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Hello,

I am very very new to growing bonsai, I purchased some seeds and some of the basics online beck in December and have been trying to grow a few different seeds however I have struggled to even germinate most seeds, I have set my mind on trying to grow a mimosa silk tree as that is one of the seed that have germinated for me, I currently have 3 seedlings that I planted around march 10th this year however in the past couple of days I have noticed some yellowing on the original two leaves that appeared, is this okay or is it something I am doing wrong?

Any tips and tricks would be greatly appreciated, and I look forward to sharing this journey and hopefully in years to come having my own bonsai tree to look after.

Thank you!!

Hello!

Those are not actually leaves... They're called cotyledones, and they're temporary, as the actual leaves come by, they yellow and fall, so it's all fine...

You now should allow this seedlings to grow a little tru spring, before you perform the taproot prunning, so you can get a better base at the future, and after you have some good radial root base, you can up pot to get a thicker trunk...

Do you have some outdoor space?

Oh that’s amazing,

Thank you so much for the help I will take all of these things into consideration that you have suggested and again I thank you for clearing my mind by the yellowing. Sadly I am living in a flat at the moment with no outdoor space as I am still in university however I will be moving back home in a years time so hoping to move my plants to an outdoor setting in the future.

That's cool.
I don't have much experience with plants indoor... But if you had some space it would surely speed up the process...
For now they should take as much light as possible.

The steps that I told you may vary according to it's growth... Here I cut the taproots at the same growing season the seeds germinate, but if they don't develop as much roots on that pot, you could consider do it on next spring.

Let's see how it goes.

albizia julibrissin is a temperate decidious tree. If you cannot provide a proper winter dormancy, I strongly advice not to do any root work. Making it survive until you have an outdoor space may prove hard enough without it.

My suggestion about rootwork is to within 4 months to a year, not immediatelly, just so you know...
And again (and very important), according to it's growth and healthy...
But only growing it until you have an outdoor space to work on it, is a valid option too...

Hm okay thanks for both of your inputs, I will closely monitor my plants and try to keep this forum updated on the progress to possibly get further input from both of you guys, really appreciate the advice from you both and I will take it on board.

As I said I will keep updating this page with updates and if there are any major changes.

Thanks a lot,

Jack

Just to clarify. In temperate areas with temperate decidious trees we normally work on root systems and do repotting in early spring, just before bud breaks. The reason for this is that the buds wakes a tad before the roots. So the roots you work on is more or less not active and can tolerate a lot more. And the buds shows you that they will wake up very soon and have the best chanse of recovery.

As you grow the trees indoors, there will be no natural leaf drop in authum, no dormancy in winter and no inactive roots in spring.

Now, Albas is from Brazil, as far as I understand subtropical climate. If he says it is ok to prune roots on this species any time of the year, his recomendation may work as well for indoor growing.

What I was trying to say is that environment matters. A beginner growing trees in the wrong environment calls for some caution. With that said, I have successfully repotted and root pruned temperate trees in late summer and in mid winter as well. As experience increase one can break many more rules.

I see, yes that makes sense about doing the rootwork then. Yes of course it was always going to be a struggle being a beginner, however no matter what happens I’m sure I will be able to learn a lot and hopefully with your guys help be successful in my journey.

I agree, but I wouldn't cut the roots any time of the year tho, I avoid fall and early winter.

The thing with my climate is that I still have a cold winter (not as cold as you guys xD), but the spring is very intense, so when I germinate seedlings right by the start of spring, I wait until summer and then prune the taproots, since here, they'll still have some time to recover (fall is not as cold)...

Because if I leave that to be worked on in the next spring, the roots would be a total mess and I would have to cut a lot more of roots growing wrongly to put the rootbase in the right direction.

And like Tropfrog said, climate and environment matters a lot, but, indoor is really a mistery to me, I can't picture how much it will develop... And you must consider that my trees are all outside (as the majority of people here on the forum), so I can expect a better response...

So for now, watch it grow I think, play safe.