General Advice Needed for Larch Seedlings

[SpencerI]

Hello All! I am very new to Bonsai and horticulture in general. I started by growing Japanese and Siberian Larches from seed. I’m asking for some general help and advice with larches. I have searched some of the other posts and haven’t found much. I live the Pacific Northwest of USA, USDA Zone 8.

I started larch seeds in May of 2024. My larches are only 1.5 to 2 inches tall. Many of the needles/ leaves are dark green, pale green, and a light brown. These seedlings are in full Sun 24/7. I planted them in 4 inch pots with some miracle-gro seed starting soil. I make sure the water when the soil is damp but not dry. From reading other posts, I feel that these larch seedlings should be much bigger and are vigorous growers. Am I correct?? I have fed the trees with a light feeding about 3 times this summer.

For this fall and winter, what work should I do? Should I change the soil? Should I repot into bigger pots? Are these seedlings okay to be in full rain and possible snow over winter? Should I feed one more time before fall is in full swing?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Some pictures would sure help us figure out if you're seeing what you should be seeing.

Sometimes seedlings need a little time to take off, and in my backyard I want it that way because it keeps them short and stocky.

 

[Shibui]

Unlike potting soil, seed starting soil has virtually no nutrients. A light feeding 3 times over summer is not a lot, depending what fertiliser you are using. I would be using liquid fert every 2 weeks and/or solid organic pellets every 4-6 weeks. Small pots and open soil means lots of water which also means nutrient leaching so we need to feed potted plants much more than plants in the ground.
We can't diagnose problems without seeing some good pictures. Your idea of 'many' needles might be way different to mine and 'dark green, pale green and brown' needles does not mean anything much but if we see the plant we can often pick out subtle differences you may not understand as important.
Without knowing what sized pots these guys are in it's hard to decide if they need potting on. I suspect it would be good to change the seed starting soil to good potting soil for next season but I'd probably do that in spring.

Snow should not be a problem for larch through winter as larches are cold climate trees and snow tends to insulate but colder temps might be an issue. Not sure how cold PNW gets or where larch seedling tolerances lie as my winters are much warmer here. Hopefully someone with experience will join in with first hand advice on wintering.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Welcome Aboard BonsaiNut!

Congratulations on sprouting up some larches! Larch seedlings are pretty hard to damage. Rabbits will chew just about anything in front of them. Winter protection in our location includes a barrier for rabbits, out of the wind, not facing the prevailing weather in part sun. Overhead protection, like under a larger rhododendron or other shrub usually works fine.

We are still fertilizing all trees through at least the end of September. Will go into October if the weather is decent. So a mild application would be fine every two weeks until daytime temperatures get in the 50s or the needles turn.

Got that you are in Pacific Northwest of USA, USDA Zone 8, but this covers a whole lot of variation in climate. Can your please help us by entering a better location and Zone 8a or 8b in your icon information. Do this by clicking on your icon atop the page, then account details - scroll down and enter these data and save. It should appear on your icon henceforth. Besides helping us this has the added bonus of saving you from ever entering the data on a thread again.

Oh yes! To add images, which we also always need at the start of a thread, use the attach file button below, then press on the image and enter full screen or thumbnail.

Welcome Aboard once again!

Cheers
DSD sends

 

[mwkohler]

I am in a colder zone than you. My larches just get put with the rest of the cold hardy trees out of the wind, given a nice layers of leaves as insulation and left alone. I sprinkle varmint repellent around the trees and they seem to get left alone.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

I sprinkle varmint repellent around the trees and they seem to get left alone.

Rabbits seem to ignore most repellents… except pellet guns!

Cheers
DSD sends

 

[SpencerI]

Hello! Pictures attached! Sorry for not posting earlier.

 

[SpencerI]

Some pictures would sure help us figure out if you're seeing what you should be seeing.

Sometimes seedlings need a little time to take off, and in my backyard I want it that way because it keeps them short and stocky.

Hello I have attached pictures.

 

[SpencerI]

Unlike potting soil, seed starting soil has virtually no nutrients. A light feeding 3 times over summer is not a lot, depending what fertiliser you are using. I would be using liquid fert every 2 weeks and/or solid organic pellets every 4-6 weeks. Small pots and open soil means lots of water which also means nutrient leaching so we need to feed potted plants much more than plants in the ground.
We can't diagnose problems without seeing some good pictures. Your idea of 'many' needles might be way different to mine and 'dark green, pale green and brown' needles does not mean anything much but if we see the plant we can often pick out subtle differences you may not understand as important.
Without knowing what sized pots these guys are in it's hard to decide if they need potting on. I suspect it would be good to change the seed starting soil to good potting soil for next season but I'd probably do that in spring.

Snow should not be a problem for larch through winter as larches are cold climate trees and snow tends to insulate but colder temps might be an issue. Not sure how cold PNW gets or where larch seedling tolerances lie as my winters are much warmer here. Hopefully someone with experience will join in with first hand advice on wintering.

Hello! Pictures have been attached.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

They look a bit on the yellow side for my taste. Which can indicate a root issue; too dry, too hot, too wet are the three options that could cause this.
I would fertilize lightly and see if they change in a week or so.
Next year, watch the watering and water them when the soil is a bit drier than you did now.

Repotting is not needed, but I would get them out and backfill the rest and put them back in so that they sit a bit higher in the pots.

 

[SpencerI]

They look a bit on the yellow side for my taste. Which can indicate a root issue; too dry, too hot, too wet are the three options that could cause this.
I would fertilize lightly and see if they change in a week or so.
Next year, watch the watering and water them when the soil is a bit drier than you did now.

Repotting is not needed, but I would get them out and backfill the rest and put them back in so that they sit a bit higher in the pots.

Thank you for the advice. I figured something was wrong because of the lack of growth, but didn’t look too much at the color.

I applied a light application of miracle gro liquid fertilizer and added some slow release fertilizer. I’ll wait for the plants to dry out a bit more before I water and see if that helps.

These plants are in full sun all the way from morning until dawn so the heat could also be a factor.

 

[SpencerI]

Welcome Aboard BonsaiNut!

Congratulations on sprouting up some larches! Larch seedlings are pretty hard to damage. Rabbits will chew just about anything in front of them. Winter protection in our location includes a barrier for rabbits, out of the wind, not facing the prevailing weather in part sun. Overhead protection, like under a larger rhododendron or other shrub usually works fine.

We are still fertilizing all trees through at least the end of September. Will go into October if the weather is decent. So a mild application would be fine every two weeks until daytime temperatures get in the 50s or the needles turn.

Got that you are in Pacific Northwest of USA, USDA Zone 8, but this covers a whole lot of variation in climate. Can your please help us by entering a better location and Zone 8a or 8b in your icon information. Do this by clicking on your icon atop the page, then account details - scroll down and enter these data and save. It should appear on your icon henceforth. Besides helping us this has the added bonus of saving you from ever entering the data on a thread again.

Oh yes! To add images, which we also always need at the start of a thread, use the attach file button below, then press on the image and enter full screen or thumbnail.

Welcome Aboard once again!

Cheers
DSD sends

Thank you for the help! I’ve added it in.