Seedling care

The Seraph

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How would one go about carding for Jacaranda mimosifolia, Picea abies and Pinus aristata seedlings?
 

schmiggle

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I would stratify Picea and Pinus seeds--leave them in water for 3 months in a refrigerator (they probably don't need that much time, but better safe than sorry). If you already have seedlings, they'll probably like high light all around. Jacaranda and P. abies will want it warmer and wetter than Pinus aristata. How are you planning to care for the latter two in Florida, particularly Pinus aristata?
 

The Snark

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I vaguely remember a display of the Jacaranda at LA County Arboretum - Santa Anita. One year it went below freezing went about a week and the trees went GACK! and looked half dead. They cut one down and the next year it shot back up as a bush. But the real funny was it still retained it's flowering propensity so you had this 5-6 foot tall bush with a massive flowing bridal veil train of flowers.
 

The Seraph

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How are you planning to care for the latter two in Florida, particularly Pinus aristata?
I have no idea. I have only planted the Jacaranda since I know it can probably survive. I was simply wondering if they required different care after they sprouted. Thank you for the help though! I deeply appreciate it.
 

The Seraph

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But the real funny was it still retained it's flowering propensity so you had this 5-6 foot tall bush with a massive flowing bridal veil train of flowers.
This is a part of the appeal of Jacaranda bonsai (which is what I plan to do with it). Just a tiny little plant burdened by full sized flowers.
 

The Snark

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This is a part of the appeal of Jacaranda bonsai (which is what I plan to do with it). Just a tiny little plant burdened by full sized flowers.
You mean you can take these puppies and turn them micro miniature with full sized flowers? You wouldn't even be able to find the tree! Post pics if you get one going!

I'd like to see a longan or lamyai bonsai. Ultra resillient, you can cut them off at the dirt and they just zoom back. Incredibly hard, tough wood yet fast growing. I've been tring to kill one in the back yard for 10 years. Fully in shade it's been equal in the battle so far. Third cut back to the roots and it's... looking out the window... YIPES! 20 feet tall again.
The farmers and hill tribe people love the lamyai. They trim the orchards every year and collect every stick and twig. A few twigs and 1" branches will cook the dinner and keep the place warm all night.

Lamyai - brownish small (1" max) fruit, longan - yellow fruit up to 1 1/2", lychee - red fruit up to 2".

BTW! HEALTH WARNING! NEVER BUY LYCHEE JUICE FROM COMMERCIAL SUPPLIERS!
They will buy and juice any fruit. Until the lychee is fully ripe it contains a pretty powerful toxin that plays hell with the kidneys and urinary tract and can trash the immune system. Especially hazardous to small children.
 
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The Seraph

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You mean you can take these puppies and turn them micro miniature with full sized flowers? You wouldn't even be able to find the tree! Post pics if you get one going!
That is what happens to all bonsai. They are just regular trees trained to be really small. The flowers and fruit are unaffected.
 

The Snark

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That is what happens to all bonsai.
I never gave that much thought. I know that the wiring is used to control growth by restricting the cambium layer though. That first pic looks like Wisteria.

I want to see a little Jacaranda bansai spork with full adult flowering, covering the table top and cascading down and across the floor! :astonished:
 

The Seraph

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That first pic looks like Wisteria.
. . . It does. That is not what I intended. Oh the laments of the touchscreen!
I want to see a little Jacaranda bansai spork with full adult flowering, covering the table top and cascading down and across the floor! :astonished:
I suppose it would just depend on how much fertilizer you use and the size of the bonsai. If it is a small shonin then the flowers will not be as extravagant but if it is a roided up tree the size of a child then maybe the flowers will be flowing locks.

Edit: Also I just realized that almost everybody would chop off most of the flowers if they did cover the room since that does not look very natural.
 

The Snark

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If it is a small shonin then the flowers will not be as extravagant but if it is a roided up tree the size of a child then maybe the flowers will be flowing locks.
I want to see you take on a lamyai. One of the reasons they are so popular is they will grow in the mingiest nutrient free soil. Most of the orchards were marginal land where crops wouldn't thrive. Our yard has a hard time growing weeds, the soil being washed alluvial silt. That dang lamyai loves it.
 

The Seraph

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I want to see you take on a lamyai. One of the reasons they are so popular is they will grow in the mingiest nutrient free soil. Most of the orchards were marginal land where crops wouldn't thrive. Our yard has a hard time growing weeds, the soil being washed alluvial silt. That dang lamyai loves it.
How large are the leaves? If the leaves are too large than it will look very awkward as a small bonsai. You can only get the leaves so small, and after that point it kinda needs to be big in order to look natural.
 

The Snark

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Your bonsai silly. A friend decided to have a bonsai garden, in his normal garden. He dug out an area and poured in cement, making little pots in the ground flush with the surface and installed some bonsais and seedlings. It was quite interesting at first. This area of the yard where everything was in miniature. Then he got a promotion at work and had very little time to tend the garden. One of his cute little micro trees was a pine. A S.U.M.O. as he named it: Subversive Underground Malevolent Organism. Barely giving a nod and shrug to the 3-4 inches of concrete it shot a root right through it down into his septic tank.
Making a long story short, my friend reconciled himself to the fates and put in a little sign in front of the 60 foot tree: World Largest Bonsai.

How large are the leaves? If the leaves are too large than it will look very awkward as a small bonsai.
Get up to about 3 inches long.
 

The Seraph

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Your bonsai silly. A friend decided to have a bonsai garden, in his normal garden. He dug out an area and poured in cement, making little pots in the ground flush with the surface and installed some bonsais and seedlings. It was quite interesting at first. This area of the yard where everything was in miniature. Then he got a promotion at work and had very little time to tend the garden. One of his cute little micro trees was a pine. A S.U.M.O. as he named it: Subversive Underground Malevolent Organism. Barely giving a nod and shrug to the 3-4 inches of concrete it shot a root right through it down into his septic tank.
Making a long story short, my friend reconciled himself to the fates and put in a little sign in front of the 60 foot tree: World Largest Bonsai.


Get up to about 3 inches long.
That is a very interesting and unique idea. I can see how it would work. Also, what exactly do you mean by bonsai silly? Finally, that is not that big of a leaf. You could probably make the leaves fairly small. What does the bark of the lamyai look like?
 

The Snark

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That is a very interesting and unique idea. I can see how it would work. Also, what exactly do you mean by bonsai silly? Finally, that is not that big of a leaf. You could probably make the leaves fairly small. What does the bark of the lamyai look like?
I'll grab some pictures. Need to grab the camera from the mitts of the airhead first. A bonsai is what it isn't or, contrarywise, isn't what it is, was or supposed to be, on the short side.
 

The Seraph

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A bonsai is what it isn't or, contrarywise, isn't what it is, was or supposed to be, on the short side
. . . Okay then. From what I can understand, we agree. Bonsai is not a natural tree but smaller. It is man made and influenced nature made to look natural. It is meant to convey the sense of being natural, when in reality it is very blatantly unnatural. It is an idealiztion of what nature should look like.
 

The Snark

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Thank you deeply for providing a thread surrounding it.
There was another display in that garden. About 6 feet across, a little hillside. Small fired clay children at play were here and there among the rocks an trees. Then your imagination got bumped as you realize the bonsais in the display were emulations of children at play in all sorts of fanciful postures and poses.
 

schmiggle

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Oh, didn't realize this was bonsai! Lol. Bristlecone might actually be a good choice, because what usually kills them is when people have them in soil that's too rich and damp and they rot. Once you're stunting it anyway and it's in a soil that dries out quickly it will have a much better shot.
 
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