June 24, 2011. hey thanks steve-really enjoy your site- i think anyone interested in the subject would feel the same-nice work. wow the young sequoia is very unique in appearance-nice job-hows it doin now-any pics-totally curious. Everything on here is from 2 years ago. They grow to an average height of 165-280 ft and 18-24 ft in diameter. This cold process is known as naked prechilling. Pests and diseases : Redwood bonsai are hardly ever attacked by pests and diseases A heat mat can be set directly under the starter-cell packs to raise the soil temperature if necessary. 1/23/11 - here are some pics I took after it came out of the box I built I trimmed the roots before deciding to put it the ground. The soil temperature needs to be at least 50 degrees Fahrenheit for coast redwood seedlings to grow. Hey Steve, The tree will survive for a little while indoors, but ultimately needs to be outdoors. Do you think this is possible? 1; U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service. It wasn’t getting enough water to flourish so I adjusted that recently and I’m hoping it will improve. Thanks for posting this, the best sequoia bonsai I have ever seen. When each coast redwood is 6 inches tall, note the size of its root ball, and create a hole just large enough for the root ball in the potting mix of the tree's future container. Soak the desired amount of coast redwood seeds in filtered water in a small Petri dish for 24 hours. Gently remove the seedling from its cell, and separate its roots before setting the root ball in the hole you created. Coast redwood seeds can be collected and stored up to five years before used to grow more bonsai trees. I’d like to keep it indoors. 2. Redwoods don’t like to dry out and I recently added another dripper to it since it struggled with the heat this summer. 10/25/09 - Repotted into a redwood (ironic?) Tips and how-to needed! Prune gradually, over the course of several years. The young plants also tend to look enough like a juniper that often people don't realize they are looking at a sequoia in a pot rather than a juniper in a pot. Place the fast draining, proper soil mixture in the flat… Place the tree under the fluorescent light, and water it thoroughly. Propagation: Redwoods (both Metasequoia bonsai and Sequoia bonsai) can be propagated from seed and cuttings. I added some mulch to help keep the soil moist, along with drip irrigation. Seal the bag, and set it in a refrigerator for about three weeks or until you see roots emerge from the seeds. It hasn’t changed a whole lot since the last picture update, but I’ll post new pics when I have a chance. Hi Mike – the sequoia is doing great now. I have not pruned the foliage yet at all on this tree. Fill starter-cell packs to the brim with a sterile soil-less potting mix. Use pruning shears for that task. steve. I think the outward growth of the branches is a result of the way that it was started in a small pot indoors with relatively little direct sunlight. Cheers! Cut back vigorously growing branches to develop the bonsai shape or shapes of your liking. I started this tree from seed in May of 2007. Giant Sequoias are the world’s largest trees in terms of total volume. Plant one seed on top of the potting mix in the center of each cell. Required fields are marked *. Doyle is a certified Ohio State University master gardener and holds a degree in landscape technologies. Air-layering is also possible. Homesteading in Marin County, CA (sorta). Use enough water to cover the tops of the seeds. Purchase a packet of Coast Redwood (Sequoia Sempervirens) or Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia Glyptostroboides - much more... 2. Fill enough 1-by-4-inch, well-draining containers with soil-less potting mix so that each coast redwood will have its own container. 6/24/11 - lots of new growth now that it's established in the ground. The oldest known Giant Sequoia based on ring count is 3,500 years old. Considering putting it in the ground for more rapid growth. Remove the seeds from the filtered water, and place them in a plastic, self-sealing bag. Supplement sunlight with a fluorescent light source 2 or more feet above the starter-cell packs. 3/27/11. Did you do the pruning of roots and foliage when it was dormant( say mid winter)? It was completely rootbound. Hi Chris, Avoid fungal attacks on the plants by letting the soil surface dry out between watering sessions. In your most recently posted sequoia pre-bonsai picture, you said you “Planted her on top of a tile in the ground to induce rapid trunk development and surface roots.” Is this a way to begin training/preparing the tree for a bonsai container? I did the root pruning at the end of January. Hi Kati, Giant Sequoia Redwood Pre-Bonsai. They have an extremely fast growth rate and tolerate inadequate growing conditions for extended periods of time. Test the soil temperature with a soil thermometer. As my wife doesn’t want a big tree in the garden, I need to shape it as bonsai too. While I love the bonsai look, my end goal is to have a 2-4 foot potted tree. My tree is currently in a regular flower pot and I was planning to keep it in flower pots until it’s time to move it over to a bonsai pot. Any advice based on your experience would be appreciated! How to Start White Swan Coneflower From a Seed, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Sequoia Sempervirens, Coast Redwood, University of California Integrated Pest Management Online: Managing Pests in Gardens -- Trees and Shrubs: Redwood, Washington State University Clark County Extension: Coastal Redwood -- Sequoia Sempervirens, Silvics of North America, Vol. Set a light timer so the light remains on 12 hours per day for about the first six months after the seeds were planted.