Hello,

I'm completely new to bonsai and even gardening and I need some advice. I started growing from seeds in a starter kit. Right now I have a small pot with four Rocky Mountain Bristlecone Pine seedlings and another pot with five Norway Spruce seedlings. The were planted about six weeks ago.

The starter kit suggests I "thin out" the pots by clipping all but the two healthiest seedlings at the base. It makes sense, as they continue to grow, there's no way these pots can support these many seedlings/trees. That said, I really, really don't want to! All of the seedlings look healthy, and have the potential to thrive if I re-potted them. But I don't know if repotting such young seedlings is a risk. Also to complicate things, due to my inexperience, some of the seedlings are growing very close together, within an inch of each other. I'm not sure if their roots are too close together to re-pot.

Do I need to sacrifice some of the seedlings in order for the most healthy ones to survive, or is their a way for all of the seedlings to thrive? Can I wait another few weeks or months before making this decision? And If re-potting is an option, does anyone have a good how-to resource (youtube video, book, etc) to share?

Thanks in advance for your help, this is my first post!

What you can do is gently take them all out of the original growing container and put them in seperate 3-4" nursery containers (start using good bonsai soil like akadama/bims already if you want). This way they can all grow freely for another year without suffocating eachother. Next year you just continue with the striongest ones and give away the weaker ones. I have like a million seedlings myself that I don't want to get rid off. But I can't keep them all...

You are years off having a bonsai. The best thing here is to prick out the seedlings into individual pots once they are big enough to handle. The put them out where they get some protection from wind and rain, under a bench or table will do. Then once they have grown and the roots filled the pots they can be potted on into larger pots, then in a year or two they can be planted in the ground for five years or so, Then they can be pruned and started training.