General comments

[RobertB]

Ive never grown a pine, but i figure i will learn alot along the way. Just ordered 1000 seeds from:
F. W. Schumacher Co., Inc.

Now i just need to figure out what else i need to purchase to start these.

 

[sorce]

Best source is a mature landscape tree that obviously has amazing bark characteristics, and ideally a short dense branching structure. Good time to collect cones right now! Perhaps just a bit late but you should still find some I think.

When the guy who's thread inspired the contest speaks....
Ya listen!

I was thinking about locating some....
But I'll be damned if I know where any are.

Might have to go to the Arboretum!

If anyone round here has some seeds....
I'll trade something!

Sorce

 

[RobertB]

Does anyone know what type trees generally come from F. W. Schumacher Co., Inc.? Im just wondering if I should order some more.

 

[CasAH]

When the guy who's thread inspired the contest speaks....
Ya listen!

I was thinking about locating some....
But I'll be damned if I know where any are.

Might have to go to the Arboretum!

If anyone round here has some seeds....
I'll trade something!

Sorce

Sorce, my niece is looking into sending me some from Japan. I will let you know if I get them.

She is concerned because needs to renew her visa shortly, and does not want any issues.

I sent her the APHIS page link for Pines from Japan. I think she has a friend at the US embassy she is going to talk to, about this though.

Her sister is getting married December 9th, so hopefully she will bring the seeds then. Otherwise she will mail.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Does anyone know what type trees generally come from F. W. Schumacher Co., Inc.? Im just wondering if I should order some more.

That is a loaded question. You clearly want to start with the best seed stock. Who knows where they source their seeds? Particularly - is it a tree or trees that have characteristics that are most suitable for bonsai? Or are they simply strong JBP landscape trees? Or are they just a random field of trees in nature - with no particular selection?

Next... say you have 100,000 seeds from one tree... which are the healthiest? For purposes of this contest, which grow fastest, mature fastest, and have the best features for bonsai?

One reason why I am starting with 1000 seeds is that I expect to have 200 by the end of year 1. And 100 by the end of year 2.

Reminds me of koi breeding. You only get the best koi from the best parent stock. However a single female koi can spawn 300,000 eggs. Perhaps 10% are worth keeping as pond koi. 1% are 1 year development koi. .1% might be 2 year development koi. And perhaps 10 are keepers - best of best koi that the breeder won't sell because they may be improvements on the line.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

If anyone round here has some seeds....
I'll trade something!

Sorce

I'll set you up... how many would you like? I will douse them in saki and make them Japanese Japanese Black Pine...

Seriously - PM me your address and seeds are on the way!

 

[RobertB]

It would seam that since we want everyone to be successful that everyone participating should work together to source the very best seeds possible. Not looking for anyone to disclose their honey hole but surely everyone else is looking to start with the best that can be acquired.

 

[theone420]

.............. surely everyone else is looking to start with the best that can be acquired.

That is why I am using 5 different seed sources. And looking for more that are actual seed from a bonsai. If we use all the seed sources we can find, someone should find a good distributor. So if it's not known now we will find out where the good seeds come from.

If you check the individual posts by each person in the 6 year challenge you will see all the distributors people are using. There are several diff ones and then there is eBay and Amazon seed sellers as well and we are trying a lot

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I have a feeling in two years the Facebook auction sites are going to be swamped with people selling JBP excess seedlings

 

[Quince]

I have a feeling in two years the Facebook auction sites are going to be swamped with people selling JBP excess seedlings

I heard that baby JBP dipped in wax make excellent "fire starters"

 

[Timbo]

1000, seems excessive, even a newbie like me had an easy time getting 50 going...only 2 left though due to moles eating the tops off during the winter 2 years ago. Came under the ground into my greenhouse and ate nothing but the green tops.

It gets well below zero up here, only thing i did was bury the small pots a little bit in my greenhouse...I think I lost one to cold the first year and then left them outside the next year. I bet they would have been fine just sticking them in the greenhouse.

I buy seeds from treeseeds.com He also sells on Ebay, sometimes diff stuff. I also buy on Ebay from OMCstart.

 

[drew33998]

I will be joining. 10,000 should get my business off the ground in several years. Anyone want to provide me all the pots, soil and water ill need?

 

[James W.]

My success rate is usually about 50%.
So if I plant 1000 seeds, maybe I'll get 500 seedlings.
250 might survive the cutting process.
Another 125 will die from heat and/or water issues the 1st summer.
After the 1st winter I could reasonably expect to have maybe 62 (We won't count fractionally alive)
The next summer leaves me with 31, and after the 2nd winter I still have 15.
Pot up, and now I have 7.
By the end of the 3rd year I am down to 3.
And at the 4 year mark, just 1 left.
Hmm, I need to plant about 4ooo seeds just to get one to survive the contest.

 

[drew33998]

Who else thinks we may be solely responsible for creating a large base of pine bonsai in America?

 

[drew33998]

Anyone want to flip me 500 seeds from rare exotic? They dont ship to fla. I got some from seedrack. A little more pricey

 

[Timbo]

Anyone want to flip me 500 seeds from rare exotic? They dont ship to fla. I got some from seedrack. A little more pricey

Not many ship to FL, CA because of the restriction do they?

 

[drew33998]

Never had a problem with fla shipping plants before. Maybe because they sell some seeds that are considered invasive and harmful to florida native habitat and they cant ship anything here for fear the invasive seeds could be mixed in. Thats ny educated guess

 

[don b]

Challenge Accepted!!!

Total N00b here btw

I'm not sure if anyone has asked about this in the thread yet, sorry I'm too lazy to scroll all the way through, but I think it would be awesome if some of the veteran growers out there threw out some advice for the JBP first timers like me!!

This will be my 3rd year doing bonsai, and I have zero experience on caring for pines. I'd like to hear some tips or such from the Imperial Masterpieces and Nonsense Rascals or their opinion on things such as the best time to start a batch of seeds, stratification method, growing medium during germination, care during germination, when to start fertilizing, overwintering, removing tap roots vs. leaving tap roots etc.

One question I have is should I throw a bunch of seeds in a big flat or start them all in their own little 4" pot?

T minus 44 days! I'm excited!

 

[jeanluc83]

One question I have is should I throw a bunch of seeds in a big flat or start them all in their own little 4" pot?

Take a look at the bonsai tonight link thread I posted a few days ago. It has answers to your questions.

 

[jeanluc83]

My success rate is usually about 50%.
So if I plant 1000 seeds, maybe I'll get 500 seedlings.

A lot of people seem to be starting hundreds of seeds. Are JBP really that unreliable. Ive grown pitch pine from seed and had about 80% germination rate. I did seedling cuttings one year and had about 50% success but I think that was because they kept getting disturbed.

I just can't imagine starting more than a couple hundred unless you want a couple hundred at the end. After a couple of years they are going to take up a lot of room. And if everyone who is participating in the contest is successful there will be a glut of JBP seedlings on the market.