Reddit reviews Japanese Black Pine Bonsai Kit - Soil/Pots/Seeds/Wire/Fertilzer/Mesh/Tweezer

I'm more optimistic than most when it comes to growing bonsai from very early stages, but the truth is most people with less than 10 years of bonsai experience have practically zero chance of succeeding in creating a bonsai from seed. And those with 10 years or more rarely go down that path because of the time it takes to do it right (typically 20-30 years).

I think a lot of newbies think of bonsai from seed as "plant a seed in a bonsai pot and watch it turn into one", a huge misconception that is encouraged by crap like this. I think this is the misconception that the folks here often rail against. This pretty much just won't work.

Even adamant seed deniers like small_trunks would admit that one can, in fact, produce bonsai from seed if you plant many seeds to account for failures, and grow them in the ground for 10-15 years with proper technique along the way (grow, chop, grow, chop, etc). But most folks just aren't up for this kind of project, so it tends to get discouraged.

I have all kinds of experiments going with seedlings that sprouted up in my yard naturally (technically from seed even though I didn't plant them). There's probably not a single one that will be in a bonsai pot in less than 10 years, and most will take longer. Many may not even make it that far, although I have high hopes for at least a few of them.

So while I agree that hun technically made a broad and incorrect statement, in actual practice it was pretty accurate.