How to Grow a Bonsai Tree From Bonsai Seedlings – Complete Guide

Growing a bonsai from a bonsai seedling is a long, challenging journey—it requires a lot of time, patience, and dedication. 

Before you can even perform specific bonsai techniques on your tree, you’d need to be able to germinate seeds or grow a young seedling into a young tree that can pass as a pre-bonsai potential. That alone can take at least a decade to happen.

To help fully prepare yourself for such a journey, here’s everything you need to know about cultivating a bonsai tree from scratch.

Read on to learn:

• Whether bonsai tree seeds really exist.
• 18 bonsai tree species to grow for beginners.
• How long it takes to grow a bonsai from seedlings.
• 5 stages of growing a bonsai from seed to mature tree.
• Tips when buying or collecting tree seeds or seedlings for bonsai.
• And so much more…

Do Bonsai Tree Seeds Exist?

Before we discuss how to grow a bonsai from a young seedling…

Let’s talk about one of the most debatable topics in this field—whether there are really such things as bonsai seeds or bonsai seedlings.

Many non-bonsai enthusiasts think bonsai trees are grown from a particular dwarf tree species. Well, the confusion and misinformation are understandable as many shops and nurseries globally sell “bonsai seeds.”

The truth is bonsai trees can be grown from most tree species. As long as the material has good tree-like qualities and the potential to be trained in a small, shallow container, it can be cultivated into a beautiful bonsai tree.

Hence, there is no such thing as bonsai seeds or seedlings. Those marketed as bonsai tree seeds are just regular tree seeds from normal trees.

“If so. Then why do shops still sell ‘bonsai seeds?’”

Selling bonsai seeds is a marketing trick of many garden centers and shops to sell regular tree seeds at a much higher price. 

These are often marketed to beginner bonsai enthusiasts who aren’t knowledgeable about the nature of growing bonsai trees.

While some of these are sold individually, bonsai seeds often come with bonsai growing kits that include some basic tools and supplies.

Seeds vs. Seedlings

Another thing that we should discuss beforehand is the difference between a bonsai tree seed and a bonsai seedling.

Knowing their differences will help you determine which is more suitable and practical for you to grow by learning their growth habits.

That being said, here’s a quick description of tree seeds and seedlings:

Tree Seeds

Seeds are tiny, hard parts of a plant with an undeveloped embryo. They are often harvested from normal trees or plants in the fall and naturally or artificially germinated in early spring to late spring. 

Some are collected once the seeds drop, and others are harvested from their fruits or open cones.

While it gives the grower full control, growing a bonsai from seed is more challenging. For once, germinating seeds isn’t always easy and requires patience and knowledge.

To grow a bonsai from seed, you’d need to learn the two seed germination techniques: stratification and scarification.

Seed Stratification

Many seeds that fall during autumn are genetically programmed to become dormant in winter and germinate in early spring.

To break this dormancy period out of season, seeds must need to undergo stratification. It helps encourage the germination of seeds by imitating their natural growing conditions—the cold period.

Stratification is done by placing the seeds in a cold, moist environment for a long period, somewhere between 21 to 90 days, depending on the plant species.

Seed scarification

It speeds up the germination process by breaking a small part of the shell and eventually letting water or moisture pass through it.

Scarification is often performed before stratification on seeds with hard, tough shells.

Here’s an illustration of plant growth from seed to seedling:

Tree Seedlings

Once the seeds sprout and grow a few adolescent leaves, they become bonsai seedlings. Compared to seeds, seedlings can give you a few months or years of boost, depending on how long it has been planted already.

Generally, a seedling has less than an inch of diameter at breast height and has its cotyledons still attached.

With seedlings, you can do basic plant care right away, minus the tedious job of collecting and germinating seeds for months—which can save you tons of time and effort!

Tips on Acquiring Tree Seeds or Seedlings for Bonsai

Getting a seed or seedling for bonsai growing can sometimes be challenging, especially for beginners.

To help you out, here are some quick tips and reminders when buying or collecting seeds:

If growing a bonsai from seed:

1. Avoid buying “bonsai seeds.” Instead, buy regular tree seeds to save costs.
2.  Buy or collect seeds native to your area to ensure good growth and better adaptability. 
3. Store pine cones somewhere warm to release and obtain seeds between their scales.
4. Collect tree seeds from local trees in the autumn and plant them in the same season to align with nature’s schedule.

If growing a bonsai from a seedling:

1. Choose a fast-growing bonsai species to cut down on years of waiting for it to grow.
2. Like seeds, avoid buying “bonsai seedlings,” and just ask for regular nursery stock at your local garden center.
3. Get a seedling close to three years old, so you can start loosely wiring and manipulating its branches and stems.
4. Always check the health and condition of the seedling before purchasing. Check for any signs of deformation, pest infestation, and diseases.

Check out: Where to Find the Best Bonsai Trees for Sale?

How Long Can Seedlings Grow Into a Bonsai?

Depending on the bonsai seed species, it can take 5 to 10 years to grow a decent-looking young bonsai tree from a tree seed or bonsai seedlings. That’s because thickening the trunk alone takes years to achieve.

Fast-growing bonsai tree species, such as a needle juniper, can start looking like a young bonsai tree when pruned and wired regularly. However, most species can take at least a decade to look like mature miniature trees. That’s the only time you can style and shape your bonsai tree more stylistically.

Bonsai trees featured in popular bonsai magazines, exhibitions, and conventions have been grown and trained by bonsai experts for several decades. 

Hence, if you want to grow award-winning bonsai trees, take bonsai art as a lifelong task.

Want to learn more about growing bonsai from seedlings? Then, continue reading the expanded guide below.

Guide on How to Properly Grow a Bonsai From Seedlings

“Misho” is the Japanese term for growing bonsai from seed or seedling. 

Unlike when cultivating a tree cutting or yamadori, this method takes time, effort, and patience. It requires sufficient horticultural knowledge and dedication to grow your seed/seedling material into a well-established bonsai tree.

While it may not be a beginner-friendly method, growing a bonsai from scratch gives the grower full control of their plant.

If you want to try this method of cultivating bonsai trees, check out this timeline explaining the five stages of misho bonsai:

Stage 1: Seed

Age estimate: 0 to 90 days

If you want to start growing bonsai from seed, you must dedicate at least a month to germinating your purchased seeds out of season. 

This process involves stratification and scarification of seeds.

Here’s one way of cold stratifying seeds:

1. Get a damp paper towel.
2. Place the seeds on top of the paper towel, then fold the paper towel at least once.
3. Keep the folded paper tower inside a sealed plastic bag.
4. Finally, store it inside the refrigerator for several days.

Depending on the seed species, it may take up to 90 days to germinate seeds.

Note: This is unnecessary if you collect seeds in the autumn, as you can plant them in the same season.

Afterward, plant your seeds into a small pot using peat moss or potting soil until they sprout. 

An illustration of the stages of a seed until it sprouts its pair of seed leaves (cotyledons):

Stage 2: Seedling

Age estimate: 90 days to 3 years old

Once your seeds have grown a few leaves and stems, they become seedlings. This is probably the most delicate stage of the plant as it’s sensitive to changing environments and climate conditions.

During this stage, you should transfer your seedlings into separate pots to allow them to grow larger and better.

At this stage, using bonsai soil isn’t necessary since your priority should be encouraging the healthy growth of your plant. Using regular potting soil should be enough, as long as you keep its soil moist and it receives direct sunlight.

Watch this video to learn more about how to care for and maintain tree seedlings for bonsai:

Stage 3: Sapling/Pre-bonsai material

Age estimate: 3 to 5 years old

After about three years of growing a plant from seed, many tree species start to form good, stable, and woody trunks—this stage of a plant is called a “sapling.”

Saplings are mostly used as pre-bonsai materials ready to be trained and grown for bonsai growing.

During this stage, you should transfer your pre-bonsai sapling into an appropriate-sized bonsai pot and well-draining bonsai soil to control their growth better. This helps the plant adapt to being grown in a small, confined environment.

Wiring, pruning, and fertilizing also begin in this stage.

An example of a pre-bonsai material:

Stage 4: Young bonsai plant

Age estimate: 6 to 20 years old

After several years of training, your sapling material will turn into a young bonsai plant with more stable trunks and branches, better ramification, and a more distinguishable form.

During this stage, you should continue growing your young tree into a shallow pot filled with a good bonsai soil blend that fits your tree’s needs. Of course, proper and regular maintenance is also needed to encourage strong health and good growth. 

Fast-growing species will show more mature features early on than slow-growing ones. That said, if you want to see results faster, grow fast-growing bonsai tree species.

Stage 5: Mature, well-established bonsai tree

Age estimate: 21+ years old

It takes several decades for one plant material to grow as a mature, well-established bonsai tree. Unless you buy an already mature plant, you’d need to dedicate many years to achieve a classic-looking bonsai.

Most, if not all, popular and valued bonsai trees worldwide are passed down from generation to generation. They are trained and maintained for many decades—non-stop—to achieve a century-old appearance. 

Best Bonsai Tree Species Recommendations

Now that you know what and how long it takes to grow a bonsai from seedlings, let me recommend some of the best tree species for bonsai art.

Here are some plant materials that are good for beginner and intermediate bonsai growers:

Evergreen tree species:

Trees that have leaves year-round.

• Ficus
• Spruce
• Juniper
• Hinoki cypress
• Japanese white pine

Deciduous tree species:

Trees that shed leaves in the fall.

• Beech
• Ginkgo
• Redwood
• Chinese elm
• Japanese maple

Flowering tree species:

Trees that bloom flowers in the spring.

• Azalea
• Hibiscus
• Wisteria
• Bougainvillea
• Japanese apricot

Fruit-bearing tree species:

Trees that bear fruits in specific seasons.

• Citurus
• Crabapple
• Pomegranate

Conclusion

Growing a bonsai from a bonsai seedling is indeed a laborious and tedious job. Not only it’s challenging to collect seeds or seedlings from the beginning, but training it for several decades until it matures requires dedication and commitment. 

That being said, if you want to grow a bonsai from seedlings, you must have the passion and willingness to dedicate many years of your life to cultivating it. Otherwise, you’d never see it thrive in its best form.

Read also: Are Bonsai Trees Expensive to Grow?