Planting Bonsai Seeds How to Grow Properly
I’ve soaked my Baobab seeds in hot water all night and today I check to see how they are doing!
I am also planting my giant Sequoia bonsai seeds how to grow properly. Watch the video
I put my baobab seeds in hot water and it felt more like a cooking show than a bonsai video i checked the thermos last night and the water was still really warm in it so i didn’t add any more water or heat it up again so let’s have a look at the seeds now it doesn’t smell that’s good sign so i’m going to put the seeds that floated on this side and the seeds that sank on this side and we’ll just compare the two and see how they germinate well it looks like there’s not too many seeds the water is still really hot it uh i can hold my finger in the water but not for too long so that’s amazing all right let’s um it only looks like there’s three floating now and i’m gonna have to get the tweezers to get them out all right i’ve got my tweezers and i’ll try and get these seeds out it’s not easy they kind of bubble around in here as soon as i go near them they sink i’ll just have to pour it out [Music] okay there’s the two that were floating wow they’re still really warm i think there’s another floating and there it is there’s the three that were floating now let’s have a look at the other ones put those over here okay that’s got them all out so right away i can see on this one there’s a little bit of a root coming out already i’ll show you a close-up of that there’s a look at the one with a little bit of a root sticking out i’m going to check all the others that one’s got something going on nothing on that one that one does have something going on yeah that the ones that don’t have anything sticking out but definitely have changed like that one’s kind of it’s got a bit of a crack in it and there’s something the start of a root sticking out this one definitely definitely is growing so that’s good i’m glad a lot of these seep seeds are cracked in half looks like something is definitely going to grow with them now let me check the ones that were floating and see if there’s any signs of life you know they look okay too yeah there’s definitely something changing with them the little belly button is getting a little wider there so i think last time i planted baobabs i had five seeds and two of them germinated and the three that didn’t germinate they kind of smelled funky like beans like fermenting beans and i think i kept them too wet so these ones i think i’ll keep a little drier here’s a look at the seed pods and there’s definitely something happening with them first of all they’re larger than they were yesterday so they’ve swollen up a lot of the seed coatings have cracked open so there’s definitely water getting into the inside i think i don’t think that is the root i think that’s the umbilical cord where it was attached inside the fruit and it’s just kind of swelled up a bit i don’t think that’s the root coming out i could be wrong but so yeah something’s happening with them they’re looking good i’m going to wrap the seeds up in their little blanket and put them in the greenhouse today it’s going to get really warm uh the outside temperature is 30 degrees celsius which is about 80 degrees fahrenheit and in the greenhouse here it gets up to 100 degrees fahrenheit or you know 38 degrees celsius so that is a good warm temperature to germinate the bab seeds so bonsai seeds how to grow i’ll put them in the sun here wrap them up in their blankets so they stay nice and moist and i think you’ll see some good changes towards the end of the day i’m just going to treat them all the same there was only three that sank and they look like they’re split open and i think they’ll grow too so i’ll put them in the middle of the blanket here kind of space them out a little bit it’s just a terry cloth towel like that and then i’ll put the other one over top like that that way they’ll get light in here then to transport them i’ll just roll them up and then i’ll unroll it once i get into the greenhouse these towels are good and wet okay so that looks good there’s no rain in the forecast for the next i think three or four days so i’m going to move all the succulents out of the greenhouse and make some room for the baobab seedlings and any other seeds that i plant today [Music] all right i’m bringing the seeds inside the greenhouse here i’ll roll them out just like that i’ll keep the towels moist throughout the day and then i can just lift this up and inspect the seeds see how they’re doing the only one that i noticed was a little funny was there’s one that’s kind of a bit of a strange color so i don’t know what that means but we’ll find out maybe so yeah i’ll keep those damp so this water is warm it was in the greenhouse and i’m just going to spray it with the sprayer that’ll give it a good soaking it’s nice and warm in the greenhouse here so this should do quite well all right that’ll do so i’ll fill this bottle up and just keep it beside here and i can keep the moist throughout the day i went to bed last night thinking did i just make baobab soup you know putting those baba seeds into the hot water in the thermos and kind of almost cooking it um but the seeds look okay so far so i’ll keep you updated on their progress this planting seeds for bonsai video is going to be i think fairly long because i have so many seeds to plant and maybe i can talk about the seeds a bit along the way and kind of make it interesting so we’ll keep track of these babe seeds and see how they’re progressing over the next few days yesterday i also pre-soaked my giant sequoia seeds so i think it’s time to open them up and have a look i checked online and i guess a lot of people have asked the same question the sequoia seeds don’t seem to sink and they’re worried sometimes you get a few that sink they recommend you don’t soak them any more than two days or they might get mushy and they said you know floating isn’t a really reliable test and what you have to do is take one of the seeds out and kind of cut it open and see if there’s like a viable embryo inside so i’m going to do that i can hold it with the one so all i’m looking for is like a fleshy something that looks like it could grow well i don’t know there it definitely looked like there’s something flashy inside certainly didn’t look like a giant sequoia maybe i’ll try another one this is really hard to do if i just cut it in half i can get a cross section of what’s inside well it’s not hollow so that there’s definitely something in there yeah i think they’re okay i’ll put these two back well i’ve soaked the seeds overnight and i’m going to plant them as is they need a nice free draining soil and they should be kept moist at all times if you let them dry out you won’t get a tree i’m going to be planting the sequoia seeds all in this one seed tray here there’s plenty of drainage holes on the bottom and i’m going to use used bone size soil i’ve got a lot of seeds to plant and i have a lot of used bone size soil so i’m going to use it up for these seedlings it’s good soil it’s uh really good stuff so they should do well in it the bonsai soil i’m using is a good porous kind of it’s got a lot of fines in it maybe a bit of garden soil but it should be really good for germinating seeds it’ll stay nice and moist it won’t dry out very quickly and then you know as the trees develop i can put them into a a more coarser bone sized soil all right i’ll start to fill the tray up with this bone size soil yeah it looks like the soil is a mixture of garden soil and bonsai soil so these sequoia seeds they do need stratification in winter they need four weeks of cool weather so you can put them in the fridge just put a damp paper towel in with the seeds in a plastic baggie keep the baggie open and that’ll be enough moisture to get them through the stratification process which is just cooling the seeds for four weeks and then you can plant them so mine have been stratified okay that looks good i’m ready to plant my seeds and it’s hard to believe that the largest tree in the world comes from such a tiny little seed so i’m going to plant them i’m just going to plant them in sort of a grid pattern and hopefully they’ll all germinate but i don’t know i’ll give each little seed about this much space between them it’s very exciting propagating seeds i think because seeds don’t cost a lot you can order seeds online for these trees and i think it’s like 15 for a packet of 100 usually which is pretty good you know considering they have to be collected from the cones there i got one row planted along here and i will fill it in with some soil over top of them i hope these grow i’m very excited about getting sequoias going and i want to get coastal redwoods going too i i had one and it just didn’t make it through the winter so i’ve got to keep them warmer in the winter someone said all they need is a short rest period you just leave them outside in fall and then you know when it starts getting cold out when the starts getting down to freezing temperatures you bring them back inside and grow them like a tropical tree again so they only need like that fall period that’s their winter that sounds logical to me so i’m going to try that next time [Music] keeping them outside until it gets cold and then bringing them in and growing them indoors oh man i’ve made a mess here oh this works quite well this is more of a random method just flick the seeds down on the soil with seeds sometimes you find they either none of them grow or all of them grow so i’m hoping all these grow because i like to give out seeds like this like little seedlings to other club members because everyone’s looking for a giant sequoia and if you have little seedlings to start off you know get the trees going people love that i like getting little seedlings uh unusual trees that people have started and a lot of times with seeds you start off with a hundred and the first year you lose you know maybe 15 due to you know just they just die you don’t find out why some grow and some don’t and then every year after that you always lose a few so you know after 15 years you’re kind of down to a reasonable number of trees there’s always some that don’t make it and sometimes it’s not your fault sometimes they get dug up by birds or squirrels or who knows i’ve got all the seeds in the sea tray now so i’m just going to sort them out there’s a you know a couple letter too close together there’s some here that i can space out a little better fix them up there’s some more that are doubled up here okay but it’s looking pretty good oh there’s a whole clump of them here i’m gonna spread those out but it doesn’t hurt if you get a couple that are growing close together you can always separate them at a later stage or grow them as a kind of a clump or a double trunk sequoia all right i think that’s pretty good i’m going to fill it in with a layer of soil and just you know maybe 25 millimeters or an inch on top this soil is already damp i don’t need to water it if i watered it it would be too waterlogged and it might rot the seeds so it’s just a perfect moisture level in the soil right now i’m putting the layer on top now seed trays are quite floppy and they’re hard to pick up they kind of flex everywhere so i’ll put a board underneath it and that’ll support the seed tray so it’s easier to pick up and move so you don’t disturb the roots on the seedlings so there there’s a firm board underneath the seat tray so now i can lift it up without you know flexing all those roots in the soil so i think that is good i think it’s all ready to grow so i’m going to put it in the greenhouse and i won’t put it up on the higher shelves i’ll keep it down closer to the floor so it doesn’t get too hot i think a moderate temperature will germinate these seeds i think this is just the perfect location for these seeds so they’re kind of down here where it’s cooler down towards the floor of the greenhouse and you see they get kind of dappled sunlight here it’s uh i would say it’s very close to growing on a forest floor the amount of light they’re getting the temperature’s perfect there’s the right humidity level in the soil the seeds have been soaked overnight they’ve been stratified so i’m hoping they grow i’ll keep my fingers crossed i’ve got a lot of seeds in my bucket here soaking they need planting you can see oh they’re all a lot of them are sunk to the bottom so yeah those will have to be planted soon it was really fun today getting my baobab seeds underway and planting the giant sequoia seeds i’ll keep my fingers crossed and hopefully i’ll have good success with the germination i have a bucket load of seeds still to plant but that’ll have to wait for part three that’s all for today i’m nigel saunders thanks for joining me in the bonsai zone
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