Bonsai Tree – Humble Beginning


Well, hopefully. This won’t be easy to pull off and it may fail at any time even before it really takes off. Plants sometimes fail to take root, and even when they do, they fail at becoming a bonsai tree, and even if they do, they sometimes just die after decades of work for causes unavoidable or unknown – like my most precious cypress tree did last fall and many others this spring.

But I hope this takes off. Last month I had encountered a very rare thing – a seed in a store-bought persimmon, fruit of Diospyros kaki. This was a first seed ever I have found and I have bitten into it and damaged it a bit because I did not se it originally. Luckily for years I am always cutting the fruit lengthwise in crescents and never across, because I have been actively looking for a seed. But the variety is mostly seedless and usually all that can be found are tiny under 5 mm unfertilized seeds, which are useless. This was clearly living one, it was over 20 mm in length, with the shape of a plum seed and consistency and hardness of an apple seed.

I have washed it carefully and thoroughly in luke warm water so it does not mould and my mother (because I had to work overtime and did not have time to do it myself and also I am a bit superstitious about my mom’s touch – she could make a broom blossom if she planted it) had planted it in a bit of heat-sterilized porous substrate immediately the next day.  The pot stood near a heat radiator for the last month and I splashed in a bit of water whenever I remembered to, which was about twice a week. I was actually just beginning to worry that I underwatered it, which is just as bad as overwatering when…

A seedling Diospyros kaki popping out.

…today I found out that the seed started to come out of the ground, which was a rare moment of joy for me (I try not to drag you down with me, but you know those are small and far between). I will keep you posted on its progress. I hope for many infrequent updates for years, but you will get the info even if it fails.

Comments

  1. rq says

    I think this moment, when the first sprout appears, is quite magical. ♥ Good luck, little persimmon!

  2. Nerd of Redhead, Dances OM Trolls says

    I have a black thumb, so I bought a water meter at the hardware store. Helped with the tomatoes the previous summer, and showed that Mother Nature over watered my pots this year, causing a small crop.

    Good luck with your sprout.

  3. voyager says

    That’s a lovely sprout. It always seems miraculous to me when I watch new plants take life. I hope it grows well and grows old.

  4. says

    Good luck with the little bonsai in the making. It’s a wonderful picture and duly needed at this time of the year when the outdoors is mush and brown and beige.

  5. Nightjar says

    Good luck! I’ll be waiting for updates on the development of little persimmon. I hope it can bring you more moments of joy.

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