling in the garden with three trunks. I wasnt going to keep it but then thought it would be a good excuse to experiment with fusion, so i just spiraled the trunks around eachother back in July. I literally just took the wire off it this week and it has set in place. The Ficus, i took about 10 cuttings from one of my mums plants. 5 or 6 of them rooted after about 4 months so I spiraled them into a fusion as well. Its started pushing new leaves 2 weeks ago, so i just removed all the old leaves! looking very bare at them moment but im excited to see its growth this year.
Nice video... good work... little hint, if u wash out the roots of tiny plants in a small tub with water u can separate them very easy from one another.
Just wanted to say thank you. Your videos have been so informative, and there’s hope that I will gain a green thumb like yours 😅 Sending my condolences to you about your wife ❤️
You've done well, i got a kit and mananged to get one whitebeam to grow successfully. Where silver briches are weeds in our garden, ive a few growing as bonsai. remembering that this my lockdown hobie so a few years behind you.
Thanks for the great vids my friend. On the first video you mention that it was your wives' last gift to you. I am sorry for your loss ( if that was the case). I received a gift from my older son that passed away unexpectedly on 8/30/21 so I have a emotional connection to planting and growing from the Bonsai kit he gave me ( not sure of the year since it is not dated) . But I will try to plant and do the process anyways. thanks mate !
Hi Ian, I too was given a Bonsai Tree kit at Xmas 2020 and am keenly awaiting the outcome of my planting. If you're going to do more videos (and I hope you do) may I suggest buying a Lazy Susan to show them off on video. I watch and learn with interest. Many thanks.
Cheers. There will be plenty more videos to come. I actually have a turntable, its been sat in a box for about a few years lol. I've pulled it out the other week, so it should start appearing in videos from now on.
This is a great video, and your trees are looking lovely! I got one of these kits for my birthday and after a month I've already got some growth. I'm not very experienced with planting things, so may i ask what your watering routine is and what conditions you recommend keeping them in once they have started growing?
Cheers. watering is hard with these. If your using that coir stuff it tends to hold water and its hard to tell when it needs more. I usually check mine every other day and i might give it a few drops every now and again. you really dont want to drown them. but you also dont want to dry them out. just kind of damp is right (this is why its good to keep the bag around it, slightly open for while. it helps keep its damp) then try and give them plenty of light. not a direct blast of direct sun. they will melt. just a good bright area. seedlings are annoying as you really need to baby them, but they are babies i guess lol. but after a while when they get strong its alot easier.
Thanks for not waiting til Sunday to drop Part 2! (specially love Birches myself). Dya think you'll go for a forest planting like Jonathan's (in one of Nigel's Oct19 videos)?
I couldn’t make one huge video. There was too much going on. But I couldn’t wait until next Sunday either. Lol. So hopefully this works. I’ve genuinely no idea what I’m going to do with them all. I’m just going to wait until next year and hopefully by then i will have worked it out.
Hi mate, my girlfriend got given this kit by her brother. We've just potted them up today. Assuming they all grow and do well with your excellent instructions! How do you then turn the tall(ish) young trees into what looks like Bonsai verisons? Do you have a tutorial just on pruning and training? So sorry to hear about your wife.
Thanks. To turn the tree from seedling to good looking tree is a bit of a mission. its going to take a few years. lots of waiting at the start and then more and more work as it ages. bascially every video i made is this "journey" but if you wanna see what you might be in for reead this - www.backgardenbonsai.com/starting-a-bonsai-from-seed-a-guide-for-years-1-to-5/ as you will see the first 5 years is slow going hahah keep going though its well worth it
Wait...what the hell day is it? I’m confused... But shit, that worked out really well. I’ve always doubted those grow kits but you got some serious germination. You’ll be a regular Sid Pavey with all your little choice starters! And most importantly your wife would be proud. Cheers bro.
Lol. I’ve no idea what day it Is. But yeah these kits get a bad rap, but it is usually first time growers mainly using them so I’m sure that has a part to play in the mass failures.
Cheers. they didnt get any fertiliser. (well maybe the odd squirt to get rid of the dregs from the bottle every now and again) I usually just leave them alone for the first year... especially when i do stupid stuff like try to repot them when they are like 3/4 months old lol. I dont know if the roots can take the full force of fertiliser for a while.
i watered them when they needed it. which is very vague, but if you know how to water correctly, then time isnt important. read this - www.backgardenbonsai.com/how-to-water-a-bonsai/ if you can master that, then you will always know when you tree needs water and just give it, when it needs it.
are you talking about on top? i could have done that, but its not really too important for seedlings, its better for trees with a lot of roots near the surface to help keep the the soil near the top drying out as fast.. If you with in the soil mix, that would not have helped. it woudl make the mix too damp and hold water for too long, which i dont want/need in to climate.
Will keep to native species here for obvious reasons and will shelter small-potted specimens in shed too. Wondering if much sunlight needs to be showering the trees through winter?
my shed has a north facing window, so its kinda dim in there, but once a tree is dormant, it doesnt need light. Think about all your natives that are covered in snow for months. no light for them and they are fine.
well, the one of the box is a different species and about 100 yrs old lol ... so thats gonna be a tricky one to copy. but really you just have to let it grow and slowly do little bits of bonsai work on it throughout the years to steer it in the right direction. There is plenty to learn, but its not that hard when you get going, its mostly just very slow. Id start here - www.backgardenbonsai.com/beginner-bonsai-resources/ and start just reading as much as you can and watching as much as you can, from me and anyone else ...and slowly your tree will turn into something bonsai like
Pretty good. I also put some seeds of local trees and japanese maple seeds in autumn and some in december. But when do you prune and repot them? How do you know?
very nice, hopefully your local ones germinate too. you can prune them when they grow strong, but i would wait a few years. but it totally depends on what you want to do with them. same for repotting, you can do this in spring, but again, no harm in waiting a few years depending on your goals.
so i'm currently growing the pine from one of these kits, its 2 years old and i have been growing it on my kitchen window sill, i havent done any root work, basically ive just let it grow, im now thinking i should move it outside, my question is when would be the best time to do so and should i trim the roots beforehand ???
I would be bringing it outside soon, since its spring. as for pruning the roots. you need to be really careful with pines. you cant just hack them off. Id almost leave it, just so it has all the strength to acclimatise to outside. but then again it depends what its growing in and how full the pot might be. If you do any repotting i would probably not really disturb it too much, just try and up pot it into some decent soil.
@@BackGardenBonsai I've got it in the pot that it will be staying in forever, I was thinking I should wait till its stronger and developed more before I prune roots. Thanks for the advice
Special, those seeds are. When you refer to shed, does it have sunlight coming in and what is winter temperature inside shed on avg ? I’m trying to figure out what I need for wintering over here in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (brutal winters that can go into -15°C / -20°C and colder sometimes).
cheers, my shed is like fridge temperature. it wouldnt go below zero in there. it should keep any frost out. but it only dips below freezing outside here for a few hours at a time anyway. nothing drastic like your -15. these trees are now outside and will be there permanently. I only shedded them this winter as they had been inside all year, so where not tough enough to just be dumped straight outside. they needed a little half way house
they will eventually die. its like keeping some one awake for days on end. might be fine the first few days (years for trees) but eventually they will just collapse from exhaustion. the dormancy is part of their rhythm and they need it to stay healthy. you can still achieve this inside. but regardless, it is needed.
@@BackGardenBonsai I read your guide & it was very informative, I've decided to wait until autumn as the use by date is 2023 anyway. I have a question though, do I need a particular bonsai pot once it's established growing (if I even get that far) & can you get ready mixed bonsai growing medium? Many thanks for reading 👍🏻
I love your videos, my sister got me this kit a few months ago. Mine is in the fridge at the moment for the last 3 weeks. One has sprouted about 2cm but nothing else. Shall i take it out or leave it in?
Cheers. Its up to you. The one that has popped is going to die if it stays in there. it needs light now. But maybe the others haev not had enough cold, so they might not pop. Id risk it, save the one youve got. If the rest dont grow... you can always remove the one that is growing in a few months and put the pot back in the fridge and give the remaining seed a second winter
yes, well no...i will probably just start making videos on the individual trees. so the black pine will have its own video etc.. but basically there will be updates on all the trees from this video in the new year
What species is the big one from around 0:33. I dug a seedling up and have been growing it. It looks similar to that but have no idea what it is, and didn’t even know if it was a tree or not
yeah. just start them now. depends on the species. but plant them outside now and they will pop in spring. or start them inside now (might need to fridge them for a few weeks) and they will probably start growing just before spring, then take them out when its spring.
Sorry to bother but is there any video after two years of starting to grow the bonsai? Momma will give me the same gift and I'm curious. (I know you have many videos of them just don't know if they are the ones)
yeah its hard to keep track of them as there is so many trees. i have these two playlists. one for a single birch, and one for the japanese black pine th-cam.com/play/PL35C7OqeOezJ-Y8wlBxaGzVV5H3-Aix8t.html th-cam.com/play/PL35C7OqeOezJTfAdS637PcN8zJjj6ZDrM.html
It will probably start to get glimpses of looking like a bonsai after 10 years if the correct work is done. Then from there probably another 10 years after that. all going well
@BackGardenBonsai so at 45, I should have started alot sooner? Lol. OK, do you know any good uk sites (im Scottish), where I could get one that's 6 or 7 years old?
Whast the old saying - best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, second best time is today. lol as for buying a tree. go to like any garden centre, see what is there. it will be "for the garden" but you can apply bonsai techniques and start training it. otherwise, actual bonsai sellers who have started the work. - www.kaizenbonsai.com/shop/bonsai-trees-for-sale www.willowbog-bonsai.co.uk/willowbog-bonsai-shop/ www.premierbonsai.co.uk/ www.bonsai.co.uk/latest/ (prices can get a bit wild the more advanced a tree is, but should be a few cheaper ones...this is why people buy cheap from garden centre and do it themselves)
@@BackGardenBonsai I'll have a look, thank you. Great content too mate, your guidance is clear and precise, I have never grown anything in the past... Pray for me
So your single downy birch grew from August to September like 60cm?! How did it just take off like that?! My Silver birch at 20cm is struggling to grow at all right now.
haha yeah it shot off! maybe not 60cm, probably half that, but it still went pretty crazy. i guess it was just happy with the growing conditions. yours will catch up though. its only early spring, so yours should pick up pace soon!
@@BackGardenBonsai Ok I can see now how your birch has grown so fast, mine is literally growing like a centimeter per day now, it is absolutely crazy. You definitely were right about that.
@@BackGardenBonsai obviously 🤦♂️ OK so I've been following your beginners instructions, I have had the seeds planted for 10 days and I am getting sprouts already, I know I should bypass the fridge stage but should I continue the 3 weeks inside the freezer bag? P. S I've taken extra care after watching the video a few times, I'd be doing you and your wife a dishonesty if I were rash (I've killed several cactus)
id just start slowly by opening it now. Like every day a little bit and over the next few weeks slowly open it more and more until you can get rid of it. right now its a little green house in there. To just remove it all in one go will change the temp and humidity and shock them. so a gradual introduction into the real world environment is needed. if that makes sense
@@BackGardenBonsai no worries will do. I've got 3 pots which have shoots and one which doesn't so I'll leave that one for the time being. Thanks for taking the time replying mate
As I have been asked a lot of questions about this kit (because the instructions are terrible)
I have written this post on my website to hopefully give you a full set of instructions / a full guide/ answer all your questions type thing. - so if you need any extra info, it should be here -
www.backgardenbonsai.com/an-instructional-guide-to-help-beginners-with-the-grow-it-bonsai-kit/
If you still have questions, keep askin! :)
Nice one thank you 🌲
Thankyou, it was just what I needed! One thing I still want to ask though, I already had about 1cm seedlings after the 2 weeks before putting them into the fridge, they are now in the fridge, I guess the process doesn’t change even when you have seedlings emerge early?
@@downhilldemi if they are already growing, they shouldnt be in the fridge, they need light now!
@@BackGardenBonsai omg thankyou! I literally just ran downstairs to take them, out, seems obvious now haha. Thankyou for all the help
❤
Thank you for the video and I'm so sorry to hear about your wife. May the trees be a beautiful reminder.
Thank you Roy :)
Fantastic video thank you 🙏🏻 I’ve got a kit so looking forward to having a try with these. You have done your wife proud ❤️
Thanks Mark. Hopefully yours get as much energy as mine
Your patience documenting this throughout is gold!!
Cheers :)
Great development on those deciduous trees. I wasn't expecting that looking at how they all started off. 👍
I'm sorry about your wife.
Thanks. But yeah. Just shows the benefits of using better soil I guess
Wow!! A pleasure to witness. You are a skilled gardener! (Tree grower guy lol) My fiance and I really appreciated how thorough you are at explaining what we're watching. We want to bonsai trees from our woods. Thanks for the great tips/hacks! Take care.
Oh, and we bet your wife knew what she got you. I'm sure you guys used to talk about each other's hobbies. I mean, she knew you well enough to get you this really cool kit. Such a thoughtful gift. What a lady 😊
Thank you.
Having access to woods means you should find plenty of great material and have some great trees in no time :)
I'm sorry to hear about your wife. Thank you for sharing this with us
Thank you!
Thank you so much for this and Part 1. I had no idea what to do with mine. They've gone in the fridge today and hopefully I'll have something like this in time. By then we could have a Part 3 I can reference.
My fiance got me the same kit and I hope in time they can become something awesome.
Good luck and you have a new subscriber.
Cheers :)
I'm sure yours will be doing great within no time 👍
I never thought to separate the floaters and see if they grow anyway so I threw them away. One of my pockets, only 1 sank out of around 6… It’s so informative to see your progress throughout the seasons for someone like me who is at the early stages just staring at my baron wasteland of pots in the fridge
a baron wasteland is the perfect description for starting seeds hahah. just give it time and it will turn into something
Thank you so much I am dealing with the same problem and this video helped a lot!
Cheers :)
This is class mate you've some knack for the trees
Cheers, it just comes from messing about with them for long enough
Really appreciate enjoy listening and watching you do this.
Cheers :)
So sorry for your loss, much love from NI
Thank you
That birch in its own black square pot, the growth is just absolutely ridiculous lol. All the best from down south 👍
Cheers, yeah that one really went for it ahahah. i have an update planned for that one next month.
@@BackGardenBonsai look forward to seeing it, all the best 👍
Extraordinary! Thank you
cheers :)
Great watch and so sorry to hear about your wife..x
Thank you!
Thanks for your video. So glad that your seeds were successful especially given that they were from your wife. Very poignant.
Thanks for advice and wishing you all the best.
Thank you John
Thanks for this. I just got a kit for my birthday and had no idea what to do
Cheers hopefully you get some good growth too :)
I like the little Pine bonsai.
You have a great germination rate.
Take good care of them ;)
Cheers. I love the little pine too. its soo slow though. but it will be worth it in the end :)
That amazing work you did
Cheers :)
'at least they will remind me of her' I'm so sorry for your loss but you got me so depressed with that line and all these videos actually. I hope you're doing better by now
Thank you
Those are growing like crazy. Nice work!
Cheers bro, yeah they went crazy!! hopefully they do the same this year
Thanks for the great videos you do. My heart goes out to you. Hope you're doing well these days.
Thanks!
you should totally make a fusion tree! i currently have a Rowan fusion and a Variagated Ficus fusion and i think they look so cool! im excited for them to grow and fuse more. Good luck with yours.
Cheers. I have been considering a fusion actually. We’ll have to see what happens.
We all need a video on your fusions!! They sound awesome, you don’t hear about rowan being used much so I’m very keen to see that 👍👌
@@BackGardenBonsai yeah rowan isnt great for bonsai but i found a sapling in the garden with three trunks. I wasnt going to keep it but then thought it would be a good excuse to experiment with fusion, so i just spiraled the trunks around eachother back in July. I literally just took the wire off it this week and it has set in place.
The Ficus, i took about 10 cuttings from one of my mums plants. 5 or 6 of them rooted after about 4 months so I spiraled them into a fusion as well. Its started pushing new leaves 2 weeks ago, so i just removed all the old leaves! looking very bare at them moment but im excited to see its growth this year.
Amazing. Both should be good fusion experiments.
So happy you got a pine i have a hard time got the seeds (japan black pine) to germinate so i am happy to see you got one
cheers, yes i am very happy i got one to grow!
Fantastic evolution friend!!! Like👍
Thank you bro :)
Nice video... good work... little hint, if u wash out the roots of tiny plants in a small tub with water u can separate them very easy from one another.
Cheers. Hopefully i wont have any new seeds for a while. i'm a bit short of space haha.. but when it inevitably happens i will give that trick a go. 👍
@@BackGardenBonsai there will be always new seeds... somehow they find us always 😅
Just wanted to say thank you. Your videos have been so informative, and there’s hope that I will gain a green thumb like yours 😅
Sending my condolences to you about your wife ❤️
Thank you.
Hopefully everything you are growing does well :)
You've done well, i got a kit and mananged to get one whitebeam to grow successfully. Where silver briches are weeds in our garden, ive a few growing as bonsai. remembering that this my lockdown hobie so a few years behind you.
Cheers. Your right birches are like weeds lol. I’m see yours will catch up with mine in no time.
Dude I've bought the same box so will start my adventure this week
Awesome. I hope it grows well for you.
Looks like this kit has worked out pretty great and you must be on vacation releasing a video on a non-sunday!
cheers. lol. everyday is a vacation in the bonsai world lol
Nice job, glad to see they're all doing good. 👌
Cheers J. So far so good. 👍
love your videos, keep them coming, sorry about your wife.. John (Belfast)
Thank you John. :)
All looking 👍 great you’ll have some nice bonsai 🙏🏻🪴
Cheers. one day they will get there :)
Thanks for the great vids my friend. On the first video you mention that it was your wives' last gift to you. I am sorry for your loss ( if that was the case). I received a gift from my older son that passed away unexpectedly on 8/30/21 so I have a emotional connection to planting and growing from the Bonsai kit he gave me ( not sure of the year since it is not dated) . But I will try to plant and do the process anyways. thanks mate !
Thank you. I'm sorry to hear about your son. its truly awful. At least you also have some trees to remember him by. I think this helps a lot :)
Hi Ian, I too was given a Bonsai Tree kit at Xmas 2020 and am keenly awaiting the outcome of my planting. If you're going to do more videos (and I hope you do) may I suggest buying a Lazy Susan to show them off on video. I watch and learn with interest. Many thanks.
Cheers. There will be plenty more videos to come. I actually have a turntable, its been sat in a box for about a few years lol.
I've pulled it out the other week, so it should start appearing in videos from now on.
and hopefully your seeds go as crazy as mine have!!
This is great viewing! Which potting mix did you use in the trays? Thank you
Cheers. its pretty much equal parts molar clay, perlite and compost
This is a great video, and your trees are looking lovely! I got one of these kits for my birthday and after a month I've already got some growth. I'm not very experienced with planting things, so may i ask what your watering routine is and what conditions you recommend keeping them in once they have started growing?
Cheers. watering is hard with these. If your using that coir stuff it tends to hold water and its hard to tell when it needs more. I usually check mine every other day and i might give it a few drops every now and again. you really dont want to drown them. but you also dont want to dry them out. just kind of damp is right (this is why its good to keep the bag around it, slightly open for while. it helps keep its damp)
then try and give them plenty of light. not a direct blast of direct sun. they will melt. just a good bright area.
seedlings are annoying as you really need to baby them, but they are babies i guess lol. but after a while when they get strong its alot easier.
They are beautiful
hopefully they just keep getting better :)
Trying it for the first time. Hope it works.
good luck!
awesome process
Cheers :)
Good job friend super
cheers :)
Broski. Holy 💩💩💩thats some nice growth!!! Cheers 😎🍺🍺
lol yeah they went for it! cheeers
Thanks for not waiting til Sunday to drop Part 2! (specially love Birches myself). Dya think you'll go for a forest planting like Jonathan's (in one of Nigel's Oct19 videos)?
I couldn’t make one huge video. There was too much going on. But I couldn’t wait until next Sunday either. Lol. So hopefully this works.
I’ve genuinely no idea what I’m going to do with them all. I’m just going to wait until next year and hopefully by then i will have worked it out.
damn, those are some fast growers!
cheers. they are rapid!!
Hi mate, my girlfriend got given this kit by her brother. We've just potted them up today. Assuming they all grow and do well with your excellent instructions! How do you then turn the tall(ish) young trees into what looks like Bonsai verisons? Do you have a tutorial just on pruning and training? So sorry to hear about your wife.
Thanks.
To turn the tree from seedling to good looking tree is a bit of a mission. its going to take a few years. lots of waiting at the start and then more and more work as it ages. bascially every video i made is this "journey" but if you wanna see what you might be in for reead this -
www.backgardenbonsai.com/starting-a-bonsai-from-seed-a-guide-for-years-1-to-5/
as you will see the first 5 years is slow going hahah keep going though its well worth it
Be careful, birches are apparently very fragile when it comes to pruning. If the wound is too big, then it might bleed to death.
they develop very nice
Thanks :)
Wait...what the hell day is it? I’m confused...
But shit, that worked out really well. I’ve always doubted those grow kits but you got some serious germination. You’ll be a regular Sid Pavey with all your little choice starters! And most importantly your wife would be proud. Cheers bro.
Lol. I’ve no idea what day it Is.
But yeah these kits get a bad rap, but it is usually first time growers mainly using them so I’m sure that has a part to play in the mass failures.
Amazing growth! So, there is good soil, and light and humidity. What's your fertiliser regime?
Cheers. they didnt get any fertiliser. (well maybe the odd squirt to get rid of the dregs from the bottle every now and again) I usually just leave them alone for the first year... especially when i do stupid stuff like try to repot them when they are like 3/4 months old lol. I dont know if the roots can take the full force of fertiliser for a while.
How often did you water them once transplanted? (July - September +)
i watered them when they needed it. which is very vague, but if you know how to water correctly, then time isnt important.
read this - www.backgardenbonsai.com/how-to-water-a-bonsai/
if you can master that, then you will always know when you tree needs water and just give it, when it needs it.
Just curious, with the repotting part of the video wouldn't it have helped them is you added sphagnum moss to the soil?
are you talking about on top? i could have done that, but its not really too important for seedlings, its better for trees with a lot of roots near the surface to help keep the the soil near the top drying out as fast..
If you with in the soil mix, that would not have helped. it woudl make the mix too damp and hold water for too long, which i dont want/need in to climate.
did you cut the leaves off in the end or did they fall off? Plus how long was it till that happened?
they just fell off as it was the autumn. then they grow back in spring.
Will keep to native species here for obvious reasons and will shelter small-potted specimens in shed too. Wondering if much sunlight needs to be showering the trees through winter?
my shed has a north facing window, so its kinda dim in there, but once a tree is dormant, it doesnt need light. Think about all your natives that are covered in snow for months. no light for them and they are fine.
Hi man, great job! Any new updates on these trees?
Soon, in Jan/feb
Great videos, i need educating... how do you get it too look like an actual bonsai you know the one on the box haha... stupid question
well, the one of the box is a different species and about 100 yrs old lol ... so thats gonna be a tricky one to copy. but really you just have to let it grow and slowly do little bits of bonsai work on it throughout the years to steer it in the right direction.
There is plenty to learn, but its not that hard when you get going, its mostly just very slow. Id start here - www.backgardenbonsai.com/beginner-bonsai-resources/ and start just reading as much as you can and watching as much as you can, from me and anyone else ...and slowly your tree will turn into something bonsai like
Pretty good. I also put some seeds of local trees and japanese maple seeds in autumn and some in december.
But when do you prune and repot them? How do you know?
very nice, hopefully your local ones germinate too. you can prune them when they grow strong, but i would wait a few years. but it totally depends on what you want to do with them. same for repotting, you can do this in spring, but again, no harm in waiting a few years depending on your goals.
so i'm currently growing the pine from one of these kits, its 2 years old and i have been growing it on my kitchen window sill, i havent done any root work, basically ive just let it grow, im now thinking i should move it outside, my question is when would be the best time to do so and should i trim the roots beforehand ???
I would be bringing it outside soon, since its spring. as for pruning the roots. you need to be really careful with pines. you cant just hack them off. Id almost leave it, just so it has all the strength to acclimatise to outside. but then again it depends what its growing in and how full the pot might be. If you do any repotting i would probably not really disturb it too much, just try and up pot it into some decent soil.
@@BackGardenBonsai I've got it in the pot that it will be staying in forever, I was thinking I should wait till its stronger and developed more before I prune roots. Thanks for the advice
Special, those seeds are. When you refer to shed, does it have sunlight coming in and what is winter temperature inside shed on avg ? I’m trying to figure out what I need for wintering over here in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (brutal winters that can go into -15°C / -20°C and colder sometimes).
cheers, my shed is like fridge temperature. it wouldnt go below zero in there. it should keep any frost out.
but it only dips below freezing outside here for a few hours at a time anyway. nothing drastic like your -15. these trees are now outside and will be there permanently. I only shedded them this winter as they had been inside all year, so where not tough enough to just be dumped straight outside. they needed a little half way house
What happens if you skip the dormant period and just keep growing it indoors?
they will eventually die. its like keeping some one awake for days on end. might be fine the first few days (years for trees) but eventually they will just collapse from exhaustion.
the dormancy is part of their rhythm and they need it to stay healthy. you can still achieve this inside. but regardless, it is needed.
I was given this exact kit for Christmas 2021, I have absolutely no clue what to do, I have never owned a bonsai let alone try to grow 1 from seed 😬
You will have to give it a go. its lots of fun :) ive posted a guided in the pinned comment. that should help you if you are having any trouble
@@BackGardenBonsai I read your guide & it was very informative, I've decided to wait until autumn as the use by date is 2023 anyway. I have a question though, do I need a particular bonsai pot once it's established growing (if I even get that far) & can you get ready mixed bonsai growing medium?
Many thanks for reading 👍🏻
Hi what kind of compost is that (if it even is compost I don’t have a clue) lol I just purchased bonsai seeds to grow myself
The stuff that came with it is coco coir. But it’s not the best. The stuff I make is equal parts normal compost, perlite and molar clay.
@@BackGardenBonsai Thankyou very much!
I love your videos, my sister got me this kit a few months ago. Mine is in the fridge at the moment for the last 3 weeks. One has sprouted about 2cm but nothing else. Shall i take it out or leave it in?
Cheers. Its up to you. The one that has popped is going to die if it stays in there. it needs light now. But maybe the others haev not had enough cold, so they might not pop.
Id risk it, save the one youve got. If the rest dont grow... you can always remove the one that is growing in a few months and put the pot back in the fridge and give the remaining seed a second winter
@@BackGardenBonsai perfect thank you! I look forward to seeing your progress
@@BackGardenBonsai is there going to be a part 3, I've now got about 14 of these growing
yes, well no...i will probably just start making videos on the individual trees. so the black pine will have its own video etc.. but basically there will be updates on all the trees from this video in the new year
@@BackGardenBonsai fantastic cant wait
What species is the big one from around 0:33. I dug a seedling up and have been growing it. It looks similar to that but have no idea what it is, and didn’t even know if it was a tree or not
It will be either a silver birch or downy birch. it can be hard to tell when they are young .
Hi there. What kind of mixed soil did you use?
Its pretty much equal parts molar clay, perlite and compost
@@BackGardenBonsai thank you , cheers
is it possible to seed in december and do i need an indoor light
yeah. just start them now. depends on the species. but plant them outside now and they will pop in spring.
or start them inside now (might need to fridge them for a few weeks) and they will probably start growing just before spring, then take them out when its spring.
Sorry to bother but is there any video after two years of starting to grow the bonsai? Momma will give me the same gift and I'm curious. (I know you have many videos of them just don't know if they are the ones)
yeah its hard to keep track of them as there is so many trees. i have these two playlists. one for a single birch, and one for the japanese black pine
th-cam.com/play/PL35C7OqeOezJ-Y8wlBxaGzVV5H3-Aix8t.html
th-cam.com/play/PL35C7OqeOezJTfAdS637PcN8zJjj6ZDrM.html
So when do they take on the appearance of a bonsai tree?
It will probably start to get glimpses of looking like a bonsai after 10 years if the correct work is done. Then from there probably another 10 years after that. all going well
@BackGardenBonsai so at 45, I should have started alot sooner? Lol.
OK, do you know any good uk sites (im Scottish), where I could get one that's 6 or 7 years old?
Whast the old saying - best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, second best time is today. lol
as for buying a tree. go to like any garden centre, see what is there. it will be "for the garden" but you can apply bonsai techniques and start training it.
otherwise, actual bonsai sellers who have started the work. -
www.kaizenbonsai.com/shop/bonsai-trees-for-sale
www.willowbog-bonsai.co.uk/willowbog-bonsai-shop/
www.premierbonsai.co.uk/
www.bonsai.co.uk/latest/
(prices can get a bit wild the more advanced a tree is, but should be a few cheaper ones...this is why people buy cheap from garden centre and do it themselves)
@@BackGardenBonsai thanks for that informative reply there. Much appreciated
Is there a grow light that you would recommend?
I own two. one form Plant Photonics. a very legit company and one from Mars Hydro, both are working great for me.
@@BackGardenBonsai I'll have a look, thank you. Great content too mate, your guidance is clear and precise, I have never grown anything in the past... Pray for me
So your single downy birch grew from August to September like 60cm?! How did it just take off like that?! My Silver birch at 20cm is struggling to grow at all right now.
haha yeah it shot off! maybe not 60cm, probably half that, but it still went pretty crazy.
i guess it was just happy with the growing conditions. yours will catch up though. its only early spring, so yours should pick up pace soon!
@@BackGardenBonsai
Ok I can see now how your birch has grown so fast, mine is literally growing like a centimeter per day now, it is absolutely crazy. You definitely were right about that.
Is there a part 3??????
not yet. All in good time
@@BackGardenBonsai obviously 🤦♂️ OK so I've been following your beginners instructions, I have had the seeds planted for 10 days and I am getting sprouts already, I know I should bypass the fridge stage but should I continue the 3 weeks inside the freezer bag?
P. S I've taken extra care after watching the video a few times, I'd be doing you and your wife a dishonesty if I were rash (I've killed several cactus)
id just start slowly by opening it now. Like every day a little bit and over the next few weeks slowly open it more and more until you can get rid of it.
right now its a little green house in there. To just remove it all in one go will change the temp and humidity and shock them. so a gradual introduction into the real world environment is needed. if that makes sense
@@BackGardenBonsai no worries will do. I've got 3 pots which have shoots and one which doesn't so I'll leave that one for the time being. Thanks for taking the time replying mate
What happened to all the 🍃
it was winter. thats what happens
@@BackGardenBonsai oh right good to know I've just started mine yesterday and without knowing that id of thought I'd of killed them lol
Update?
sooon. should be one in January :)