If you were 37 ...

namnhi said:
Do what I do. Buy a lots of seedlings from Matt O and plant them in pots. I did that 12 or 13 years ago. Now I have many tridents, black pines to work on. Now at 42 I still have family to tend to so no serious bonsai for another 5 years. Here are some examples of my trees. Will post pics later
Click to expand...
Shoot... this was 6 years ago. I still have plenty of trees but still have very limited time to focus on this.
 
I grew more than one JBP from seed… got a decent result in 6 years or so from a couple, and I started in my 40s so you’ll be fine. They looked like this…
Ryceman3

Thread 'Ryceman3's 6yr JBP Contest Entry'

And so it begins ... well, for me anyway. Being from the Southern Hemisphere I am patiently waiting for July 1, and have spent the past month or more looking for JBP seeds to work with. They are not so plentiful in this part of the world, and our quarantine laws make importing seed from overseas a no-go zone, so it took a bit of extra effort but I have come up with some.

I managed to get a few from 3 sources.

A local eBay site had the cultivar JBP "Thunderhead", which I think may not be as good for shohin as the growth (from all reports) is a bit coarse - but since this was all I could...
  • Like
Anybody who says growing bonsai from seed is a waste of time perplexes me. I could spend a decade fixing the issues that come with getting 10 year old old stock or I could grow my own in less time than that. I guess choose your own path and be happy with it. More than 75% of my trees are from seed or seedlings (under 1 year old) when they started. It might not be the way forward for you, but it is definitely a way forward if you want to go down that path!
I realise it’s an old thread… just sayin’!
🍺
 
Warpig said:
If you were 37 and you wanted to start a project from a seed that could have time to at least come into its own within your life time, what would you pick to grow?


P.S. Turning 37 next month. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Re-activating this threat:

I was 37 when you posted this thread. I’d still plant my favorite species: Japanese White Pine, Japanese Red Pine, Korean Hornbeam, (American) Red Spruce, pitch pine, and a few more others that don’t come to mind atm. I’ve actually tried growing some of these from seed back in 2010 but failed to keep them alive into 2011.

So, kind of along the lines of what some have mentioned earlier, I think this topic is useful if you’re sharing/inquiring about approaches to train these seedlings over the years. Of course, those approaches would change depending on the species.

I’ve grown some of these species as very young seedlings and regret having not made certain decisions as late as I did in their development, which led to unnecessary losses of fine material. If you’re going to grow from seed, you need to know how serious bonsai practitioners in Japan do so and bring those techniques and strategies to this discussion.
 
I am 32 and I grow more than half of my trees from seed, I find it so much fun. Plus that I am more attached to those trees than the ones that I got at an already descent state.
 
The above thread by @Ryceman3 and another by @cmeg1 which document their progress from growing JBP from seed are invaluable inspirations, showing what can be created in such little time.
We are often told that a seedling goes in the ground and left to grow for 40 years but every passing season from germination is important.

But it really depends on what your desires and goals are.
 
I was 37 a little over 38 years ago and I’m still starting things from seed. lol! As the expression goes, you’re only as old as you feel. 75th birthday last month. I’ve got about 40 Japanese maple seedlings and last month I hatched a bunch of pecan seeds to try and merge them together. I would say, grow what you love to look at. I’m trying to get my daughter hooked on bonsai so she can take them when the time comes I can’t care for them anymore.
 
Jetson1950 said:
I was 37 a little over 38 years ago and I’m still starting things from seed. lol! As the expression goes, you’re only as old as you feel. 75th birthday last month. I’ve got about 40 Japanese maple seedlings and last month I hatched a bunch of pecan seeds to try and merge them together. I would say, grow what you love to look at. I’m trying to get my daughter hooked on bonsai so she can take them when the time comes I can’t care for them anymore.
Click to expand...
Happy Birthday last month!
 
I am turning 38 tomorrow, and like to propagate more interesting/unusual material. Informal uprights are very common, so I usually have some fun making RoR, clumps, forests, and sumo shohin maples.
 
All I know is that I should have planted some JWP seeds way back then... That and maybe buying some Apple and Microsoft stock. Those seeds would be 20+ year old trees now and my stock portfolio value would probably be at least 2+ times larger than what I've currently got now :rolleyes:
 
I have to add that my mentor (I'll refrain from name droping) had many many trees in his collection that he had started from seed and cuttings. One of which was displayed at the national show while I was working with him. But I'm sure he's had many others shown as well (that were from seed/cutting). I hate seeing folks say that bonsai shouldn't be done from seed. I get that it's the the best way to learn the hobby, but it's the best way to get future material
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Michigan Tree Murderer
Anyone know were to purchase a wide shallow training pot?
Replies
2
Views
558
Michigan Tree Murderer
Michigan Tree Murderer
R
Were to go from here with my olive tree?
Replies
6
Views
850
Esolin
Esolin
Joe Dupre'
Bonsai pots were not always so small
Replies
6
Views
1K
Russ1
R
Bonsaipadawan
Two new azalea acquisitions what would you do if they were yours?
Replies
14
Views
2K
Bonsaipadawan
Bonsaipadawan
proninyaroslav
Pyracantha (Firethorn) foliage were damaged by frost. Is it critical?
Replies
4
Views
2K
Esolin
Esolin
Back
Top Bottom