Indoor Ficus And Juniper

Deb

With your juniper, for next winter, you could find a side of the house that is protected from the sun or even a protected area in a flower bed and where you can dig the plant into the soil. Don't cover the greenery of course, but tuck the roots in for the winter. You would want to put it on the shady side of the house because you don't want a warm winter sun to get it started too early. I've removed plants from their pots, and I've also tried submerging the plants in the pots. You want to make sure too that the soil won't be in an area where the spring will bring excessive water from the snow melt. If it is a valuable pot, I think I would remove it from the pot to prevent water from causing the pot from cracking when it freezes. If it is protected from the wind, and excessive surface water, it should make it through the winter very nicely.

Then when the weather changes, dig it up and pop it back into the original pot or repot if needed.

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MattO

Yandrosxx ,

Well, most deserts are a bit dryer than that. I dont live in a desert, and our humidity in summer rarely gets to 30%. 15-20 is common.

But your point is well taken. Winter air in the house is bone-dry!

subnet_rx

Not all houses are that dry. I bought a humidity meter for my house and stays between 40%-55% in my house in the winter. I can't really imagine what it's going to read in the summer, but I'm sure tropicals will love it.

PatArizona

"...indoors, such as the juniper...".

"...Anything can be grown indoors and anything can thrive indoors..."

WOW!

While it may be true that "...Anything can be grown indoors and anything can thrive indoors...", in my feeble and bumbling mind, I think that it is very unwise to ever tell this to a beginner.

We must remember that most beginners know little if anything at all about what it takes to keep a bonsai healthy and happy...and even less about how to keep a juniper healthy and happy...INDOORS!

Can't you just picture a beginner saying "...but, but, but, they told me at bonsaiTALK that '...anything can be grown indoors and anything can thrive indoors...', even a juniper...".

Wouldn't it be better to tell a beginner something like "...if you know how to, or you can learn how to, create and maintain the environment required to keep (a juniper) healthy and happy...maybe then, just maybe, you can do it...".

Again, in my feeble and bumbling mind, that's what works for me.

And, Skaterkid...always remember that bonsai is a trip that demands time and patience...welcome aboard...enjoy the journey...

Pat

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THE ONLY WAY: Always remember, and don't ever forget, that whatever you read here is not cast in concrete... the intent of any advice is to help. In no way should you feel that I’m saying that my way is the only way…heaven forbid! I've seen far too much of the "my way or the highway" attitude in bonsai as well as in other areas of life.

newt1

Junipers can be kept indoors when required. I do this nearly every year. I get a gift cert to the local bonsai shop for x-mas. I go to the shop and the only interesting trees are junipers. They have gone dormant for a couple months then he brings them in for the holidays. Durring my time off over the holiday break I style and re-pot . I grow them in my basement in humidity trays under regular old cool white 4 foot shop lights kept 1-2 inches from the top of the tree. I do mist the trees once a day. The temps are around 60-70F.

Once the temps get above freezing they go outside and stay outside from then on out. I normally winter in the back of my garage from then on.

So it is not optimal but can be done. The penjing pic below was started this way 2 or 3 years ago. And the other one was done this year.

Newt

Attached Images

	juniper cascade penjing 3 5-07 web.JPG (25.4 KB, 26 views)
	juniper procumbins 2-20-08 web.JPG (26.8 KB, 24 views)

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Mcspeed

Couple of good starts newt, but it sounds like they will only spend a couple 3 months with you inside then the rest of thier lives outside where they should be. Typically (at least for me) I think we look at "grow them inside" as always, which is what someone with "no other place" might try. If kept in for cycles of seasons, you would need more than a humidity tray and a shop light, as well as better instruction than is typically supplied to someone buying a mallsai. Thousands of dead trees will attest to that.

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newt1

"Couple of good starts newt, but it sounds like they will only spend a couple 3 months with you inside then the rest of thier lives outside where they should be. Typically (at least for me) I think we look at "grow them inside" as always, which is what someone with "no other place" might try. If kept in for cycles of seasons, you would need more than a humidity tray and a shop light, as well as better instruction than is typically supplied to someone buying a mallsai. Thousands of dead trees will attest to that."

You are right. I am not denying that. I just don't want him throwing the thing out in the middle of winter as this is certain death. This summer they should definatley go outside! Plants can put up with allot as long as they are healthy to begin with.

Newt

__________________
We don't stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing!

Check out my blog: http://knowledgeofbonsai.org/eric_newton/

I hear and I forget
I do and I remember
I teach and I understand...
-Chinese Proverb-

BonsaiSteve1

Skaterkid,

I also have a juniper that I just got this winter, and we are in similar climates. I have kept it inside so far, but when the weather warms, I will take it outside and keep it there. When winter rolls around this year, you should keep it outside but you'll have to build an enclosure for it (as will I, and I have not narrowed down a design yet). Some people say to put it in a garage, but here in New Hampshire the garage still gets as cold as it is outside (close to 0 degrees F or below sometimes). This would not be good for an unprotected tree.

An unheated basement with lights would be good, if you have one.

Search the forum, I saw a gallery of over-wintering designs a few weeks ago but cannot find it now. I definitely recommend putting it outside though!

PatArizona

Just a reminder...from my previous post...

"...Wouldn't it be better to tell a beginner something like '...if you know how to, or you can learn how to, create and maintain the environment required to keep (a juniper) healthy and happy...maybe then, just maybe, you can do it...'.".

Pat

__________________
BONSAI isn't about surviving in a storm, rather, how to dance in the rain.
THE ONLY WAY: Always remember, and don't ever forget, that whatever you read here is not cast in concrete... the intent of any advice is to help. In no way should you feel that I’m saying that my way is the only way…heaven forbid! I've seen far too much of the "my way or the highway" attitude in bonsai as well as in other areas of life.