What trees can I grow in my area?

hi,

I recently bought 10 Amur maple, 20 red maple, and 50 katsura seeds. I live in Florida, sun burns, it rains a lot during the month of June through October and winter is not as cold as the north but is cold enough to dry the plant and sometimes freeze it, and it lasts from November to march, it is not a consistent cold weather is cold for like 2, 3 maybe a week, and the temperature goes up to 70 - 75 F. During summer goes up 86- 92F.

My question is if there is a possibility to grow these, and how. If they are not able to be grown in here then what trees could work out.

The best way to answer what trees for you to grow would be to look at the trees that grow naturally in your area and choose from there, they would have the best chance of survival. For the seeds you have check what climate zone they grow in and thrive and decide then if you want to start them, also it will be many years before they could be styled into a bonsai form, unless you have 10 years to wait for development its better to go with trees already a few years old. hope this helps a little

Good response from Chuck there.  You could also go to the Home page and type in something like  "bonsai suitable Florida"  into the google Search box. It yields about 10 pages of threads that might give you some tailored answers.   Visiting a local club and/or show will also let you speak to people with first hand knowledge of what is good for your area.  

Re HOW to grow your seeds, there is no "magic secret" here.  This is simply because there is no such thing as "bonsai seed" and what you have bought are just normal tree seeds which you grow in exactly the same way as you would if you were growing a full-sized tree.  The "bonsai" part comes when the tree is much further down the line in its development. To find out how to grow your seeds, you need to read any instructions on the package they came in and do some further research online.  There are many online sites that will give you specific instructions.

Well, you could have probably picked your own red maple seeds, and you won't have much luck with katsura and amur maples anywhere in Florida.

Fyi, saying you're from Florida doesn't help much. What grows easily in north Florida doesn't work in south Florida, and vice-versa, for a lot of plant material. The good news is that the answers to your questions are easily found at local nurseries, etc, and you're never far from a great bonsai club anywhere in Florida.

I'll never understand the "buy first, ask questions later" thing.

R

Russell Coker wrote:I'll never understand the "buy first, ask questions later" thing.
R

But, how boring to do it the other way!

Russell Coker wrote:I'll never understand the "buy first, ask questions later" thing.
R

Well to be honest I did my research before, but since this is a club for bonsais I decided to ask to get a different view from people who actually have hands on with the art. Also I find a little boring buying a grown tree, I also feel it is like trying to love a grown child that is not your own son.

in the mean while I have collected an alive ficus branch, and I'm trying to grow it from there, but I believe I haven't had such a great success. I don't know if I didn't cut deep enough into the stem to get the whole end of the branch or if I just need to water it more.

For the seeds I have some of them already planted, and the other half in the refrigerator. As far as I understand from my readings katsura can be ready for germination in 8 days using that scarification technique.

Ill check on the closest nursery, Maybe even in the University I think they have a nursery there for the botanic students.

Welcome to the IBC.

Please modify your profile to tell us, generally, what PART of Florida you live in. As Russell says, Florida is a big state; the north is nothing like the south.

What do you mean you have "collected an alive ficus branch?" And, in that context, "I don't know if I didn't cut deep enough into the stem to get the whole end of the branch or if I just need to water it more" makes little sense (to me). If it is a cutting, you have cut the entire branch off -- hopefully with a sharp knife or shears. If you mean something else . . .

That cut end should be stuck into a pot filled with fairly coarse sand, preferably with some rooting hormone on the end of the cut branch, and be kept DAMP, not wet.

Good luck with your seeds. If you live in North Florida, they should be OK. Central Florida is iffy, and south Florida would be all but impossible.

JimLewis wrote:Good luck with your seeds.  If you live in North Florida, they should be OK.  Central Florida is iffy, and south Florida would be all but impossible.

Again, if you live in north Florida you can pick all the red maple seeds you could ever want. We have an amur maple here at the botanical gardens and all I can say is that it exists. I've tried katsura in a pot and in the ground here and never had one last more than 3 or 4 years. It's a slow sad death, that's one tree I really wish were happy here... maybe I'm too close to the Gulf. I'd love to hear that someone's successful with it in zone 8 or 9.

So, we still don't know where you are in Florida... and while you're at it, why are you reluctant to reach out to a LOCAL club where you'll most likely get immediate answers to your questions? Any city with anything close to a university most likely has a bonsai club... is there still a club in Tallahassee? And if you are close to Tallahassee, Tallahassee Nursery would be a great place to ask since you don't believe me.

Sorry, I didn't want to make you feel like that. If you say it is nearly impossible Ill believe you. However, I would like to know what conditions create that low chance of growing these trees in south Florida. Can I try growing them indoor? is it because of the rain? or is just the temperature?

I mean there might be bonsai clubs I actually looked it up yesterday, but nothing that close to where I live might be at least 1:30 to get to the nearest club. Unless I haven't search so well. In my University, FIU, there is like a greenhouse, Ill go whenever I get some time off is not so close to where I live either.

About the branch, I cut the whole branch out of a friend's tree with his permission obviously, but the end of it is what will grow as a root. I don't know how is it call to the end part that is kind of bulky. I asked my grandpa who lives in Orlando and he told me to take that part out with the branch because without it the only thing that would happen is death of the branch. I used mulch for the soil; however, I have read that I need to use the same soil from where I extracted the branch. I don't know if it is correct.

By the way I haven't plant all my seeds I'm trying to experiment with different methods to see if it germinates and grows, and bought those seeds because they were super cheap. When I say cheap I mean cents. According to the reviews those seeds are not bad quality, the only bad thing is that they did not come with instructions.

The main problem with growing those plants in your area (which is zone 11 in the new USDA chart) is that there can be NO cold dormancy, which these trees need for healthy growth. They will not survive indoors, either, for that same reason (and others).

There are several clubs in S. Florida. Unfortunately, none of us live next door to the meeting places; it takes a bit of work to get to most of them, but it is well worth it.

S. Fla. Clubs: http://www.afn.org/~bonsai/southeast.html

You can find an ilex vomitoria at the home depot for under 20.00... would be a fun first tree to work on and is Florida friendly.

Well Yeah all of those clubs are like at least an hour from where I am some of them are like 3 hours away. Ill visit the nearest nursery. thanks  

Wolfware wrote:Well Yeah all of those clubs are like at least an hour from where I am some of them are like 3 hours away. Ill visit the nearest nursery. thanks  

The list of clubs and studygroups is ridiculously incomplete. What is your location? I am from the Naples area.

Best,
Dorothy

One thing I'd add is that some trees need some cold winter weather and are not happy or will get diseased in a higher humidity area like yours than where they are native. There are oaks, pines and others from your area that that should make good subjects as well as citrus trees.

Hi,

I live in Miami, in the border with Broward County, specifically Aventura City.

About the Cold temperatures I was thinking that I could maybe grow them indoors I have my AC ON almost every time because the weather is Hot. I also have two glass doors facing the lake which allow the entry of Sun light. Do you think it is possible? I read someone saw a Red Maple in South Beach. I am doing some sort of experiment here.

I'm certain you will not be able to grow any kind of maple indoors.  They need to be outside.  Sorry.

Look here (https://ibonsaiclub.forumotion.com/t14029-growing-bonsai-indoors) for more info on what grows best indoors.

Cool climate trees will NOT grow indoors in air conditioning. Air conditioning dries the air. Also, though you may not see it, there is a vast difference between the amount of light coming in a window, & the amount of light available outdoors. There are many kinds of trees that make superb bonsai in the Miami area, but not the ones you have seeds of. Start with a tiger bark fig from Home Depot.
Send a PM (private message) to Rob Kempinski. I'm sure he can help you. Also visit Miami Tropical Bonsai.
If I recall correctly, Broward County has a HUMONGOUS bonsai club. http://www.browardbonsai.com
Iris

Not Ac cold, when they talk about cold they mean you have to simulate the actual winters of colder climates to send the tree into dormancy, otherwise you would push the tree into constant activity and that wont last for more than just a few years...
I read that Acer Rubrum is native in the South of Florida... so if you want a maple i would research on that...