Hi brought a bonsai seed set from boots and it told me to plant the seeds and put them in a sealed polythene bag. then leave for 2-3 weeks in light but not direct sunlight. Then put the pots in the fridge for 2-3 weeks and remove back to the indirect sunlight. But in two of my pots the seeds have sprouted so should i skip the fridge part for those ones? and do i leave them in the polythene bag still? can anyone help or point me to the right place. thanks

Refrigerating ones that have sprouted will stunt their growth. The seeds could have been refrigerated after soaking but before planting. Only then should they have been planted, etc. If you keep them outside the bags make sure they still have moisture and keep them indoors or outdoors based on the type of plant making sure that they are never in direct sunlight.

More care info is available on this site.

http://www.american-bonsai.com

the tree will be indoors it can be in full light but it gets hot with the light entering. i have a veriety that i ordered, tropical, pine, maple, and cypress

You mention that your tree will be grown indoors. Pine, maple and cypress are all outdoor trees and cannot be grown as indoor bonsai. Stick with the tropicals such as ficus, serissa, or scheffelera. I’m not sure if seeds are available for most tropicals, but they are easy to find as starter plants or finished bonsai.

mouth to branch resuscitation.

I was given a bonsai tree as a Christmas gift. I don't think it was terribly expensive (probably from Wal-Mart) but it looks very healthy. I know next to nothing about Bonsai, but I do know they shouldn't be in warm indoor temperatures, so we put it in a cold bedroom which averages about 10C, as it is currently -10C outside and can go down to -30C where we live. I don't know what species it is but it looks similar to juniper. It now has new growth on it. For some reason I have a feeling this is "wrong". The new growth looks very vigorous and out of scale with the rest of the tree. Should it be cut off?

If it was indeed a wal-mart bonsai.. does it have rocks glued on top of the soil? If so, it may be in the tree's best interest to chip that crap off.. supposedly it is a form of gum mastic that is used as an adhesive, but its more like gorilla glue in strength and tenacity. truly evil stuff. some nice moss would be much more aethstetically pleasing ( but probably wouldnt keep the soil in so nicely during shipping) in my humble opinion.

My boyfriend gave me a bonsai tree for my birthday. I'm not the most responsible person on the block and I really don't want the little thing to die. I believe it's a little Juniper plant. How often am I supposed to water it? How much sun should it get? What kind of fertilizer does it need? Can anyone help?

If it is a juniper, it will like full sun. If it is in a fairly shallow bonsai pot, (not deep like a flower pot) it will need to be watered every day. Also, to keep the foliage from growing too long, you will need to pinch it back periodically during the growing season. The idea is to keep it compact to the branch and not allow it to grow long and lanky. But don't use shears on it because that will cause the ends to turn brown — pinch it off with your fingers. Any good general purpose fertilizer will be good for it. And they like to sit over a tray of water; not IN water, so put a layer of gravel or rocks in the tray to keep the roots from sitting in the water all the time. I don't know what zone you are in or what part of the country, but junipers are not indoor bonsai trees. If it has been inside, move it out into a shaded area for a few weeks, then put it into partial sun for a week or so before moving it to full sun. The main thing to keep in mind is that if you don't water it daily and the roots get dry, the tiny hair roots will shrivel up and dry out and the tree will have no way to get the water and nutrients it needs. If the tree doesn't seem to be thriving with this care, it may have red spider mites. Get a good pesticide that lists spider mites on the label and spray it according to the directions. We spray ours once a month to prevent the problem. Our juniper bonsai trees stay out year round, as they need to go dormant in the winter to stay healthy. We just sit them down in the flower bed and mulch them in. Water them just enough in the winter to keep them from drying out. If there is rain or snow once or twice a month, that will provide enough moisture, and the mulch will keep the roots from drying out.

We have our second juniper bonsai tree and can't seem to keep it alive. We've had it for 6 months and now it's starting to lose leaves (needles) and parts of it are turning brown.

We live in Florida, a humid, warm climate so we keep it moist and soak the bottom to water it, but it's dying! Help us! We really want to keep this alive but can't figure out what we're doing wrong.

And there are no pests, we've been checking. Any ideas?

I think your problem is that you are soaking it, never soak a bonsai! place it in the sink and spray it gently with your spray attachment on your kitchen sink, stop watering with the water drains from the holes in the bottom of the planter, let it drain and put it back on the window sill or wherever you keep it, water it again only when the soil is dry. Mine is doing fine and that is how they told me to water it, usually every other day in the summer and now once a week is all it needs lately, good luck!

Dear friends,

I want to grow a bonsai of my own from seeds I need to know what r the steps involved in growing a bonsai. I visite many sites on subject but these sites create more confusion than creaeing the concepts and I think are useful after I know some funadamenta steps in growing a successful bonsai. so guyes plz help…..I expect steps that can help me create a simplest type of bonsai …..

Stay away from using seeds for bonsai. You are much better getting a seedling or small tree at the nursery or from the ground. You are welcome to look at the Bonsai Care page of my website to give you some ideas about planting and training:
http://www.american-bonsai.com Also, please feel free to contact me:
wchoat@american-bonsai.com

"Ulmus" is a species of tree, and "bonsai" is a concept or design. So, it appears that your real question is "Can I grow a ulmus (elm) from a cutting?" Yes you can. I don't understand your question about a cutting from another plant. You are welcome to contact me at
wchoat@american-bonsai.com or take a look at my website
www.american-bonsai.com

i have a coconut bonzai at home for 9 yrs now, but i can't seem to make it look like a bonzai plant..i tried different bonzai sites, but they don't have instruction on how to make a coconut bonzai.

Put it in a small pot and keep trimming it.

I’d like to start from scratch, i have no idea on how it’s done… i only know that it takes a lot of time and effort. I pretty much like the type with red maple leaves. Not sure if it’s the “Japanese Maple Bonsai” though. I’d like to have it indoor, and i live on the Mediterranean coast.

By the way, we start by planting seeds, a branch piece or…? and is there any book on how to bonsai tree???
Thank you
can sum1, who actually practices bonsai-ing give sum tips? like which type of tree to start with? what to avoid? …

http://www.bonsaisite.com/

There may be more than one red-leafed tree used in Bonsai, but the one I’ve always heard of is the Maple. The site above has really good information about Bonsai and some directions on how to get started…Good luck!