Hi All,

New here to the forum.

When I was a child I used to help my Grandfather with his bonsai. I've recently picked things up again after a 10-15 year hiatus.

I've never tried growing bonsai from seed until this year. I've always been quite good at getting things going but realise I've got a bit of a knowledge gap with trees this young.

I have about two dozen Larix decidua, Pinus poderosa and a few wild cherry which have just broken the soil.

My question is: Can anyone give me some advice with how best to allow the trees to progress? I don't have a particular plan for them yet.

Hey welcome to the empire!

For now, I would just let them grow for the season. Then you have time to think about your aims. Size of the tree, trunkline, etc. The eventual size you want to achieve will in part define the route. In a pot you will not reach a 15cm thick trunk in any realistic way so you will have to look into growboxes or ground growing.
If you go for a younger, thinner one, you can grow out in the pot.

Many routes to the end results and most of them are personal preference where time taken and quality reached see to play a dance together..

Thank you for your advice.

Yes, I'm quite fortunate that I have some maturing beds in the garden, and plenty of room for grow boxes. I need to get my thinking cap on. Plenty of time for planning at the moment....

Some of the p. ponderosa seedlings are quite tightly clustered. In one instance I have about 5 in a 3cm diameter. Will this negatively affect the end result?