Flame Tree help! 😬

[Ms_Gigi]

Hi everyone!

I am new to bonsai and I too, started off with one of those seed kits... like most others, I had a very low success rate. I did however manage to sprout two D. regia and my seedlings are doing well..I think. The 'older' one has this one tiny spot on its leaf, looks like it was burnt but it's just there, on that leaf. Today I noticed another tiny spot on the branch opposite.

Does anyone know what that is and how do I fix it??

A bit background: I live in the Chicago suburbs, gets very hot and humid, and very cold in winter (trying to work out a nice cozy spot for the flames once we get there, granted they are still alive by then). I have been babying all my seedlings thus far, including the single black spruce and the two Brazilian Rosewoods - it gets chilly at night so I bring them inside to about 70-73F. They get at least 12 hours of direct sunlight daily - I am worried that might be damaging since they are still rather young.. I was not able to find sandy or loamy soil for the flame trees so until I get my hands on some, I made my own mix with potting soil, perlite, peat moss, gravel, and a bit of compost. They seem to shoot up in that! I have been giving them a bit of water AM and PM making sure the soil is dry between waterings. The pots are currently wet because it rained overnight. The flame trees are getting new shoots and leaves in, but those 'sun spots' worry me. Out of the 10 seeds I had, only these two sprouted so I would love it if at least one survives!

Thank you all for all the help and advice you can offer!

PS: I do realize some people don't like using flame trees for bonsai but even if I fail in that endeavor and my trees make it, they can still make nice house plants

 

[j evans]

Welcome to the Nut Bowl!

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

That spot is a random blemish, I would not worry about it. I'm in the far north burbs of Chicago, or the far south burbs of Milwaukee. We are in summer now, you can leave your spruce and delonix outdoors until autumn. Delonix comes indoors, spruce stays outdoors for winter. Both need to grow , a year or two, before you do any bonsai techniques.

 

[dresdraconius]

@Ms_Gigi
Did you by any chance scarify the seeds. This involves using a file to remove portion of the seed before planting . I too have a few Delonix saplings since they remind me of my country.

 

[Ms_Gigi]

That spot is a random blemish, I would not worry about it. I'm in the far north burbs of Chicago, or the far south burbs of Milwaukee. We are in summer now, you can leave your spruce and delonix outdoors until autumn. Delonix comes indoors, spruce stays outdoors for winter. Both need to grow , a year or two, before you do any bonsai techniques.

Great! Thank you for the advice! My spruce is barely an inch tall and still has the seed cap on... not sure how much it will grow by winter but I'm not anticipating it will be much. Should still leave it out? I also have a year old mugo pine, a dawn redwood, and a 2-3 year old giant sequoia (so far not doing well in our humidity).. not sure the redwoods can survive our winters but my garage stays a consistent 10-15F so i think I'll winter them in there

 

[Ms_Gigi]

@Ms_Gigi
Did you by any chance scarify the seeds. This involves using a file to remove portion of the seed before planting . I too have a few Delonix saplings since they remind me of my country.

Hi!
Yup, I definitely scarified them to increase my chances! Still, only 2 sprouted. Thankfully they are doing amazingly at the moment (it continues!). The remaining 3 seeds probably not going to sprout, but I anticipated this as they came from the 'bonsai starter kit' on Amazon

 

[dresdraconius]

Hi!
Yup, I definitely scarified them to increase my chances! Still, only 2 sprouted. Thankfully they are doing amazingly at the moment (it continues!). The remaining 3 seeds probably not going to sprout, but I anticipated this as they came from the 'bonsai starter kit' on Amazon

I started out with that kit as well. I had less than 10% germination but then I did many mistakes ( didnt store in fridge for stratification since I was impatient)
I hope they do ok. Curious to see how they will handle chicago weather. im in dallas with mild winters so not too bad here.

 

[Ms_Gigi]

I started out with that kit as well. I had less than 10% germination but then I did many mistakes ( didnt store in fridge for stratification since I was impatient)
I hope they do ok. Curious to see how they will handle chicago weather. im in dallas with mild winters so not too bad here.

Now that I've gone gone through it, I definitely would not recommend that kit, but rather to get all seeds individually from Etsy. I even made my own soil mixes specific to each species after extensive research, after reading that the pellets grew mold for most people who used them. Ionly had 2 flame trees germinate, 2 Brazilian Rosewoods, and 1 black spruce (potentially have another one coming up but not sure if it isn't just a random seed that landed on the tray). I'm definitely bringing the tropicals in for winter - have a nice eastern window for them so hopefully they'll like it! I'll post an update after winter of they survived or not!

 

[sorce]

Welcome to Crazy neighbor!

You don't have to bring them in at night.
Best to go once out in spring when its over 50F lows, and once back in when it hits 49F.

Some folks toy with "getting more sun" and leave em out longer, but the change from 43 40F to 72F or higher with lights when brought indoors, is too unnatural to help, I reckon it's even detrimental.

Sorce

 

[Ms_Gigi]

Welcome to Crazy neighbor!

You don't have to bring them in at night.
Best to go once out in spring when its over 50F lows, and once back in when it hits 49F.

Some folks toy with "getting more sun" and leave em out longer, but the change from 43 40F to 72F or higher with lights when brought indoors, is too unnatural to help, I reckon it's even detrimental.

Sorce

Hello! Thank you for your input! You may be right...I only brought them in because it dipped below 49F overnight for a week or so. Now I'm seeing leaves falling from individual and quite opposite branches, both new and old growth ... still have some new growth coming in non-stop though!

PS: anyone know anything about willow trees..? I have these cuttings that are turning black at the tops...with the corresponding trunks becoming lime green. Please lemme know if you have an idea about what might be going on with them!

 

[sorce]

Well, they definitely don't call them wilhighs!

They're low for a reason lol!

Just die back.

It's for that reason that willow is kind of deceptive.

It wants to live and will, but it cares not of it's ugliness.

So it is both great and terrible for bonsai.

Sorce

 

[Ms_Gigi]

Well, they definitely don't call them wilhighs!

They're low for a reason lol!

Just die back.

It's for that reason that willow is kind of deceptive.

It wants to live and will, but it cares not of it's ugliness.

So it is both great and terrible for bonsai.

Sorce

Sweet! Thank you so much for the info! Eh, I'm new to this, so I like having a bunch of tree options to play/fail with lol

 

[sorce]

Right on.

A willow is great for learning.

I had one back in the day, cut the roots back the first repotting and they all blacked up to the base.
Sent all new roots, so it lived...but .....

IMO....

Willow roots so easily, the only willow worth having is one that is damn near a bonsai.

Near finished layers or cuttings should be used. Something with enough height to weep if it's weeping.

No sense waiting for green things to become.

Root yerself a tapered log!

Sorce


Sorce