Nice variety @Jayhawk, thanks for sharing. Which ones have you had germination success with from them? They are certainly not cheap, but clearly worth it if they work considering all the other resources involved in the process…
Japanese Black Pine x 2yrs of orders, Trident maple (small leaves), English Oaks, and Mimosa (Albizia) all had great germination rates. Although, I see a lot of stuff is not currently available.
Planted oak (corkbark, Utah scrub, and english) acorns; local collected mountain maple seads (north Idaho!); white AND red flower hawthorn berries; and Japanese larch seeds off of my mini forest. ALL free.
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Impetus was birth of a neices twins! I figure I will introduce them into bonsai in 10 years… They will have the time to see them mature… Or, at least landscape plants.
Seeds got me started. I just like to watch them grow, ive also had whole trays get devoured in a night lol. but usually if you time it right and protect them from the wind, in winter they’ll be fine. Birds tend to eat the tops too especially hinoki and maple. Ive used things like neem oil for bugs as spray and root drench … those pesky fungus gnats and craneflies really do a number if you’re not watching.
a merchant i have thee best luck with is www.Shefeildseedco.com as well as myseedsco … I use pete perlite and decomposed cowpoo and bark sometimes ill add pumice. I had alot of luck snipping all the roots off like a cutting. when the first true leaves show, but its safer to just cut the tap at that time instead.
I found some seeds can take 2 years and most of the time you dont need scarification or stratification but it does increase germination… if you germonate off season you’ll need some powerful lighting and fans… humidity matters but the next winter let them go dormant. I do not have a greenhouse and I found more bad info rather than good info on youtube lol. nothing works better then late fall sewing i found…
a note on dry maple is plant in spring and they will pop up random till the following spring. cryptomeria i failed with until this year, it seems planting them in mid spring is the trick. mind you my states climate and high humidity may be a factor in why i struggled for good info. best advise ifound… plant in little seed pots or u have a tangled mess of thick and unsightly bent roots, paper towel fuses to roots sand makes it easy to accidentaly break the root. and going big in numbers helps survival rates through bug seasons.
I learned by trial and error alot of error and occational sound advice. I hope you continue to enjoy growing from seed, i feel its just as rewarding as bonsai , as far as pride goes.