Hello all,

I'm very interested in bonsai and have decided to grow a few from seeds as my main hobby, however I'm still a newbie when it comes to growing plants (I'm getting there, learning slowly 1 by 1 ). I've done A LOT of researches on the particular trees that I'll be growing (they are prunus serrulata, acer rubrum, pinus thunbergii, and royal empress) and finally bought the seeds today. But there are still some info. that I wanted to ask you guys here for extra advises.

1. For the acer seeds, some online articles stated that it need to be soaked in water followed by 1 - 2 months chill period, some say just sow it straight into the pot. The instruction that came with the seeds also doesn't state any soaking or stratification, just plain sowing. What's the best method do you guys think I should use?

2. For stratification, some sources say to use moist paper towel while some prefers peat moss mixed with sharp sands. I plan on putting 50% of the seeds in paper towel and the other 50% in sand + peat moss mixture. Would that be fine to do? Plus, during the time in refrigerator, should I check back every week and keep the seeds moist by adding drops of water or just leave it be throughout the stratification period?

3. When planting the seeds, should I put each seed in its own pot or just sprinkle them with spaces in between inside a big pot? (I afraid I might damage the plant when re-potting them later on that's why.)

4. Potting soil: Do all trees when growing them as bonsai require specific well drained soil that's different from the regular soil? Like bonsai soil mix, should I use it to plant every type of tree or the potting mix from home depot will do just fine?

Any extra tips, tricks, advises are greatly appreciated. A big thank you in advance for everyone's help.

I hope you were not fooled into buying "bonsai seed" There is no such thing. Depending on what country you are in will determine when to sow the seed. Sowing in a tray is the best way. If you have a cold winter then they will stratify outside. You must remember that you will have nothing to do apart from watering for at least five years. Growing from seed may be the best way, but you may well give up before you get anything worthwhile. By all means grow some from seed, but go around your local garden centre and look for plants there. Give yourself years start and learn on the way whilst you wait and hope the seed germinate.
You can use any soil to sow the seed, and keep them moist. Do not let them dry out. 2 weeks is long enought to srtatify.
I usually just sow the seed and wait I don't put them in a fridge. Best time to sow will be late aytumn early winter.

Thanks m5eaygeoff for the reply,

What did you mean by "fooled into buying bonsai seeds"? I was just buying the tree seed, hoping to grow them from scratch and train them into a bonsai as they mature. I know it's a long process, but I'm sure I have enough patience for that lol. It's summer right now where I live, so going through about 5 months of warm/chill condition before planting in Nov. would be great, I guess. And I'd def. take your advice on buying plans and practice with it though, great idea.

Btw, I live in Texas, the hardy zone in my area is between 8b - 9a. I know cherry blossom can be grown in zone 9 with lots of cares. But is there any special care/protection I need to take note of when it comes to the hot & dry summer here? (such as keeping them in cooler shaded area, out from the sun, such and such..?)

Thanks again.

Ok, well there are unscrupulous people around who sell what they refer to as bonsai seed. As I said there is no such thing they are tree seed. I would guess depending on the temperatures you have in summer that most species would benefit from some shade in the afternoon. I have erected some shading to try to minimise the drying out of my trees, and the temperatures are only around 22 or 23c max at the moment.
Making sure they do not dry out is a priority in summer.

Nice, I thought of making a shade for them too. Summer here can get up to 38c or so. Thanks again for your responses. And also, if you have any go-to place for good seeds, please let me know. So far, the only places I know of are local nursery and ebay, but I've heard lots of negative comments about seeds from ebay though.

The only seed I would use is seed I have collected, there is a company called Jungle Seeds who is quite good, but I am not sure what he has.