New user Help!

Very new to this. first post actually, Looking for some advice and guidance

Bought some bonsai seeds for my girlfriend an number of years ago, via the internet. It was a pack with a book, instructions and a number of seeds. She followed the instructions, but only one seemed to take.

Four years have passed and she has not really bothered with it, and it just sits on the kitchen window sill, growing.Shes lost interest and i would like to look after it.

Unsure what type it is or what to do with it?? Any one have any tips or help????

Have some photos but unsure how to upload them as of yet..

Here is a tutorial on posting pics: https://ibonsaiclub.forumotion.com/t243-tutorial-on-posting-pics


Those "bonsai seeds" usually are Japanese black pine. But pictures will help.

More than likely black pine. Put it in the ground or an appropriately sized pot with loose granular soil and let it grow for a few years. After that begin styling.

first thing to do is to get it outside...it will just linger on and eventually die even in the brightest window sill...it should be much larger than it is now after 4 years...i know that for awhile they where using jack pine seeds to package in those little kits...its hard to tell exactly at this point what type of pine it is...it is for sure a pine though...so, first thing to do is get it into a good growing environment and let it get some strength and size...not much else to do with it for now...this is going to take years by the way...and my best advice if you are interested in bonsai is to get something else to play with in the mean time...pines arent the easiest species anyway, so while this one is growing, maybe you can get your hands on some nursery stock juniper or something in the mean time...

welcome to the forum by the way...

Hi Gareth, this is the exact thing I did three years ago. I had no idea what bonsai was, to the extent of thinking it was a species. I also had no horticultural knowledge what so ever. I bought a pack of Bonsai seeds, potted them up and put them on my window sill, three seeds grew out of the 6-8 I got, unfortunately my cat garrotted one of them, 3 months later I put them outside. I repotted them for the first time a few weeks ago. In hindsight they could be alot bigger and healthier if I'd actually known more and listened more. Here they are


P1120369 by mikeybonsai, on Flickr

Keeping it inside is only going to grow a weak tree, it'll be fine outside where mother nature intended. I have sent you a Private Message with a link to the progression of these two over the years.

Thank you for all the advice.Been in Germany so haven't received messages till now. Will follow your wise words.