About 4 years ago when I first got into bonsai I saw one of those infamous "grow your own bonsai by seed" kits. I had a few "stick-in-pot" bonsai already, but, I bought a kit full of Redwood seeds (Sequoiadendron giganteum ) and tried it out because I just had to have a redwood.
Well, 2 kits and months later I had nothing. I went on to collect more sticks for my pots, and eventually came across the online seed sources. realizing that the kit is a waste of money (pay $10-$14 for seeds I can get online for $1.25) I ordered seeds from seedman.com
I learned that redwoods have a fairly low germination percentage, but finally after planting roughly 60-something seeds I had one sprout. I was happy as my tiny redwood finally started to grow, but by then it was late in the season, and I didn't protect it well enough for the michigan winter. It wasn't strong enough to pull through. That was about 2 years ago.
Well, after taking a year off, I tried agian this year. I was placing an order from seedman for a few other trees. Figured I'd try Baobab, orange jasmine, pygmy date palm, and the reason for the oder in the first place...the impossible to find anywhere .... Montery cypress. I decide to add a pack of sequoia to make the $10 minimium order.
About 6 weeks ago I got the order and planted 1/2 the seeds. Suprisingly, out of 10 redwood seeds I planted 2 came up right away in about 2 weeks! Another one started last week ( 4 weeks later), and just today, I found another little bugger!! Seems I've finally got a good batch! I planted the other 10 last week so I expect even more!
Got 1 baobab, and an ornage jasmine thats 3-4 weeks old too. The baobab is growing nicely, but the jasmine seems to have just stalled. It looks healthy, but hasn't put on any true leaves yet or anything in the last 4 weeks... maybe its growing roots first..wish I knew.
Still nothing on the montery cypress though... not suprising since the packet said 3-6 months for germination... hopefully I'll see one of those in the next couple of weeks...they were afterall the reason for the order in the first place.
Till then I guess I'll just have to admire the little redwood forest thats beginnng
