People have been cultivating bonsai trees for centuries to form ornamental gardens. When the art was in its infancy, it was generally seen as a pastime for the wealthy. Nowadays, if someone is going to try to learn how to take care of one of the trees, then they should definitely spend time learning more about bonsai's diverse and rich history, as well as the specific skills needed to grow one.

Growing bonsai trees is an ancient art that is becoming increasingly more popular. In Japan, bonsai trees are a recognised art form and research shows that plants benefit our mood and attitude. Japanese masters raised Bonsai growing to high artistic levels and the culture of bonsai arrived in Europe a couple of centuries ago.

The word ‘bonsai' comes from two Japanese words. ‘Bon' is Japanese for shallow pot and ‘Sai' is a plant, hence the name. However, the origin of bonsai, while often attributed to the Japanese, is actually Chinese in derivation.

Japanese Bonsai are heavily pruned and actually look like miniature versions of their wilder counterparts. Japanese gardening is a cultural form of gardening that is meant to produce a scene that mimics nature as much as possible. It is the use of trees, shrubs, rocks, sand, artificial hills, ponds, and flowing water that transforms the Bonsai garden into an art form.

Many people believe that growing a Bonsai tree from seed is very difficult. In actual fact, it is not much more difficult than growing any other plant from seed. The main difference is that it takes so much longer!

For example, a seedling can take about three years to grow to about 4 inches (10cm). If one of those seedlings is then transplanted into a separate pot it will take about nine years to grow to about three feet (92cm)! Now, of course, you wouldn't normally allow it simply to grow upwards, but you see the sort of growth that takes place.

I decided to plant a seed on the day my youngest son was born and grow it for him so that he and the tree are exactly the same age. The time taken to grow does not matter at all in this instance!

However, the start that son and plant got in life was rather different, to say the least.

You see, to simulate the natural growing conditions of the seed, it had to be kept in the refrigerator for six to eight weeks. This is because the majority of seeds are buried during the winter in the freezing cold soil. Fortunately, my son had a rather warmer start in life!

The next stages in their lives differed markedly as well.

Because my son was slightly jaundiced when he was born, we were advised that we should keep him in, not direct sunlight obviously, but in a bright room where his body could capture the sun's rays. Not too warm and not too cold.

The plant, on the other hand, was kept in the bottom of a warm, dark cupboard; the airing cupboard is ideal. It was watered every couple of days and keeping a lid on the container helped to keep it warm. After about four weeks the seed will begin to sprout.

Make sure you keep your plants quite warm at this stage. Use warm water when watering and make sure the cupboard is not cold at night time. Fortunately for me, we have half price night time electricity, so the immersion heater was on all night so that we had hot water for the next day. Ideal for growing bonsais. What other consideration is there when choosing a place to live?!

When your plants are showing sprouts, you can then treat them like my son and put them in a warm, light place. The kitchen or living room window sills are usually ideal. ( Not that I put my son on the window sill!) It depends upon which room gets the most sun light.

When your plants are about two inches tall (5cm), pot them into shallow pots. One plant to each pot. Lift the seedlings carefully by the leaves, because damage at this stage, especially to roots or stem can be fatal. If the leaves are damaged, the plant can survive, but obviously you should be careful with the leaves as well.

I found it best to stand the pot in a bowl of water to give the plant a good drink. After watering the plants in this way, carefully remove them from the water by lifting by the pot, never by the tree. If the soil is correct, and the plant is not root bound, any excess water will drain out the bottom of the pot into the tray under the pot.

If you follow the simple steps above, you should have no difficulty in growing bonsai trees from seed.

The next stage of pruning and shaping is the subject of another article!

Actually, given an adequate supply of water, air, light and nutrients, a correctly maintained bonsai should outlive a full sized tree of the same species.

Kind regards,

Dai Losinski.

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