Aquiring Bonsai material
In this part of our website we explain how to cultivate your very own Bonsai tree. You’ll get detailed information about all the different Bonsai propagation techniques, everything from purchasing a pre-made Bonsai tree, to growing your very own tree and turning it into a Bonsai.
Buying Bonsai trees
Most Bonsai enthusiasts started their hobby with a ready-made Bonsai tree, bought in a Bonsai shop or received as a present. Although you will not experience the fun of creating your own tree, it is a great way to get started and get a feeling for the basic care for Bonsai trees. Once you get enthusiastic about Bonsai you can eventually learn to create them yourself.
Growing from seed
The Japanese term, “Misho,” refers to the practice of growing Bonsai from tree seeds. It can be a very rewarding process that allows you to grow a plant as a Bonsai tree from the very beginning, although it does demand a great amount of patience. It takes a minimum of three years before seedlings mature enough to start shaping, but it’s advantageous, as you have full control over your Bonsai tree from the beginning. Misho is the only real way to grow a Bonsai right from the start!
Growing from cuttings
Cultivating trees from cuttings, or “Sashiki” in Japanese, is very popular among Bonsai growers because it’s an inexpensive way to propagate new trees. This method reduces the time it takes to grow new trees from seeds by about a year and provides some foresight into which characteristics the cuttings will have.
Buying nursery stock
Nursery stock are young garden plants (also called prebonsai), that sometimes have great qualities for Bonsai purposes. Buying Bonsai nursery stock is a fast way of ‘propagating’ a tree and you can start right away with training it.
Collecting trees
In Japanese: “Yamadori” – Sometimes trees that remained small can be found in nature, due to natural circumstances such as a lack of nutrients. With proper permission, these trees can be collected and placed in a pot.
