I have bare root seedlings on the way Chinese Quince,Japanese black pine,Japanese maple, and Korean hornbeam. I was just thinking and realized I’m not sure what I should do with them. I’m in Ohio ,zone 5 the last frost is not till the middle of may. What should I do?
Bare root seedlings
- Thread starter ohiogrown
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Bonsai Nut
Nuttier than your average Nut
You will need to pot them up and protect them from frost/freezing until the spring.
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
Depends...If the deciduous species show signs of leafing out, pot them up and as said protect them. If the deciduous species' buds are tight an don't show signs of opening up, you could put them in the refrigerator in a plastic bag with a damp paper towel until those signs do show up--which could take weeks, or a couple of days. Might buy you some time in dormancy and prevent them from leafing out indoors...
Dav4
Drop Branch Murphy
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I've left maple and quince seedlings, their roots wrapped in wet newsprint and cling wrap, heeled in against my house or in the fridge, for almost a month before potting them.
cmeg1
Imperial Masterpiece
Where did you purchase them.....Most places let you pick delivery date,some like International bonsai will only ship during proper time depending on growing zone,but let you order early
I got them from Matt ouwinga at kaedebonsai. He has really fair prices. Also thank you for the info on international bonsai. I ordered a seedling from them and was wondering why it never came.
By protect what do you mean? Like bury them in the ground or put them in my I heated shed so they will still be cold but out of the elements?
Bonsai Nut
Nuttier than your average Nut
As you are seeing from the responses, it depends...
If they are still dormant you don't need to pot them right away, if you don't think that will work for you. You just need to keep them cold, and make sure their roots don't dry out. If they are still dormant, because they don't have foliage, they don't need any light, so you keep them in a refrigerator or dark cold shed.
If the buds are showing signs of breaking, or if they already have foliage on them, you will need to pot them and protect them from freezing. By "protect" I mean neither the branches or the roots can be exposed to frost or near-frost temps. So nothing 40 or below. Once they start to leaf out, you have to provide them with light, so no dark garages or garden sheds. I don't know how many seedlings you have, but there would be no risk to potting the seedlings and keeping them in your house in a bright window until spring arrives and you can move them outdoors. Because of where I live, there is no such thing as frost risk, so I pot everything the moment I receive it.
At the risk of being repetitive, let me explain it a slightly different way. Trees enter dormancy slowly, and they come out of dormancy slowly. This annual process is non-reversible - once they come out of dormancy, they can't be put back into dormancy by exposing them to cold weather. So if any dormant tree is showing signs of leaves, you have to give that tree a spring, or risk losing it. Trees that are normally very cold hardy can die if exposed to cold weather too quickly in the fall (before they have gone through the process to become dormant), or cold weather too late in the spring (after they have started to come out of dormancy). So if you have seedlings that are still dormant, you can keep them cold and (watching them carefully) hope they stay dormant. But the moment they show signs of waking, you have to give them light and get them into the dirt.
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Thank you so much for taking the time to explain that! I understand now. I got 12 seedlings, I should be able to watch them and do what needs to be done. They should be here today. Thank you!
Japanese maple,Korean hornbeam,Chinese quince, black pine. I think these are fine to keep in the fridge as long as the roots are moist. The Chinese quince has last years leaves but has dormant buds so I think it’s fine.
Attachments
Those babies look sleepy to me. They'll definitely be fine in the fridge. Just make sure the paper towel doesn't completely dry out or start getting fungly!
If, in the future you find newly-arrived trees are starting to break bud, you may find it beneficial to stick them in an enclosure like a terrarium, (empty) aquarium, or even just a plastic wrap tent held up by bamboo skewers. It'll need ventilation, of course, but it's quite helpful to maintain humidity for young trees. They take indoor climate even worse than adult trees do.
If, in the future you find newly-arrived trees are starting to break bud, you may find it beneficial to stick them in an enclosure like a terrarium, (empty) aquarium, or even just a plastic wrap tent held up by bamboo skewers. It'll need ventilation, of course, but it's quite helpful to maintain humidity for young trees. They take indoor climate even worse than adult trees do.
Potawatomi13
Imperial Masterpiece
First lesson PATIENCE! Second lesson keep trees alive(horticulture). Ordered trees too early; should have been about mid march your area
. "Just thinking" should be way before order placed. No need to use "Bonsai" pots for some years with twigs pictured. Some years needed to grow decent trunks.
sorce
Nonsense Rascal
Dav4
Drop Branch Murphy
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The problem with your "lesson" is that these seedlings are coming from Maryland and will likely have broken dormancy by mid March (they can't be shipped bare root if they're growing), and Matt O can actually sell out of these seedlings. Nope, the OP did well ordering in mid winter and now has some great seedlings. These seedlings can be safely kept dormant as mentioned above until the timing is more appropriate for the OP's plans.First lesson PATIENCE! Second lesson keep trees alive(horticulture). Ordered trees too early; should have been about mid march your area
Thank you! Ya spoke my mind pretty much. Sometimes people assume a lot more then they should. I’m not new to growing things I’m just knew to bonsai practices. Also Matt is wonderful! I suggest anyone looking for seedlings to give him a try. He sent me double of what I ordered! They came in perfect health! Thanks for all the input guys!
Leo in N E Illinois
The Professor
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I use the Sunblaze brand of this type of fixture. Yours looks identical, except the reflectors of the Sunblaze are ''supposed'' to be very well focused to reflect more light straight down. Yours is probably just as good, I'm not familiar with the brand. I have 4 tube, 6 tube and 8 tube fixtures and run different plants under each. I love them. The 8 tube fixture puts out as much light as a 430 Watt High Pressure Sodium Sun-Agro bulb, with a lot less heat.
If you keep the foliage about 4 inches below the tubes, but closer than 12 inches from the tubes - the light delivered will be roughly 40% to 50% of natural sunlight, give or take a bit. If you run an 18 hour day, you will probably get to roughly 3/4 of the light a seedling would get outdoors. This is a good fixture, I use this for my more intense light requiring orchids. It is not bright enough to get tight, normal growth on a pine, but it is more than good enough for Chinese elm, most part shade tropicals, and a wide array of other species. Should work well until time to put trees outdoors.
WNC Bonsai
Omono
Matt is in Japan but should be back soon. I asked him to hold on shipping my seedlings until the temps stabilize. We are looking at 75 degrees here on Thursday and I expect buds to be poppnig left and right after this week. Then looking for a freeze to knock everything back!
Thanks for the reply! If I’m not mistaken I think it changed names or the company was bought out.The paper inside the box about the 5year warranty said sunblaze I’m pretty sure. I debated on the 8 tube actually but for starting seeds and only using this light during the winter I figured the six tube would be fine. I’m glad to hear you have had good success with it makes me feel better for the money I spent on it. I paid a little more buying it locally instead of a web site. Can’t wait to see the results!
