Some seeds, particularly trees, can be very difficult to
germinate. You should start with a species that can be readily
propogated from seed as some varieties are more suited to begin as
cuttings or graftings. Pines for example are not suited to be grown
from a cutting due to their high resin content. Most hardy trees
need a frost before their seeds can germinate and others require
stratification before sowing. Even still, tree seeds do not stay
viable for long even when kept in good conditions and may not
germinate well despite your best efforts.
Seeds do not necessarily gain all character traits of their
parent plant, so if you picked a plant to harvest seed from because
of a particular trait, the resulting seedlings may not display the
same trait. To offset this possibility it is wise to grow many
seedlings, and choose which to bonsai when they have matured.
Because of this growing from seed often requires more space than
other methods.
The advantages of growing from
seed are:
Starting from seed is the cheapest way to raise new plants.
Seeds rarely transmit diseases and plants are usually in good
health.
Seeds are picked from the best plants available to ensure they
are of good quality and have desirable traits.
Seeds planted outdoors are more able to survive than plants
raised indoors and then acclimatized to outdoor conditions.
If you're just starting out and not sure which option to choose,
get yourself a copy of Bonsai
Gardening Secrets so that you fully understand what you're
doing or what you want to do.
