Planters' Choice Bonsai Starter Kit
I got this bonsai kit from Amazon since it got a lot of high ratings. There were a few kits that are almost exactly the same as this kit, but this one was exactly $25 so it reaches the free shipping threshold unlike the other kits. I don't know much about bonsai, but this kit is basic enough to try it out at a decent price. It contains seeds of four different trees, four peat pots, 4 soil discs, 4 labels, a trimmer, and a booklet.
The booklet gives you some information on the trees, as well as the steps you need to take to ensure the seeds sprout. The booklet isn't the most detailed but its also small so I do recommend doing some extra researching. For example, the Delonix Regia seeds need to have the bellybutton of the seed cut off in order to increase its chance of germinating. The booklet doesn't say how you know which end of the seed is the bellybutton. Since the Delonix Regia seeds are super big compare to the other seeds, I had to use sandpaper to cut the part of the seed off. You don't need to do this to the other seeds.
The booklet also tells you how to use the soil discs. They repeated this info in every page of each tree type. I feel this could have been its own page instead of repeated 3 more times. It says to use 1-2 quarts of water for a disc which ended up to be a lot of water. I put a second disc in the same water and it was enough to expand that as well. The soil still ended up still watery like applesauce. You do need to squeeze the water out before putting it in the peat pots. The last two soil discs, I only just added enough water to expand them which I think was about a cup for each disc. The soil ended up being enough to fill 5 peat pots. But since the kit only contained 4, I saved the rest for repotting later.
The peat pots are standard size, but they're not enough to hold all the seeds in the kit without overcrowding. I ended up only using half the seeds and I may have to get more pots and soil to get the rest of the seeds sowed. These pots also easily get moldy, so I have left the soil get mostly dry and I just water around the seeds. So far I have seedlings of all four trees already.
I have kept them in an Ikea greenhouse by a window. and surprisingly have gotten sproutings within 10 days which is a lot faster than the germination time listed in the booklet. One of the Delonix Regia seeds grew really fast, but the peat pot I had them in got mold on it so I did repot it and its surviving so far. The second Delonix Regia seed hasn't grown as fast, so I am waiting for it to grow enough to repot it out of the mold peat pot. It hasn't even been a month yet, but I've already got two Picea Abies and two Pinus Aristata seedlings about an inch tall. The Jacaranda Mimosifolia hasn't had a seedling sprouted yet, but I do see a seed growing on the surface so I know one is growing fine. They gave this tree the most seeds so I did end up sowing 5 seeds in the peat pot. The seeds are also thin like fish scales. Will be interesting to see how many of them end up sprouting. The booklet says to thin out weaker seedlings and repot after a few seasons of growing, but I'm not going to do that exactly. I plan to have each seedling in its own pot once they grow a few inches.
At the month mark, all four trees have grown quite a bit. I am still monitoring and watering them everyday. Watering is still a learning process for me since I'm not exactly sure how much water to give them without the pots getting moldy or under water them. I've nearly done both! So far most of the seeds I've planted have germinated, so now I will have to keep them alive and growing. There are a couple seedlings that haven't been growing and one seem like its half dying for some reason. I may lose a tree or two but that's ok!
Overall, I am pleased with this kit and look forward to see the trees grow. I do plan on keeping them indoors, though I do fear that one day it be infested with bugs somehow. If I do end up losing interest or the trees died I wouldn't really feel bad throwing it away since this kit wasn't expensive nor had anything worth keeping. So if you want to try growing something give this bonsai kit a shot!
UPDATE 10/7/2018
It has been 5 months since I started this kit and the sub tropical trees have grown and survived so far. Unfortunately the needle trees didn't make it and this is mostly due to my fault. It took loosing all the seeds for me to google why they were struggling and it was due to damping off. Its a fungal disease that can kill your seeds and seedlings, and I checked all the boxes that contributed to it. Now that I know about this disease I hope I'll have better success next time. I'm not sure whether to try again by buying the seeds from somewhere else, or just try another gardening kit next spring. Let me know in the comments if you want me to try another kit or not.
Since its fall and winter is coming soon, I will hope my sub tropical trees will make it through!
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