A Guide On How To Grow a Pine Cone Bonsai 

In this guide, we will focus on how to grow a pine cone bonsai. This will help you grow your own bonsai tree from scratch with the help of available pine cones.

The pine cone is a perennial evergreen conifer that produces a seed cone in the autumn. The seed cone has a hard shell, usually green in color, and grows in clusters from the branches. Each seed cone can produce thousands of seeds.  Pine cones are often found growing in forests in the north of Europe and North America. They can grow up to 2 meters tall and have a lifespan of around 60 years.

How To Grow a Pine Cone Bonsai

There are 2 ways to start your pine bonsai tree, growing a pine cone sprouting from seed, or you can buy a ready-grown plant from a nursery. You will need a small pot for the tree to live in. The size of the pot should be about half the size of the root ball. In our case, we will start from a pine cone, germinate it and grow a full tree.

We recommend you keep it in a greenhouse or a warm area for a few years before planting it in its final location. The commonly used seed is called “Pinus sylvestris.” It can grow really well if taken good care of. It will take you around 5-7 years to get a mature pine bonsai tree. If you want a bigger pine tree, you can also try the “Pinus Sylvestris” or the “Pines Montana”.

Learn more about How To Grow A Bonsai Tree From A Cutting?

Step 1: Take your pine cone and clean it from any debris.

Remove the white part that looks like a pine needle. Cut the tip of the cone with scissors. Make sure you are cutting only the tip and not the base of the cone. This will be your starter root. The base will remain in the soil to access nutrients.

Step 2: Wash the root in water.

Once you are done, wash the root in water and dry it with a paper towel. Take the bottom part of the cone and place it in a new pot that has soil at the bottom. Make sure that only the bottom part of the cone touches the soil and the top part is left exposed.

Step 3: Now we need to keep the root ball moist.

You can either use a soaker hose or a drip irrigation system. The soaker hose is easy to use and works well.  Drip irrigation has the advantage that you can control the water flow. It allows you to add water only when needed. The drip irrigation system will allow you to add water only when you need to, but this comes with the disadvantage that it is expensive.

Step 4: Add soil to the bottom of the pot.

Take a trowel and push soil around the root ball. You will want to pack it down a bit so that it stays moist. Add more soil until the pot is almost full. Make sure there are no air bubbles in the soil.

Step 5: Pour a small amount of fertilizer into the soil.

We recommend a slow-release fertilizer. Take your fertilizer according to the directions on the bottle. Pour the fertilizer around the root ball. Make sure you do not pour the fertilizer directly onto the roots. You can use a spray bottle if you want to make sure you cover the root ball.

Once the pine cone germinates and gets established, it’s time to move it to its permanent growing location.

Read more about How Long Does It Take For Pine Trees To Grow?

How To Grow a Pine Cone Bonsai in a Permanent Location

The first thing you need to know on how to grow a pine cone bonsai is that the plant grows best in a sunny spot with lots of warmth and water.  Choosing the right location is ideal when growing this plant because it provides it with the right growing atmosphere.

Plant it in the right season.

This plant is very sensitive to the seasons. The best time to plant a pine bonsai would be in spring as it is the growing season. It is more likely to do better than if planted during any of the other seasons.

Your plant needs lots of space to grow and develop.

You can place your plant in a pot, but you must make sure that it has enough space to expand, otherwise, it will get too big and start to die.

It needs to be watered regularly.

The most important thing you need to know about this plant is that it likes to be watered regularly. If you don’t water it, it will die. You will know that the plant needs to be watered because the leaves of this plant will start to look dry and withered. When you see this happen, then you need to water it.

During the spring, it should be watered about once a week. If you want to water more often, then you can do so.  In summer, you will need to water it more often because this plant can’t withstand too much heat. In the autumn, you can water your plant once every two weeks.

Provide the right type of soil.

It will grow well in any type of soil, although it does better with soil that has lots of compost added. You don’t need to fertilize your plant. You can leave it on its own if you want.  However, some people like to add fertilizer to their plants to help them grow faster. The best fertilizer is one that is made from organic material and contains plenty of nutrients.

Final Thoughts On How To Grow a Pine Cone Bonsai

The pine bonsai tree takes about 10 years before it starts producing cones. So, the sooner you start planting pine cones, the better.  Learning how to grow a pine cone bonsai tree gives you the benefit of growing your own, providing you with a beautiful landscape.

Learn morea about How Can A Mushroom Appear To Grow Overnight?

Frequently Asked Questions