Beginner in the art of Bonsai - needing a little advice

[bonsai_beginner]

Hey all
Im new to the forum, and bonsai's however I am really excited to start. I would like some advice on what i can do to maximise my results.
I am wanting to grow my bonsai from seeds as i feel this would be a fantastic experience.
The two seeds i have purchased are:
Ficus Benjaminia (Weeping Fig)
and
Ficus Obliqua (Small Leafed Fig)
I live in Melbourne Australia and plan on begging them using two oval shaped 15cm x 12cm x 4.5cm glazed pots with "Osmocote Professional Bonsai Potting Mix" and some pumice and bunnings bonsai fertilizer mixed through the soil.
Any suggestions at all on how to increase the success of my seeds would be greatly appreciated. Including the time of the year to planting it; soil mixtures; placement in the sun; watering etc

Your advice is eagerly awaited
Thank you all

[shibui]

Not the best species to grow in Melbourne but have a go anyway.
Sprinkle fig seed on the surface of your potting mix. Do not cover the seed. Fig seed needs light to germinate.
Figs are tropical and sub tropical species so plant your seed when it warms up a bit. You can start figs inside where it is a bit warmer but they will need plenty of light when they start to grow.
Keep the surface of the mix just damp until the plants start to grow. You could cover the pot with a plastic lid or gladwrap or similar to keep the humidity high until the seed germinates. Fig seed normally starts to grow in a week or 2 after planting.

I hope you are patient. you have a long road ahead to get good bonsai from these seeds.

[two40]

Hello,

I'm fairly new as well so I don't have a lot of advice to give you. What I can tell you is that growing from seed only is likely to bore you to the point of giving up... I'm not suggesting you shouldn't do it, just consider purchasing a pre-bonsai or two to practise and enjoy some of the practical aspects of 'the art' as you put it while you wait for your seedlings to develop.

Maybe try cuttings or air-layering while you're at it. It's all fun and gets your hands dirty.

Have fun

[bonsai_beginner]

Shibui thank you very much for your advice. I'll make sure to follow your advice when planting these seeds. I'll find a nice place in my house full of sun to begin the seeds


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[bonsai_beginner]

Two40
That sounds like a really good idea actually. I might try finding a pre bonsai to practice with. Get a few skills before my seeds begin sprout. Will keep me involved and motivated.
Thank you


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[wrcmad]

Hello,

I'm fairly new as well so I don't have a lot of advice to give you. What I can tell you is that growing from seed only is likely to bore you to the point of giving up... I'm not suggesting you shouldn't do it, just consider purchasing a pre-bonsai or two to practise and enjoy some of the practical aspects of 'the art' as you put it while you wait for your seedlings to develop.

Maybe try cuttings or air-layering while you're at it. It's all fun and gets your hands dirty.

Have fun

^^^ This is good advice.
I commend you for your long-term approach - and in my experience the best trees are often grown this way - because the best trees are grown, rather than topiary-ised.
But..... while your at it, get yourself a few 2-3 year old nursery stock trees to experiment learn techniques with.
See how they react to various soil mixes, pruning, fertilizers, exposure to sun/shade, wiring, root pruning, propagation, repotting timing, etc. Put a couple in the ground and experiment.
For beginners, chinese elm are the perfect choice for experimental tutorials - they are forgiving, and grow like stink.
Over the years, I have seen many newcomers overwhelmed by enthusiasm - feeling the need to have to be 'doing' something to their trees all the time. This usually results in a one-year-old twig that has been pruned and wired to death.
A handful of experimental trees will provide the need for doing something all the time, whilst learning at the same time.

[bki]

The best advice I heard when I started a few years ago. "starting with 200 starters and end up with 10 advance trees is a lot better than starting with 10 trees and end up with 200 seedlings". go away from propagating when you are starting, make use of your time focusing on understanding bonsai, the design, the principles, read and read and read. leave the propagation to the pro's unless you want to dream the impossible dream of having a nursery next year. Buy a decent number of starters and advance trees to play with and keep you busy.

[matlea]

Agree with the advice above - get some starter stock, put some in the ground, keep some in pots. This way you will be exposed to more aspects of developing the trees. Meanwhile you can grow your seeds and not be bored. I have some seed grown trees (20+years) which are some of my favourites- you just need to let them grow!.....and yes read all you can. This forum is a treasure trove of information.

[Josh]

The other thing I would suggest is to join a club. You can read as much as you want and watch videos as much as you want but there is nothing better than hands on. You'll see trees in all stages from just starting out to advanced. You can do work shops even if you don't have trees to work on you can watch what others do, ask questions and learn heaps. Different clubs cater for different tastes so work having a look at a couple of clubs.

Josh.

[bonsai_beginner]

Thank you all for your advice! I will definitely take this on and get myself a few starter trees. Probably the Chinese elm as mentioned by wrcmad

Thank you all


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[kcpoole]

Before doing anything I advise you to have a read of the wiki article here https://www.ausbonsai.com.au/wiki/index.php?title=Newbie created just for this purpose.
it will give some great info and ideas to get you on the way.

Links to many articles on what to do ( not to do ) as well.

ps Welcome to Ausbonsai
Ken

[bonsai_beginner]

Kcpoole
Thank you very much for the article. I will read through it and try and increase my knowledge a bit
I appreciate everyone's advice


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[bonsai_beginner]

I have another question, what are the best tools to purchase as a beginner?
Like what are the must haves for a beginner

Thank you all


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[Jarad]

I got the 4 piece Roshi set from http://bonsaishop.com.au/shop/ and just added individual tools to it when needed, like root pruning shears and larger branch cutters when I got bigger trees. I would also recommend an idea I stole from Hugh Grant: buy a tool box from the big green shed to keep all your tools and wire in.

Will be investing in some top of the range tools when I get more experienced.

::EDIT::
I'm sure you could get some from your local nursery.

[shibui]

I think Branch cutter is the most important tool to get. There is nothing else that will do the same job. The other tool I use most is long scissors (twig shears?) for trimming small shoots. You can use pruning snips available from most nurseries to do the same job for a start. Root shears are very useful when repotting but, again, you can use an old cheap pair of secateurs for a while. Good side cutters can cut wire but a good par of bonsai wire cutters do a better job of cutting wire that is really tight against a branch.
I have not really found a use for the tweezers, spatula and brush that are often in tool kits.