Growing JBP from Seed Part 2

Last post discussed how I sprouted some JBP seeds, and this post will deal with making seedling cuttings. I do apologize in advance for the large amount of photos but I wanted to give a step-by-step account for record keeping. I pretty much followed the procedures in the Stone Lantern Pines book to make the cuttings. I used a useful tip from Jonas at Bonsai Tonight, which uses a piece of PVC pipe to help make a channel to put a layer of sand in the middle of the other soil. The sand is there to help keep the cuttings moist and stable.

First I filled the cutting containers with a drainage layer of stone, followed by filling to about half of the container with the coniferous soil from NEBGS

Then I inserted a piece of PVC pipe to fill with sand. The general idea is to fill the tube with sand, fill around it with the regular soil, then when you pull the pipe out it leaves a pocket of sand for the cuttings.

And the finished product.

When the seedling’s stem turns a violet color, the seedlings are ready to make cuttings. I had a few I could do so I got to work. The date that this was done was June 10th, 2012.

I pulled the seedling from the soil and must have broke off any tiny roots pulling it out. No matter, as it was time to use a razor knife and make the cuttings.

Victim #1.

I tossed the cuttings into a large bowl with water just like in the Pines book. This prevents them from drying out while making the other cuttings.

I should mention that I forgot to water all the pots that I filled before starting the cuttings. The thought behind this is that you don’t want to wash the rooting hormone away when you water. I did after the first cutting, water the rest of the pots in preparation.

I made a hole in the sand with a stub of bonsai wire, and applied rooting hormone. Then I used a chopstick and put the cutting in its place.

Note the reference book handy!

And the finished products after the first wave of cuttings.

At the end of the day, I ended up only making 6 cuttings. Some others needed some more time to grow, and I let them be. The problem is, that I never got around to doing anymore cuttings. I made 6 and lost 2, so now only 4 survived.

Here is an update of two of the survivors, about a month and a half later. Signs of growth, which hopefully means they have taken root and I’ll actually get to work on them one day.

Mame moyogi? (kidding)

Next year I’ll probably try another round of seedlings and see what I can come up with. I think I learned enough this year that the process should be more successful in the future. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed.

Growing JBP from Seed Part 1

I tried my hand at growing some Japanese Black Pine from seed this year, and have had some decent results. I bought my seeds off ebay and when the time came, I soaked them in a cup of water for about 2 days. The ones that sunk to the bottom were good to use, while the ones that float were either empty or infertile.

Around the middle of April, I put together a seed tray filled with the coniferous soil from New England Bonsai Gardens. In the cells I was planting the JBP, I filled the top quarter-inch with sand. I put the seeds in attached the humidity dome to the tray.

I went on my honeymoon from about May 5th to May 15th, so the tray was basically left as is for over a week. I was a little worried that it would dry out, but the opposite result had happened. By the time I got back, there were some sprouted seeds!

At the end of June, most of the seeds that would end up sprouting had sprouted. This isincluding a few extras I threw in a separate seed tray.

Part two will consist of making the seedling cuttings, as seen in the Stone Lantern Pines book. I have had mixed results with this, and took only about half of what sprouted and made cuttings.