No luck with those myself; scarification or just leaving seeds in winter doesn't work for me, and I think seeds or microcloning are the only options (and I'm too out of resources to run full microcloning stunt lately). My guess always was that our semi-urban bushes are just struggling too much and seeds don'r tipen. Some day somebody will bring me fertile seeds from the south I hope. I want to grow that thing.

Thank you. I'll try again!

Not really, we gather loads and loads of seeds from the cones (best while it's still snowy, March-April) by collecting branches that break off on their own in windy weather and drying the cones at home, and just scatter seeds in pots; sometimes something sprouts. Sometimes they just sprout from other outdoor pots if there are alder trees around.

It looks so lovely!

Is there anything special required to sprout the alder seeds? I tried years ago, but maybe the cones were simply too old when I got them.

Cheers for the spruces!

Well, the fungus fruited, the tree survived till winter dormancy (waiting for snow now). Moss is super stable in these pots, even ones where everything else died still are emerald mossy. I often find squatter birch saplings in these as well, although few make it to first year. I would count this as stable, let's see who grows there next year!

Perfect micro biome. Will it remain stable?

These are just some crappy office supplies, 2 eur each, with holes drilled through their bottoms with a sheet metal drill bit in an electric screwdriver. I am looking at buying clay and firing it myself, or casting geopolymer lye/clay/cat litter crystals, containers are not just expensive, there is no place that sells them locally. I might become local bonsai evangelist if I step over my imposter syndrome (well, I am one, I suppose) and get non-negative balance on my bank account to start something.

Looks surprisingly nice!

Side question:
Where do you get your containers?
Prices where I live are outrageous.
30€ for a small one - come on, it is just a piece of crude pottery!

You're a part of me, you know you are, you are, you are.

Ty

Literally any cactus soil will work. Jade are super flexible plants.

Aww, they're besties!

IIRC, (IANAS) fungi are essential to a grassland becoming forested, as they are able to process xylum (dendritic, woody plant fiber) and the bacteria that fill that role in grasslands cannot. Beyond that, they're known to chemically communicate with their tree neighbors through the soil. 🤩🥰🤘🏼

I had (still have) huge problems growing from seeds. The only things that help are:

1. collect seeds yourself (so they are fresh)
2. plant a lot.

Then things start to move.

Unfortunately, this way I can't get anything exotic. Even the places that seem decent enough, like Palmatum, send the seeds that just do not work (I had better - order of magnitude better - results with seeds from supermarket apples than from apple seeds they sent me; I wish they sold 5-needle pines and sequoias fruits in supermarkets!). Things are so desperate we've made BAP-6 growth hormone and I'm going to try it on purchased seeds, it must work, I just didn't try yet (someone told me it does exactly the right thing - germinates strong seeds - after trying it, it's my turn now). Here, you can buy some from my store if you like to try it too https://store.zymologia.fi/hormones/24-37-6-bap.html#/17-weight-1_g - it's just as hard to cook 1g as 1kg (apart from reagents cost and work of putting this stuff in jars), so why not share.

Oh, these plants are outdoor bonsai, these trees are perfectly accustomed to this climate (thick snow, -30C, some sunless days, etc) and totally do not tolerate indoor tropics.

I tried transplanting some local trees in the fall, as textbooks say, and they perished pathetically. The best time must be some other time. I suppose the best time should be early spring when roots did not wake up enough, but then I might need to break ice. Then now is fast growth slowdown moment, I suppose it must be the next best bet. I'm doing one at a time now!

This is awesome! I've never had luck getting trees to grow from seed.

The best time to transplant trees is usually in the late fall or early winter. You want to do it after letting the tree acclimate to the temperature. So a few weeks before you want to transplant it, put it out at night and bring it back in during the day.