You sound like you're in a very similar situation that I am in! I too am a post-graduate student and looking to expand my collection of bonsai. And, as typical of most university or college students, I don't have a ton of money to spend! Even though I'm generally good at keeping my plants alive, I don't really want to try my luck and have a bonsai with me in my dorm during the school year. Not to mention less-than-stellar growing conditions typical of most dorms or student housing (one window, just like me!). All in all, it doesn't really make for a good bonsai growing environment. My plan (to be put into action this spring) is to obtain young stock and then to grow them into pre-bonsai material. If you can find a tree nursery that specializes in young starter plants for Christmas tree farms, reforestation, or rural planting, they have very inexpensive stock available. (Be careful, because they may have hefty shipping fees and/or very high minimum purchases). You also have to realize that they may not all be good material. So, this spring, a set of young tree seedlings are going to be planted into a bed in my backyard (at my permanent residence, not my dorm!). Over the next 3-4 years, I'll be occasionally pruning them and wiring them to develop trunks and rough branches. Most importantly, though, is that they have intermittent periods of unrestrained growth to encourage trunk thickening. Finally, once I'm out of university, I'll have some older stock with preliminary training to play around with. One word of caution: make sure that you read up well on the subject of bonsai. When dealing with rough stock, it's good to know what your current actions will cause within the next few years. It requires a bit of forethought and, most importantly, patience! As for books, try Herb L. Gustafson's "The Bonsai Workshop." -Audric

susanzone5, thanks for the tip, but I'm only using the germination station for germinating. As soon as the seeds germinate they'll go under lights before they have a chance to become leggy. The covers on my trays prevent the light from being lowered (see my first pic ) ...... Yeah I know, those are covers for grafts or cuttings, not seedlings...... Yuuup, I'd say my operation is about as simple as it gets.... :) This post was edited by Handsome54 on Thu, Jan 17, 13 at 19:21

Oleg, I have maybe three bulbs of H. psittacinum and they're pretty slow growing and they're very susceptible to rot and bug attacks, I've not had the easiest time with them but I have started to care for them more and have had an easier time! I think partially the reason H. papilio and H. cybister are so common in cultivation now is considering Fred Meyers, he crossed the best clones of each species to create a more tough and tumble plant. As well, these two species are among the easier to grow along with H. striatum, H. aulicum and H. puniceum which are also fairly common. Many Hippeastrum species I don't think could withstand cultivation in the casual growers hand UNLESS you live in an area with favorable conditions. You must study many of the species individually to know exactly what conditions are best considering they're found in a multitude of places including swamps AND deserts. I know many seasoned growers of Hippeastrum still have a very tough time with many species and many flower very seldom if at all. H. papilio is from a mild forest which is easily imitated by indoor conditions, it can be grown epiphytically, lithophytically or the usual pot of soil so it can handle a large range mediums. It grows in brightly lit places to shady areas so lighting usually isn't much of an issue. H. papilio can be maintained as an evergreen plant which gives a huge advantage against rotting too and it's resistant to many pests and diseases where as most other species are not! If you were to try growing Hippeastrum pardinum with the same idea of H. papilio you would more than likely fail, it needs a incredibly dry rest period during opposing months; any water during the dormancy will result in rotting and quite quickly! It doesn't always flower well *some sources only see flowers every ten years or so* and is usually a winter growing species, it relies on a lower amount of sunlight and ultimately much less water, put this in the hands of a typical "amaryllis" grower and they're set up for failure! This isn't to say that it's impossible to grow many of these species successfully because it isn't but you must educate yourself. While the hybrids and some species (h. papilio) are very forgiving, most others are not. I think it would be spectacular to see these grown in larger quantities but sadly I don't foresee that as most aren't willing to invest the time and energy they take. :( It's also a big misconception that ALL Hippeastrum need light water in fear of rotting, H. breviflorum, H. harrisonii, some forms of H. vittatum and H. angustifolium can be found in bogs, swamps and other wet areas, many are completely submerged throughout their growing seasons and only slightly dryer during dormancy, these species could create a more resistant plant in future breeding as well, I think these are quite beneficial as parents to new hybrids but their ease of growing is nil to none. Josh

Yeah, I opted to skip the holes also because I wanted to use my bins for craft stuff when I was done. Storage is a commodity around this place. Using the lid as a drip tray is an excellent idea though. I'll have to keep that in mind when I get some more bins. Not all tote lids are alike heh. I used about 74% perlite and 25% peat moss because it seems like I always have the "too wet" issue. I figured wicking and a little water in the bottom for humidity would keep me from feeling like I always have to have my hands on them lol. I think that is how I end up killing them, by babying them to death. Do you take the lid off your plants occasionally so they can breath or do they usually do well leaving the lid on them and leaving them alone? I took the lid off of the bins today for a while and they didn't seem to like that very much. They have perked back up some since the humidity started building again but they were sort of droopy earlier. I have a hard time with most cuttings but things like sedum, cactus, and most houseplants usually do pretty well in a glass in the window for me. That is as long as I keep the water changed. That sweet potato vine... I have never seen anything root that fast. Those things had little tiny roots yesterday and today they are around two inches long. I'm wondering if I don't need smaller cuttings for overwintering heh. I wish I knew they rooted that easy at the beginning of the season before I bought twelve of them!