Chinese Elm and beginner questions

jimmythe7th

Hi newbie here

Im quite interested in bonsai trees me and my brother are thinking about giving it a go. We plan to buy seeds and grow from there wht type of soil do bonsai's like ? Any other tips about start from seeds appreciated. How long would it take a seed to grow a sprout a couple on inces out of a pot ?

We also plan to buy some establshed chinese elm to keep our intrest. Are chinese elm a good beginner tree? We live in Queensland Australia which is quite warm. We also live right next to the ocean will these trees tolirate salty air ?

Thankyou for you time

James

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BonsaiGreenhorn

To answer a few of your questions:

I would recommend buying a bonsai that has already been somewhat established. This is because seeds are quite a long process and it wont be "bonsai" until about 5 years after it sprouts (roughly.) Most seeds, along with Chinese Elm seeds need to be stratisfied where they are put into a cold fridge (40F-70F) for about 3 months (90 days) also. So, I wouldn't recommend doing this, you'll probably get bored, this is a project that is usually done around winter time (but could be done now) and isn't even always gaurenteed to be successful. Buy a tree for the time being. See how you like bonsai, learn, read constantly.

You could buy a chinese elm, but I would recommend a type of Ficus, these are usually great beginner trees and are very forgiving too. I dont think the ocean would be a big problem at all. I live on the water and I havent seen an effect from it.

Best of Luck!!

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-Evan

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