What To Do When Your Bonsai Seeds Are Not Growing

It is common to grow seeds for bonsai and find that they do not grow. This can often be a mistake on your part, but not always.

While there is no guaranteed way to make seeds grow, there are plenty of things you can do to increase your chances of success and there are some things you can try if the seed you have are just not doing anything.  

Bonsai Seeds Are Just Normal Seeds

Before we go any further I need to make sure we are all aware that there is no such thing has “bonsai seeds” they are just normal tree seeds, they are not special seeds only for bonsai.

You just have to treat your seeds in the same way as if you where trying to grow a full size species. The bonsai stuff comes later on, after they are growing.

Bonsai is just the techniques that we apply to a tree to keep it small and stop it from becoming full size.

The fact that there is no special “bonsai seeds” means that’s there is no one way to do things, each tree species is going to be slightly different.

(You can read more about – How Do You Care For Bonsai Seedlings?)

Check The Proper Germination Guide For The Tree Species

It doesn’t matter if you have already planted your seeds or not, you should still check the proper way things should be done. You just need to search “how to germinate” and then the name of whatever seeds you are trying to do. There is going to be thousands of web pages and youtube videos covering all the different species and the best way to get them started.

If you haven’t done anything yet, then you can of course follow these guides and do things correctly from the start.

If you have already started trying to grow your seeds, you can check to see if you did things right …If you haven’t, that’s fine, you can wait and see what happens and then try and correct things if it hasn’t worked.

Sometimes seeds will germinate even if you do not follow their exact requirements, so don’t panic if have read a germination guide after starting your seeds and realising and you didn’t do a certain step, they may still start growing.

Why You Need To Know the Proper Process Of Germination

Basically every tree is different and they will need a slightly different environment and conditions to start grow, so its important to know what your species of seed actually needs.

Some seeds will need scarification, which is when you need to scratch the hard outer shell to allow moisture to get inside. Usually this happens in nature by its self, the seed will get blown around the ground and bang into things causing the shell to get scratched, but if you are growing the seeds then you will need to do it for them.

Most commonly, tree species we use for bonsai will probably need stratification, which is basically a cold spell before they will grow.

If you think about nature it makes sense. Trees produce fruit in autumn, but the seeds inside do not start growing until the following spring. They need to go through the winter before they grow.

No tree would want to start growing straight away as the cold winter would just wipe out the new seedlings. Some species may need a longer time in the cold conditions compared to others.

This is why it’s important to check what your species requires so you can give them the proper treatment to help them start growing.

Why Do We Refrigerate Seeds?

Many germination guides will tell you that you need to place your seeds in the fridge for a while, which can seem strange, but this is exactly how we give them the cold period that they need to activate their growth.

Of course we can leave them outside and let nature do its thing, but using the fridge gives us more control and the freedom to start the seeds anytime we want.

You may also find that seed instructions say things like “3-6 weeks of refrigeration” for example. If you see this, always go for the longer period. I know it’s annoying, but it’s always better to give them more time, then you can be certain they have had long enough in the cold and more likely to successfully germinate.

When you take them out of the fridge, the sudden rise in temperature makes the seeds think it is now spring, so they start to grow. Really we are using the fridge to trick them into thinking it is winter, so we can start growing the seeds when we want to, rather than actually waiting for winter.

If Your Seeds Don’t Grow

If you have followed the germination instructions for your species and nothing has happened, then there are two things that might be happening. You either need to wait a bit more, or your seeds are not viable.

Your Seeds May Not Be Viable

If a seed is viable it means it can grow. If it’s not, it means it’s basically old and dead and they will never grow.

This is nothing you did, it just happens. Some seeds where just never going to grow or they just sort of become “out of date”.

If you have a handful of seeds, there will always be a small percentage that do not grow or fail in some way.

This is why when you plant any seeds you usually plant a large number, not just one individual seed. Then you can always be sure that something will grow, and there will always be some that don’t.

Your Seeds Just Need More Time

You can’t really tell if your seeds are viable or not, so you may as well just wait and see what happens.

If you have followed the instructions and nothing has happened, just keep caring for them. Keep them damp (not wet, as this can cause mould to form or rot the seeds and kill them) and wait, they may start growing. Sometimes they can just be slow to get going and you have to be patient.

(You can read more information about What To Do About Mould On Seedlings (When Growing Bonsai)

Repeat The Instructions Again

If nothing has happened after a couple of months, then you should try and repeat the original instructions again.

Usually when you plant seeds (after they have had their cold spell) it should take a couple of weeks, maybe a month maximum to see some signs of growth. but I would wait about 6 months, by then you should have seen some growth.

If you didn’t follow the proper instructions for your species, then you can do this now.

If you did follow the instructions properly, well you can still try again, sometimes seeds need more time to get them to grow.

However, really you can only give your seeds more stratification or scarification. If the original instruction said to just plant them, there is not much more you can do. You can try a stratification period, but it may work, but it may not.

At this point you have nothing to lose, so you should just try it.

Try Scarification

This is slightly harder to do since at this point your seeds are usually planted in soil. If your seeds do not require scarification, then don’t do this to them! You will just damage the seed. Only certain species need this so only do this to the species who require it.

If you did this originally as your species needs this technique, then I would NOT repeat this step. You have already done this, doing it again could damage the seeds.

If you didn’t scarify your seeds, and you have since found out that you should have done this with your species of seed, then you can either do two things:

• Try and fish the seeds out of the soil and then try to scratch them. This is of course messy and not ideal, but it should help.

• Or you can just leave them and hope that after a while the hard outer shell is broken down by the water. This may take a few years, by which point the seed may not be viable, so it’s also not ideal either. 

I would probably fish them out myself. If you don’t scarify them, the chances of them growing are extremely low, so for me, it is worth the effort to try and dig them up and scratch them.

Give The Seeds A Second Stratification (A Cold Period)

If your seeds are suggested to have a cold period, and they are not growing after the first attempt, I would repeat this step and give them another cold period. I would wait a few months and there is no sign of growth I would try it again.

I would place your seeds and its pot (I’m guessing at this point you have planted them into a pot/soil) into a zip lock bag and then place them into the fridge again.

I would just follow the original instructions suggested time period. If it says “3-6 weeks” … go for 6.  Throughout this time I would check on the seeds every now and again to make sure they are always damp. They probably will not need any water, but still check.

Then after the suggested time period, pull them out and hopefully this second “winter” can activate them and you will start to see some signs of life.

If you have planted your seeds outside then just leave them alone for a year. Let nature do its thing and let the seasons roll through. You may notice that after an actual second winter they will germinate in the spring.

You often find people give up on their seeds and just reuse the soil, with the seeds still in there. Then a year later they find the seeds they give up on start growing. Don’t give up on your seeds right away, sometimes they just need more time.

Conclusion

If you have started some seeds for bonsai and they don’t seem to be growing, just be patient and hopefully they will grow soon.

If not, you can try the techniques again. This usually gets them to grow, but if they don’t, then it means they were not viable and there is not much you can do. In this instance the best thing to do is get some new seeds and start again.

I know that is frustrating, but growing seeds is a numbers game, the more you do, the more likely you will have success, especially for some species, which have a higher fail rate than success. 

Once you get Your seeds to germinate you should read – Starting A Bonsai From Seed – A Guide for Years 1 To 5