Starting a Bonsai Tree From Seed

Before we get started, you should be aware that starting a Bonsai tree from seed is an extremely long and slow process. Depending on a tree sort and size, it can take up to 5-6 years for a plant to become a "legit Bonsai", and it would still be a young one. If you know what you're doing, you should have a Bonsai tree by year 10. For me, that's not a problem.

I imagine leaving my Bonsai legacy to my future generations. Also, you will get the best "feeling" for your tree(s), and not to mention the satisfaction of taking care of it, since the very beginning. You can check my Bonsai time-lapse, to see how it all started in my case. Now, is it really THAT simple to grow a tree from a seed?

Apple tree plants. Is it really THAT simple?

The answer could vary, but if you have all that is needed, it can be as simple as shown in the picture above. When I browse the Internet about Bonsai, I could not notice various "how to grow your Bonsai" articles, and while scrolling them, I didn't see any information on how to start a Bonsai from your own seed.

It bothers me since it's really easy to get your own tree seeds, but I'm talking about those trees that have a fruit of a sort, such are apple, peach, apricot, cherry, plum, lemon, pear, melon, nectarine, and so on. How to grow other sorts, such are acer, walnut, hazelnut, maple, ash, birch, linden trees, etc., I will write a separate article.

That's how I do it. I gather everything I need from nature, including humus.

The first thing that is important for a young Bonsai plant is a good, naturally fertile soil. I get mine from leaves from various tree sorts stored in a container for a year or two. Here in Croatia, it is called humus. It is also a longer process, but that's how I do it. Everything I use for my gardening and bonsai, I get from nature itself.

Just to be clear - do not fertilise the soil with any kind of fertilisers! Moisture is the most important part for seeds to develop, the temperature is the second most important part, and mixing soil with fertiliser is only the proper way to kill your tree plant from the very beginning. Since dealing with bonsai will teach you about patience, it is not needed to fertilise the soil until the 3rd month. That way, you will let your tree plant develop a stronger root for fertilisers.

Pot preparation

You will need a pot, and no, it doesn't have to be sterile. Nature is not sterile. As shown in the picture above;

1. If it's older or used pot, just wash it with water.
2. Firstly, add some smaller sized rocks for better drainage, and to protect the soil from "leaking" out from the pot.
3. Add fertile soil (humus), but not entirely to the top. 

In my case, it is really that simple - as 1,2,3!

Now, you are ready to put your seeds into the soil. To get back on the previous topic above, get your own seed! How? I get mine directly from a fruit and plant it while it's "fresh". It literally can be any fruit with seed in it. It's a proven fact (by me), that 90% of a planted seed manage to develop into the plant, and I'm being harsh when I say 90%. In this case, I got 6 seeds from an apple and all of them developed into the plants. As shown in the picture above;

1. Get seed while is fresh directly from a fruit into the soil.
2. Add a handful of soil into the pot to cover up the seeds entirely. That said, don't put seeds too deeply into the soil. Two (horizontally put) fingers deep is enough.
3. Keep the soil moist, but not wet, on a warmer place (room temperature is just fine), and protect from direct sunlight.

I water the soil every second day just to keep the soil moist. When seeds develop a plant that comes up from the soil, I begin to water it on a daily basis.

Little Apple plants, developed from my own seed. 100% success rate in this one (6 planted seeds developed into 6 apple plants). The 6th plant is well hidden behind the one at the right-bottom.

Now, you tell me - is it really as simple as that? In my case it is, and I really hope it will be this simple to you also. On my Bonsai time-lapse, I wrote that logic will get the most out of your Bonsai, and you see that, if put logically, I get a 100% success rate because I wonder what condition seed must have in order to develop. I then use nothing but my logic, common sense to make everything right. Some would say that you have to have that "feeling" for things like that, but I think it is all logic combined with experience and love.

I would love to hear some of your experiences with starting a Bonsai from a seed -- since things I put here are the things I do "my way" (as mentioned in my Welcome to my Home Wilderness article), and it may not work entirely for you.