Bonsai Rock Garden Kit from K-Mart: Review

He has a passion for Bonsais, and honestly his passion has grown a bit out of control. He buys about 4 new trees every year, and the collection has gotten a bit nuts…but hey, he has a hobby, so I shouldn’t complain. You should see all the junk I collect.

Every year I add to his collection. I usually buy him a tree every Valentine’s Day, or each year on his Birthday.

Christmas was no exception this year. Instead of buying him a tree, I came across a kit. A kit where he could grow his own bonsai. I figured this way he’d be even more attached to it; seeing how he was the one who grew it.

The kit caught my eye right away at our local KMART. A Bonsai Rock Garden Kit.

The kit was basically a hollowed rock with a package of seeds, a small package of soil, a small package of top moss, and instructions on how to grow your own bonsai. It all seemed cool, and it seemed like something he would enjoy doing.

The kit will allow you to grow a Wisteria Bonsai, which is supposedly a fast growing vine, which will have a mature look even while it is young.

The day he got the kit, I watched as he began setting it up. It was all relatively simple. Add the package of soil to the rocks hole, dig a small hole in the soil and add the seeds, then top it off with the package of moss.

All in all it only took a total of 5 minutes to put everything together neatly.

It was about 3 weeks later when we both noticed green trying to poke through the soil. I was impressed. Another week went by and there were a few green stems poking through the soil.

Sadly though the plants growing had extremely delicate stems and all of them eventually fell and became limp. Even with attempting to help the stems stick up straight by adding bread twists to the soil, and wrapping the stems to it, they eventually fell and became limp, which resulted in them dying and rotting away.

I was a bit shocked because my boyfriend is usually excellent at maintaining healthy plants, and had always been good at growing plants and trees from seeds.

Overall:

We were both disappointed. We were expecting a cool little bonsai tree to grow, and the stems were just not strong enough to hold its own small leaf weight. Even with attempting to help the plants stay alive, it failed.

I’m not saying that the kit sucks because we couldn’t keep the plants alive… but they are difficult to grow, and kids wouldn’t have much fun with it. I also thing the price is also a bit too high for what you get. In the end you spend $20.00 and end up with a cool shaped man made hollowed out rock.

I guess you could use it to plant other things if all else fails.

Recommended:

Only to someone with a green green green thumb. It’ll be a definite disappointment to those who have never tried to grow trees from seeds.

Pricing and Where To Buy:

The price still remains the same in nearly every online store I have seen the Bonsai Rock Garden Kit available. $19.99.

I found ours at KMART.