The Bonsai Bug - How One Fukien Tea Tree Bonsai Turned into a Growbox with Six Pots

Its been a week to the day that I got my very first Bonsai Tree - the Fukien Tea Tree. It now sits happily in its grow box that I purchased and as of yet no problems have been encountered. Well, there was one slight problem which I am going to call 'The Bonsai Bug'.  This is no animal or little critter and can be experienced with any interest or hobby. Simply put, one Bonsai was not enough.  So a week later my considerably average grow box has undergone a lot of changes and my Bonsai now sites in there with 6 other pots - with more planned.

The question is why? Well anyone who knows Bonsai will know it takes a long time to achieve what you want to with a Bonsai. They are very slow growing and the wait (even a short time like a week) can feel extremely long with very few changes.  Step in my great idea.  It started when I read that I should prune my Bonsai after getting it. Not heavily but enough to start getting it used to pruning and also to encourage growth.  Not really knowing what I was doing I took off three small 'twigs' with my new scissors and put them to one side.  My Bonsai did not really look any different but I felt like I had accomplished something despite the look of horror on my parents face that I was cutting the gift they got me.

When deciding what branches to take off something caught my eye. A small round sphere like object not much different from a ball bearing half encased in something. To my surprise it seemed to have been left over from when the tree last flowered and fruited.  This started the cogs turning. I had a few empty pots, the grow box was spacious. Why don''t I plant the seed (if that's what it was) and see if it sprouted. 

That's exactly what I did. I purchased some Bonsai soil, prepared it and the pot and planted the little seed.  Now, it may not have been a seed but only time will tell. I am yet to find out how long it would take to sprout if it was a seed.  A week a later and I still stare at the small pot of soil wondering if anything is going on under the surface.

There's more you say?

Yes. I couldn't stop there. seriously, be careful if you get involved with Bonsai, they are extremely obsessive for something that requires a lot of patience and can see very little results initially. With my seed and Bonsai happily set in their pots I searched the Internet to see what else I could do.  Well, it was easy now. Remember those cuttings I took for the first few cuts of the tree? Three cuttings, three new pots and potentially/hopefully there will be three new Fukien Trees I can start from scratch.

Here is where the story has taken a turn for the worst - maybe.  Each cutting was wooden and had shoots coming off of it with 6-8  leaves on each.  Many of these leaves have started to droop. In my reading, I have learn t to cut this when this happens to again encourage new growth and not waste the trees energy on old shoots. On one cutting there was one a very new young shoot that still looks to be doing well so its not all doom and gloom. Time again will tell as to whether these will take.

Okay, so you have one 5 year old Bonsai, one newly planted 'seed' and three cuttings - that's a good start. Not for me. Researching everything I could once again about Bonsai I had stumbled across what some would say is a Bonsai grey spot.  Fruiting Bonsai. Bonsai are typically small leafed plants (one reason for this is that they are easier to manage).  Real fruit trees often have very large leaves and due to this dwarf versions have been introduced. There are some Bonsai fruit trees that work very well.

However, I cannot resist a challenge and trying something completely new and different.  A fond eater of lemon and kiwi I looked into how to start growing them from seed. I know I can grow them Bonsai style but getting them to grow initially could be tough.  I found a great guide on YouTube from a man called Mitchell Boyell: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57XoFG0QuMI) on how to germinate lemon seeds quickly (he also has guides for kiwi seeds and much more). With that in mind I did exactly what he said and I currently have lemon seeds, which have been taken from a super market lemon, germinating in the house.  Reading another guide, I also have four lemon seeds potted and in the grow box. I have done the same with the Kiwi seeds and these are currently also germinating. I am hopeful they will start to sprout so I can transfer them to the soils and pots and go from there. 

I would love to end there but there is still one more. It is the last one, I promise! With Christmas time we had plenty of food to be eaten and lots of different fruit. This time it was the chance of the grapefruit. Now I could not find much on this but took a risk and potted it in soil and it also sits in what is now a very cosy grow box.

Now satisfied that I had enough trees, seeds, and cuttings growing or germinating (hopefully) it was time for me to look into what were the optimum conditions for them. I know my Bonsai likes a temperature no lower than 15 degrees centigrade and up to warmth's of 30 degrees centigrade but that would be a struggle.  I know they like humidity

Operation Grow Box 2.0!

There is too much to say about what I have done to the grow box and what is still going on in this post. But I will write up and add a new post on this shortly. Below you can see the photo of my new pots, seeds, tree and cuttings in the grow box prior to the upgrade.

Grow box with lid open. Top right: 4 planted Lemon Seeds, Bottom Right: 1 Fukien Tea Tree Seed, Bottom Right: 3 potted cuttings from 5 year old Fukien Tea Tree and Middle/Centre/Top Left: My Fukien Tea Tree Bonsai.