Make a Potato Bonsai

Want an attractive bonsai but don't feel like waiting fifteen years? Try this method which shaves the growing time down to two months. (Note: two months might still be too long for impatient children.) You will need an attractive bowl or pot, potting soil, gravel or sand, and a potato. Place the potato somewhere dark until it has some good sprouts. Fill the bowl with potting soil, place the potato half in the soil with the sprouts you want to be branches uppermost. Cover the visible soil with a layer of gravel or sand. Water and wait. Note that the potato will send up shoots through the soil, trim these as they appear. A good tip is to grow the potato near a window so that the sprouts curve towards the light, providing the bonsai with the ever-popular 'windswept' look. Prune the leaves to your inner vision.