Questions on using aquarium and blackening tips...

Speedsoda

Because I eventually realized my desk sometimes need room for other stuff than plants I thought about the requirements bonsai have... They want humidity, and they want light, basically, which is something usually not found indoors. Suddenly it hit me: Using an aquarium would be perfect! Obviously not filled with water... I covered the bottom with volcanic gravel and poured some water in there, giant humidity tray! I then placed the trees inside and two 18W flourescent tubes on top of the tank, along with a 20W flourescent light. I also covered the outside of two walls with reflective cardboard stuff. In my mind it's awesome, the plants get lots and lots of humidity, I get them out of my way, and the lights are easy to set up. Is there any reason this might not be such a good idea? I was thinking of air circulation or something, I don't know.

Also, since I'm bothering you all with a topic anyway I might as well ask about this blackening tips problem I have. Some of my small ficus cuttings repeatedly fail to put out the next leaf at the growing tip, it just gets black and shrivels away. Then it makes a new try with another tiny bud that also blackens from the tip and shrivels away. Why is this?

Thanks!

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rockm

Your describing a terrarium, which is NOT a good place for bonsai. The problem with using an aquarium is there is very little, if any air circulation. Bonsai need alot of air movement to remain healthy. Without air circulation, fungus problems are rampant. Your trees will get too much water and humidity.

Cathie

Black tips (that go nowhere) is usually a sign of rot, or that the plant has been out in the cold. You need to repot, cut away black, slimy bad roots to clean ones, repot with a fast draining gritty bonsai mix and be very careful about how often you're watering. You might also want to add some house plant fungicide to the water after you repot.

BonsaiRic

Rockm is right...without air movement fungus will be a problem. Check out what I built here. I designed the dresser greenhouse with a fan to circulate air and prevent fungus growth. It has worked well. I placed a plastic baffel up inside the top plate so that air would not be directly blowing on the plants. The fan was a squirrel-cage type from a Big Box Store and it is fairly quiet.

Maybe you could build a smaller desktop model of my dresser greenhouse or find a way to add a small fan to the top of your aquarium.
Not many comments on my original Dresser Greenhouse thread probably because most people think it is too big for their house, too much $ or too much trouble for the end result. However, it is working really well and was gratifying to build.

Speedsoda

Rot? That surprises me... It's planted in an extremely fast draining mix of rock and bark, the water pretty much just whooshes through. I noticed now though that only one has this condition, it's a very small ficus; It's only got 5 leaves and it's about two inches tall. One thing that I might point out is that it's got green stuff growing on the whiteish volcanic rocks in the pot. Kinda looks like algae, probably isn't. Is it harmful? Oh, and I read somewhere that this could be caused by overfertilizing? That wouldn't be impossible, I might have put a little too much in the water, but if you're sure that it's rot I guess I'll have to repot it!
I noticed something else while peering down to check on the ficus, I feel like a frickin wind hits me in the face when i look down into the tank! I also noticed the leaves of the orange trees I have there are actually wobbling and ruffling about. Can it circulate that much on it's own? Maybe the air gets moving because of the lights shining in there or something? I don't know, it seems strange. Anyway, a fan would be the a piece of cake to install there, then it shouldn't be a problem right?

Edit: I decided to the test the air circulation thingy, so I dropped a very small and wooly cotton piece down the tank, it fell at about a 60 degree angle once it got into the tank... Seems like there's a big vortex going on down there... I thought for a second and realized that it might be the 20W flourescent light that's causing it. I usually move it around a bit, and right now it's placed on the left wall of the tank shining straight in, to the right. The air is moving clockwise, so maybe that's it? But i'll probably put a fan in there anyway.

Cathie

Then you may end up with a drying problem - not enough humidity reaching the plant even though there's lots of water around! A natural flow of air is needed, and that's the problem with aquariums (aquarii?).