bonsai 101: what are bonsai seeds?

I want to talk a little bit about bonsai seeds. Sometimes you see these things on eBay these “bonsai seeds”. The fact of the matter is that they are just seeds for whatever species of plant they're selling. Sometimes you see these kits at big-box stores in Hobby Lobby. They sell a bonsai kit which comes with a pot and soil and seed. Guess you're supposed to plant the seed in the potting soil and grow a bonsai tree. but these are just seeds for Japanese Black pine or what not. 

Ponderosa pine

It will take years for the seeds to grow to resemble anything like a bonsai. This is so especially if the plant is kept in a little pot its whole life. Sometimes when I tell people that I make bonsai they tell me about their experience with these bonsai kits. Some of those seeds never sprout. The truth is that for the novice some seeds could be hard to sprout. Some of the seeds need cold stratification, scarification, or warm stratification.

I'm not saying you should not buy them, but understand what you're getting into. They are just regular seeds. The fact of the matter is that a bonsai tree is a plant that somebody cultivates by pruning, wiring, and fertilizing. The seed itself does not a bonsai make.

Brazilian rain tree

So when you buy these bonsai seeds just understand that it's going to take a lot of years for it to develop into anything that might come close to looking like a bonsai.

I grow trees from seeds. One of my favorite things to grow is Moreton Bay ficus or ficus macrophylla. These trees get pretty big and very quick. However, it takes a good number of years to get to a size worth showing. I am talking shohin size. Then you have to get the branching out right, the ramification. You can't do that on a young macrophylla until you cut the top tip part right where all the auxin is. When you cut that part it promotes more Branch growth but it slows down the growth of the whole tree over all.

Moreton Bay Ficus

So, I want you guys to know that there are no seeds that grow into a bonsai. A bonsai comes from someone dedicating time and care in developing a plant so that it becomes a bonsai. 

Aerial roots when you live in a desert.

What are some features that you like on bonsai trees? I love aerial roots on ficus trees. They start out thin, but when they bury themselves in the soil they get fat quick. They add lots of character to the tree.

To be frank, growing aerial roots was a mystery to me. Sometimes I would see them grow on some of my Ficusses. Then one day after a heat wave killed some of my trees I decided to install a “drip irrigation” system. They actually make sprinklers in 180 degrees, 90, and 45-degree heads. I installed what you might call an overkill of sprinkler heads. I did not want to lose any tree to thirst.

I turned the sprinklers daily. Instead of mostly the soil getting wet the sprinklers would wet everything. I am talking about the leaves, trunks, and all. Also the brick wall, the wood stands, and the ground soil. I was changing the microclimate. Where I keep my trees I have little to no wind. It’s like a little alcove.

After about 4 weeks I noticed that some of my ficusses had a bunch of aerial roots coming from the trunk.

That is how I stumbled upon aerial roots.

I believe that consistently wetting the whole tree helped create aerial roots more than just the higher humidity.

I had seen pictures of Scandinavian ficus bonsai. They are kept in grow bags. That is a plastic square bags with artificial humidity and light. The winters are harsh up there. Also, daylight in winter is very short. They keep these “exotic” trees in these bags to protect them. Because the humidity is high and the temperature in the bag is relatively high the ficus produce aerial roots. The roots were few though.

In fact, when I saw that I was going to make a mini greenhouse out of wood and clear plastic to try and replicate it.  

I live in Los Angeles, CA. We have had some very warm summers and wet winters (wet for LA, don't laugh at us Seattle) the last few years. The rain was not enough and when it did rain the temperature was too low to do much ariel root growing.

The summers were hot enough but because LA is at the edge of a desert it was never humid enough.

Aerial roots widened the trunk

I want to emphasize that the roots were not growing from the branches. Not every Ficus produced aerial roots and not every tree that made aerial roots produced the same amount.  Even among the same species namely ficus microcarpa, there were differences.

I never use straws to grow the aerial roots. They will not "dry out" if they get wet every day. 

What Ficusses produce aerial roots?:

• Chinese Banya-F. microcarpa
• Moreton Bay Fig-F. macrophylla
• Port Jackson Fig-F. rubiginosa
• Peepale Fig-F. religiosa
• Burtt Davyi
• Weeping fig-F.Benjamina

What can help make aerial roots?:

• Warm temperature 80f or higher
• High humidity
• Spraying the trunk daily
• Right species of Ficus
• Even within the same species, it varies

You might have noticed that most of the aerial roots like to grow on the underside of lateral parts of the tree. The underside.

Cheers