Chinese Elm Bonsai tree?

Question

Hi.

I'm a beginner to the Bonsai growing and I'm just writing to ask how much would it cost to grow my own Chinese Elm Bonsai tree? I have found some seeds on ebay and was just wondering about all the other stuff like the pot and the bonsai soil?

Thanks for your answers

Answer 1

Fist of all - I wouldn't suggest starting with seeds. If you want to get into bonsai, I'll assume you want to start working on trees - not waiting for seeds to sprout and waiting the few years before you have a tree to work with.

You can buy "starter" plants in various stages of growth for a reasonable price. A small Chinese Elm should be around $5.

Here's a place to look -

http://www.meehansminiatures.com/shop/

You can also check out the "exchange" pages on  -

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/bons...

sometimes people have extra starters they are willing to trade or give away.

Pots vary in price from a few dollars, into the hundreds - it all depends what you want. You really don't need a "bonsai pot" to get started.

As far as soil - you should be able to find a small bag at a nursery that sells finished bonsai or sometimes even Home Depot or Lowes. A small bag shouldn't cost more than $5.

If you have trouble finding a starter tree, email me - I have a bunch of small elms I was just going to put up for trade.

Answer 2

The seeds are actually for a standard plant and the only benefit to starting a plant from seed is that you can control some of the growth through stunting and molding it from the time it is young. Chinese elm is a good plant because it can be an indoor or outdoor plant, but just one or the other. More info is available at this site.

http://www.american-bonsai.com/product_i...