General comments

[Bonsai Nut]

As an example... here is a thread where people can talk in general about the contest. It will not be stickied.

 

[sorce]

Couldn't find these stickied entries for a minute.

Trying to see if they are popping up on the new posts and home screen with updates.

Sorce

 

[Bonsai Nut]

New posts... yes. Not on the home screen... I didn't have time to figure out why

 

[Bonsai Nut]

The original contest thread (now closed) for reference purposes. All further discussion can go in this forum... somewhere

 

[defra]

Oke cool!

 

[Dav4]

Just bought an ounce of the good stuff!

 

[Nybonsai12]

I’m in.

 

[Alexmacrophyllum]

I recently ordered a variety of pine seeds from treeseeds.com but already sprouted them. Guess I'll have to order another batch. This sounds like a fun adventure.

Ill order 100 seeds and go from there.

 

[KiwiPlantGuy]

Hi @Bonsai Nut

I too would like to join in your competition BUT I am from the other side. Spring here now and 20C days. Ahhh.
Anyway, I look forward to not being the only contender from the Southern Hemisphere. I will keep tabs on this thread and/or look forward to finding out if I should buy some seeds next autumn/winter.
Charles

 

[Anthony]

@KiwiPlantGuy ,

ask @Bonsai Nut , if he could simply factor in your climate.
So if you start now, 6 months earlier, your entry comes in 6 months earlier
and is held to be judged with 6 months later entries.

Good Day
Anthony

 

[Hack Yeah!]

I'd like to participate. I ordered from treeseeds.com

Jeff

 

[morb]

seems to me that a contest like this would be a great learning experience for someone like me who is a total noob to bonsai. since i live Saskatchewan, Canada how would one winter a jbp? i have an unheated attic that keeps a fairly constant temp during the winter, i haven't done any real temp comparisons but it stays quite a bit warmer than the outside temp during winter. would something like this work for wintering jbp or any other bonsai for that matter?

 

[coh]

I'm looking to purchase a small amount of seed (maybe 50). There are a number of vendors on amazon, ebay, and other sites (like treeseeds.com mentioned above) that sell small amounts. Anyone have any bad experiences, vendors to avoid because of seeds that don't germinate, etc?

 

[Bonsai Nut]

seems to me that a contest like this would be a great learning experience for someone like me who is a total noob to bonsai. since i live Saskatchewan, Canada how would one winter a jbp? i have an unheated attic that keeps a fairly constant temp during the winter, i haven't done any real temp comparisons but it stays quite a bit warmer than the outside temp during winter. would something like this work for wintering jbp or any other bonsai for that matter?

Do you have an unheated garage? How about a window well? Worse case you can build a cold frame pretty cheaply to overwinter them in...

 

[morb]

Do you have an unheated garage? How about a window well? Worse case you can build a cold frame pretty cheaply to overwinter them in...

i do have an unheated uninsulated garage, if it's -30 c outside it's -30 c inside. it blocks the wind and keeps the snow out though

 

[coh]

i do have an unheated uninsulated garage, if it's -30 c outside it's -30 c inside. it blocks the wind and keeps the snow out though

If you have room, you could build a small shelter inside your garage, and use a seedling heating mat or a space heater to keep it warmer. That's what I do, inside my barn I built a plastic enclosed shelter about 10' x 10' and use a thermostat/space heater to keep it at about 27-28 F in the winter. If all you have are seedlings, you could use a much smaller enclosure or maybe even use large styrofoam coolers, etc.

 

[morb]

If you have room, you could build a small shelter inside your garage, and use a seedling heating mat or a space heater to keep it warmer. That's what I do, inside my barn I built a plastic enclosed shelter about 10' x 10' and use a thermostat/space heater to keep it at about 27-28 F in the winter. If all you have are seedlings, you could use a much smaller enclosure or maybe even use large styrofoam coolers, etc.

thanks, i'll see what i can come up with. i won't need anything till next winter but i could do some experimenting this winter without any trees and see what kind of temps i can get.

 

[JoeR]

Awesome and fun idea, but the thought of a 6 year contest is daunting. That’s a long time man. But I’m in nonetheless!

So what’s the deal with seedling Cuttings, are they allowed/required? Maybe I’ll do half and half, with seed from different vendors. I want seed with good bark qualities if possible and I hear they must come straight from Japan for that.

 

[sparklemotion]

Seeds are cheap. Count me in.

One thing I'm curious about is cultivars. Evergreen Gardenworks leads me to believe that there are multiple cultivars of pinus thunbergii (dwarfs: Koto Buki', 'Yatsubusa' and 'Shun sho Matsu', etc. cork bark: Nishiki , hayabusa, etc.). But from what I can tell, the seed vendors seem to just sell "Japanese Black Pine" seeds. Is that typical?

 

[TyroTinker]

Seeds are cheap. Count me in.

One thing I'm curious about is cultivars. Evergreen Gardenworks leads me to believe that there are multiple cultivars of pinus thunbergii (dwarfs: Koto Buki', 'Yatsubusa' and 'Shun sho Matsu', etc. cork bark: Nishiki , hayabusa, etc.). But from what I can tell, the seed vendors seem to just sell "Japanese Black Pine" seeds. Is that typical?

I came across this too. I cannot find other information about it elsewhere yet... Still looking.

But either way I'll still try my hand at JBP. Anyone have a preference for a seed source? Seems to be so many to choose from