Birch from the "Grow It" Bonsai Seed Kit

[@sbragaglia]

Wonderful tree! Seeing so much growth in this grey and cold Sunday made my day! 👏 I believe a little birch has just sprouted in my propagator: I’ll show it this video to keep it motivated to grow fast! 😅

[@matthewcampbell5877]

Couldn't agree more, this really cheered my heart. Thanks.

[@BackGardenBonsai]

Cheers lads :)

[@waldobean7534]

This is amazing. I don't know what drug you are giving your trees, but they should be checked by the bonsai Olympic for possible doping. But on a serious note, I'm using your soil mix and would like to know how regularly you water the trees.

[@BackGardenBonsai]

hahah cheers. as for watering: short answer,- i water when they need it. long answer, read this - www.backgardenbonsai.com/how-to-water-a-bonsai/

[@manupbritain5232]

Awesome update, look like yours is about a year ahead of mine. It had been going strong but we now have a young cat causing it some trials. I guess whatever doesn't kill it will make it stronger now.

[@BackGardenBonsai]

Cheers. Im sure the cat will ignore it eventually and leave it to grow strong :)

[@CaptainLokii]

woooow so much growth!! mine are halfway through the fridge stage right now!

[@BackGardenBonsai]

Cheers, yours will be growing in no time!

[@sueb1317]

lol - the only thing that stopped my nail biting was becoming a microbiologist. Even knowing what I'm chomping into doesn't keep me from regressing sometimes. Just the way we're wired (every pun intended 😁😆). I'm waiting to see what sins I've imparted on my little birches. There seems to be a list of do's and don'ts that I plan to discover the hard way. Your's will look brilliant after its first spring prune!

[@BackGardenBonsai]

Cheers Sue. Im sure yours will be fine. just dont copy me ;p

[@Floydsdad101]

I’m pretty sure they’re called catkins …. But I could be wrong … thanks for posting this video , and all your videos , they’re inspirational for a newbie like me 👍🏻

[@officialrileyt]

Yup! They are called catkins, they hold the winged seeds and T connector. They are generally quite big but his are small, which should be expected, as the tree was only small in 2021.

[@husch05]

Can't wait to see how the trunk color has developed! I wonder if it has started to shift to a more orange color.

[@BackGardenBonsai]

cheers. i cant remember if its next week, or the one after. but this month for sure!

[@Mr011i3]

Managed to get one of these kits for xmas this year, and as someone that has little to no idea on bonsais, and fairly regularly manages to kill cacti got 19 little shoots so far (3 weeks after taking out of the fridge). Looking forward to seeing how these turn out, so i can somewhat follow what i need to do if nothing else!

[@BackGardenBonsai]

Cheers. Sounds like you are off to a good start. Just let them do their thing for a while and they will be be ready to play with soon enough.

[@hyperionhelios190]

great progress for 1 year!

[@BackGardenBonsai]

Cheers :)

[@BillyBobJoeSnr]

I love the deadpan delivery, it always brings a smile to my face. You're one of the YT covid bonsai people I would gladly meet for a beer and chat. Keep up the good work, we all learn from each other so never be scared to try something different or new. Ps birch are extremely aggressive growers they are a colonising species

[@BackGardenBonsai]

Cheers William. yeah you can tell the birch are pioneer species. they show no mercy when it comes to growth rates hhah

[@BostonBonsaiIdiot]

Dude, it took Covid for me to finally stop biting my nails. And even then, I feel like I’m regressing again. Put your mind to it, and get some clippers. Constant snipping helps stave off the urge to bite, and WOW what a perfect segue! I’m sure you’ll trunk chop this guy eventually anyway and you’ll hide all the sins from the defoliation experiment. Cheers bro!

[@BackGardenBonsai]

cheers bro. yeah i need to put my mind to it, i did it for a while, but i just it hhah and yeah i imagine if this beast keeps going at this pace it will be chopped for sure

[@CocoNagi]

Greetings from Indonesia 🙏🏻

[@BackGardenBonsai]

Cheers :)

[@bingbongbingbongbingbongbing90]

They’re catkins. On birch the male ones appear in autumn (and ripen by late spring) and the female ones with the new years shoots. On birch they look pretty similar with females being shorter and green until they are pollinated and turn reddy brown with all their seeds.

[@BlueSkyBonsai]

Wow that is a freak grower!! Maybe it had a gene modified in a radiation leak or somerhing!! Great work Ian 👍🏻

[@BackGardenBonsai]

hhah cheers. yeah its certainly some sort of mutant!! but in the good way

[@jarheadbonsai]

Broski!!! We figured it out. Your music is the same as Stellas sensory stimulation videos 😂😂😂not that she isnt your youngest fan...you maybe onto something. Lol. I love birches, and this one is amazingly strong. Cheers 😎🍺🍺

[@BackGardenBonsai]

haahh she must be watching some straight G stimulations!

[@bonsa1guy]

To say it's been grown in a tent you've got a good amount of growth on it. Are you growing it in there because you do not have an outside space? A few tips: in the formative stage plant the seedling at an angle, you'll get good movement then right from the base. You were removing buds by the trunk when these will be used to develop the next trunk section, try to leave everything on it to power growth and thickening in the trunk building phase. Defoliation again slows it down and as you've learned, leads to uneven growth. Defoliation is a technique used for refinement (on suitable species) when trunk, branch and ramification are in place. This tree is not at that stage, it is in the trunk building phase and should be left to grow. If you are constrained by the grow tent this will be a very slow process - in the ground growing a decent trunk takes 10-12 years in the UK, at least double this for growth in your tent. I've grown Birch from scratch before (they are always being seeded in my garden), here's a link to my Reddit page just to show I've "walked the walk" so to speak. Good luck with your project, Birch can be very fickle to grow from scratch and care must be taken especially when it's time to trunk chop. www.reddit.com/r/Bonsai/comments/qbcjls/birch_showing_some_rich_butter_yellow_tones/?

[@BackGardenBonsai]

cheers paul. i will have to check that out! As for this tree, its just inside for fun to see what happens. sort of an experiment to compare against the ones ive got outside that are being ignored for a few years to grow out properly. :)

[@baldyeti]

Daggum, super freak from seed!! That’s wicked! Birch has a tendency to kill off it’s own branches and start anew if/when you tick them off. I hope it gives you all the right buds in all the right places come spring. How do you transition from tent to shed? Is there an acclimatization period? Or just throw it out there on the night of your choice?

[@BackGardenBonsai]

Cheers :) I lower the light levels over the course of like 2/3 months. then that sort of gets its mostly on it way it dormancy, like its drops the leaves... as for the temp. well, im guessing that is a bit of a culture shock for it. as i just shove it out inthe shed in early decemember and thats it. haha

[@TonyHigginsonVlog]

Amazing grower this tree. Have you considered adding a bit of wire to the trunk while you still can to add a bit of movement?

[@BackGardenBonsai]

Cheers. Its probably past the point of wire now haha. its so fast. but no, im not too worried about that. I dont mind straight trunks. with pruning and chopping and stuff like growing, it should get plenty of character anyway, so i dont get worried about extreme movement on a deciduous trees. On the other had, the pine from this grow kit i have wired into a pretzel so its gonna have plenty of movement :)

[@TonyHigginsonVlog]

Fair play! Keep up the good work and I'll check out the pine!

[@janstewart2041]

Do you do any wire bending while young?

[@mayconbonsai]

excelente

[@BackGardenBonsai]

cheers :)

[@theboonoo]

Hi, sorry such a late comment and I understand you might not reply, do you know the type of birch that it is and if so, could you tell me. I got this kit for Christmas and I believe I have a mix of a few downy birch, a few silver birch and one Japanese black pine. Thanks! PS. I have the biting nails problem too!

[@BackGardenBonsai]

I think its downy birch, but time will tell for sure. but the kit contains downy and silver birch, alder and then JBP.

[@OddBonsai]

Don't be so hard on yourself. I also have my share of stupid decisions when it comes to bonsai and some of them even killed the trees. The important thing is that the tree is alive and you leaned why you should not try to defoliate it. I'm sure it will bounce back stronger this year. I still can't figure out how do you manage to squeeze so many trees in that grow tent. Do they take turns? :P Cheers!

[@BackGardenBonsai]

cheers. hahah yeah im not sure how they fit in too. its like a game of plant tetris at times putting them back in after taking them out to water

[@husch05]

This birch has a really thick stem! Does it get a lot of wind?

[@BackGardenBonsai]

nope. it gets no wind. it lives inside haha

[@husch05]

@@BackGardenBonsai That's amazing! Btw, how are the other birches and your black alders?

[@scootermom1791]

Why don't you want buds growing between the trunk and branches?

[@BackGardenBonsai]

i want the energy to go into the branch that is already there to allow it to grow more. if i just let those buds grow, then i have two or 3 branches coming from the same place which will looks bad. it also will form a like thick knuckle of growth there too, which looks bad. so they would just get removed anyway. so i may as well do it when its a bud and avoid the wasting energy on them.

[@BackSeatHump]

Bonsai (so they claim) is purported to induce tranquillity, calm, and less nail-biting. I think I am calm WHILE TENDING MY BONSAI but the rest of the day I'm a nervous wreck. ☺

[@BackGardenBonsai]

haaah cheers, dont start filming your trees, it removes all the calm hahah

[@BackSeatHump]

@@BackGardenBonsai I'll keep that in mind. :)

[@sbragaglia]

Oh, so true! 😅

[@sea-chelle]

I have this kit chilling in my kitchen drawer until autumn, what is the purpose of the mesh at the bottom of the pot please?

[@andersnrregren9087]

Bonsai pots or homemade pots for bonsai have large holes for water to drain out so the mesh is to keep the soil in the pot and some ppl say to keep bugs out but mostly to keep the soil in

[@BackGardenBonsai]

yeah Anders is right. If i didn thave the mesh the soil would come pouring out of the bottom like sand in an hourglass as soon as i picked it up.

[@sea-chelle]

@@BackGardenBonsai Ah ok thank you both for the reply 👍🏻

[@agkfajgor1672]

Bro i have this kit nad i dont know what to do with this, how to plant this good pls help me

[@BackGardenBonsai]

Read this. it should help you get going. www.backgardenbonsai.com/an-instructional-guide-to-help-beginners-with-the-grow-it-bonsai-kit/

[@agkfajgor1672]

@@BackGardenBonsai thank you very much!

[@andersnrregren9087]

Birch is my fav non pine tree i love em but never try picking all leafs off it but have whonder if i should try but i will learn from you and not try

[@BackGardenBonsai]

Cheers, yeah dont make that mistake hahah. :)

[@JackC1961]

😂 Yes stop biting your nails, either that or get a sharp knife. The Birch will look good again i'm sure. I've also taken to using a fork instead of an expensive root rake 👍. What is your soil made up of?

[@BackGardenBonsai]

haha yes, im trying! forks are the future! best tool i have :) as for the soil, its roughly equal parts molar clay, perlite and compost ...maybe there is a little more molar clay in there these days though

[@JackC1961]

@@BackGardenBonsai Forks are defiantly the future 😂. Where are you getting you Molar clay from?

[@thenaturecreater8906]

Foist

[@BackGardenBonsai]

Cheers :)

[@edinborogh]

Awesome video Ian.

[@BackGardenBonsai]

Cheers :)