A Review Of The “Grow It – Bonsai Tree” Kit From Gift Republic

I received the Gift Republic “Grow It – Bonsai Trees” kit on Valentines Day from my wife.

I will say that overall I’m very pleased with this little bonsai grow kit.  I will go through it in detail below, but for now, I think it’s great.

If you want to get your own you can easily buy it from Amazon.  

The following link is an affiliate link to the Grow It Bonsai Kit, so I may make small commission from Amazon if you click it and make a purchase (It’s no extra cost to you, but it helps me out) – https://amzn.to/3qUomfr

What’s Inside The ‘Grow It’ – Bonsai Tree Kit?

The Grow It – Bonsai Tree” Kit comes with:

• Instruction guide
• 4x Packs of seeds
• 4x Pots
• 4x Coir discs (the soil)
• Lollypop sticks

What Are The Seeds In The ‘Grow It’ – Bonsai Tree Kit ?

This is a pretty important question, which strangely isn’t addressed on the box or in the instructions. (You can read more about – What Type Of Tree Is A Bonsai Tree?)

They are just labelled as “Bonsai mixed seeds” so I emailed Gift Republic and asked them what seeds I had. They got back to me really quickly and where really nice.

They told me I had a mix of: 

• Japanese Black Pine (Pinus thunbergii)
• Silver Birch (Betula pendula)
• Downy Birch (Betula pubescens)
• Alder (Alnus glutinosa)

3 of these are actually native to the UK, so this was perfect for me (surprisingly the Japanese black pine is from Japan). I could happily grow all these trees outside without any problem.

They didn’t ask me when I bought my kit, or ask for any serial numbers. So I’m fairly confident that this means the majority of the kits have this combination of seeds.

Obviously there is a chance you may have a kit with slightly different species, but as a rough guide you should have something similar to what I got.

Here is the Youtube playlist for my kit:

Packaging

The packaging was perfect. It was made from decent materials and was well made. Its simple, but it looks and feels nice and most importantly it does the job.  As a gift, it is excellent. I was really happy to see it when I unwrapped it.

I do have a slight issue with the artist design on the box, but I discuss that below in my negatives section.

Using The ‘Grow It’ – Bonsai Tree Kit

The Grow It – Bonsai Tree kit is easy to use. The instructions are easy enough to follow and simply explained. I followed the instructions and got great results. I also did a few packets of the seeds using my own method and also had fantastic results.

However, I have a lot of experience growing stuff and I think for a beginner there can be some grey areas on how to do things …well based on the massive amount of questions I still get asked about this kit there are a lot of grey areas.

(I have written a post going over the instructions in much more detail and filling in those grey areas for beginners – An Instructional Guide To Help Beginners With The “Grow It – Bonsai Kit )

My only criticism on using this kit is that the instructions give variation in the dates that you will have to wait. which as “3-6 weeks in the fridge”. I would prefer to see just 6 weeks written there.

I know people will get impatient and only go for 3 weeks, which may affect their success rate.

If you are following the instructions, always go for the longer date. It’s worth it in the long run. Bonsai is a very slow process, so you don’t need to rush the first step.

They also say to put your seeds into a plastic bag, which isn’t included. But I think the vast majority of households will have some sort of ziplock/freezer bags somewhere in a kitchen drawer, and if not, they are not exactly expensive to buy.  

When To Start Your ‘Grow It’ – Bonsai Tree Kit?

If you are starting any seeds, it’s ideally preferred to do so over winter and into spring as this replicates nature. This is why the instructions ask for you put the seeds in the fridge; this is to trick the seeds into thinking its winter.

I would start this seed kit when you get it. No matter what the time of year. I would follow the instructions and put the seeds in the fridge for their fake winter. When you take them out, you should soon see some germination, no matter what time of year. So long as you are doing this inside it will work. I would then keep the seeds inside until the following spring and then I would move them outside.  This should give them some time to grow well and be prepared for outside life.

I have had great results using this kit. I think anyone could copy the success I have had regardless of your previous experience. I would expect anyone to have similar germination and growth rates as me by the end of the first year.

Caring for a tree is a bit of learning curve. If you follow the instructions you will get the seeds to germinate, but it is after this that the real works begins.

There are enough resources online and on YouTube (Including this website and my own Youtube channel) that you should be able to care for your trees long term and develop them into bonsai.

(You should read my article on – Starting A Bonsai From Seed – A Guide for Years 1 To 5)

Price

Obviously the price can vary depending on where and when you buy it, but in general it is not too expensive.

As a gift, I feel it’s reasonably priced.  You could probably buy the individual components for cheaper, but I feel paying a little extra for the boxing would make it a better gift for the majority of people.

Alternatives To The ‘Grow It’ – Bonsai Tree kit

So, would I suggest any alternatives to this kit? Yes and no. I can’t compare this to any other grow kit, as this is the only one I’ve tried.

If you are buying this as a gift, sure why not, I think it is a lovely gift idea.

If you are going to buy this for yourself, I probably wouldn’t bother. Just buy the individual packets of seeds for the trees you want and do it all yourself. You don’t need the boxing.  As nice as it is, it’s not necessary.

Are There Any Negatives With The ‘Grow It’ – Bonsai Tree kit ?

So far I have spoken quite highly of his bonsai grow kit, but let’s be honest, it isn’t perfect.

It has a few faults. I don’t think they take anything away from the kit and the experience you can have, but I think it’s important to be aware of them.

I’ve already talked about using the kit and how most beginners should have success, but also how I’ve had to write a post making the instructions more clearer for beginners. That would suggest that the instructions are not great, but i guess this depends on your prior experience with growing or not.

The Box Art

As wonderful as the box of this bonsai grow kit is, it bothers me.

It has a picture of a very beautiful, very old juniper bonsai on it. Which is fine, but it gives the impression that you are going to end up with something similar.

Of course you can end up with a tree that is looks great from this kit, but it’s going to take maybe 70 years, maybe even a 100? A lot of people buy this kit not realising that it takes longer than a lifetime to end up with a tree that looks like the one shown on the box.

I’ve see a lot of comments about this. People asking how quickly they can grow their seeds to look the same as the picture on the box and others annoyed they did not get the nice clay pot like the one that is pictured. 

On the other hand, I understand why that picture it’s there. That’s marketing.

I think it’s just important to know, you won’t get what is on the box straight away. You are going to end up with some small seedlings and it will take many years to get them to look like trees and even longer for it to look like the box art.

I think my wife bought this kit based on the box, I think she thought she was buying the tree on the front, or maybe she thought I could grow the tree on the front. I’m not sure; I just know the marketing worked, which in the end I guess worked out good for me.

Seeds

Following on from the box …there are no junipers seeds in the kit. So why have a juniper on the box?

As I said above, some kits may have different seeds, but it seems most have the four I mentioned, so why not have one of those on species the box?

Maybe someone in the art department wasn’t an expert on bonsai and didn’t realise what they were doing when they added the picture of the juniper? They just wanted a nice looking bonsai on the box, which, to be fair, they did!

Speaking about the seeds, having them labelled as “Bonsai Mix”, is also something that I hate. It implies they are special seeds. If they mentioned what the species seeds where somewhere in the kit, I would be slightly less annoyed about this.

Luckily when I contacted the company they were really nice and got back to me quickly with all the info I asked for. Although, I don’t know how many people actually message to find this out? Probably not very many.

Lolly Pop Sticks

Lastly, I didn’t like the lolly pop sticks. I wasn’t sure what I was meant to do with them. You can’t exactly write the species name on them, since you don’t get told this information.

Maybe you are supposed to put the date you started them on? Who knows? Mine are still sat in the box, untouched.

Conclusion

So in conclusion, I am very happy with this kit. It’s not perfect, but that is fine for what it is.

The only questions you need to ask about it are – does it look nice as gift? and will it grow?

I can safely answer Yes to both of these.    

At the moment I only have uploaded my Japanese Black Pine Bonsai Progression (2020 – Now) that I grew from this kit, but I have the other trees featured on my youtube channel, where you can see there progress too.

The following link is an affiliate link to the Grow It Bonsai kit, so I may make small commission from Amazon if you click it and make a purchase (It’s no extra cost to you, but it helps me out) – https://amzn.to/3qUomfr