Once & for all, junipers inside yes or no?

ozzerbon

Hello Joanie,
The answer must be a big NO, Junipers don't like growing indoors, but there is an easy solution if you don't have a garden, terrace, balcony or whatever, doesn't anyone where you live use Window Boxes, these I have seen used with considerable success right across Europe, so try a Window Box, and these you can adapt for all manner of seasonal protection, the only thing that must be strongly considered is the manner in which they are attached to the outside wall.

Hope that this helps.
Nigel

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PatArizona

I would discourage ANYONE from trying to grow a juniper indoors...unless he/she is thoroughly familiar with the juniper's needs.

Pat

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TreeBay

or...Let's all try to grow junipers indoors. The one who keeps theirs alive longest wins! Then we can all compare notes. Who's game?

Regards,

Matt

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Vance Wood

Spencer: That seems logical, and a good solution to growing outdoors, but the truth is there are some hormonal issues with temperate trees that require a deep dormancy period, and not just a few days in the fridge. These same trees also need the buffeting and variability of the outdoor environment to stay healthy and Strong. It reminds me of a biblical proverb: There is a way that seems right to a man but leads to destruction. When it comes to this issue it is absolutely true. The best option to explore is to use tropicals, which will adapt well to indoor cultivation, not all of them but a good number, making indoor cultivation an option worth the effort.

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rockm

"I'm not so quick to say never,there have been lots of "nevers" and "cant's" that have become yes"

This is a primary reason why people lose trees. They take the "no" as a challenge to their "can do" attitude and proceed from there, simply to prove THEY can do it. That can be a fine thing --when the only thing you're testing is yourself.

With bonsai, you are not testing yourself so much. You are testing another living thing that doesn't really care about your "can do" attitude or your ego. It only needs what it needs. In the vast vast VAST majority of cases (notwithstanding articles written and posted on bonsai vendor's websites), junipers can't stand up to indoor treatment by most long time bonsai people, much less a beginner's initial stumblings into care (I've done my share of stumbling, so don't get upset with me ;-)).

It takes a particularly gifted and green-thumbed person to be able to keep a juniper bonsai indoors for more than a couple of years. It takes an extraordinarily gifted person to keep one (and keep it healthy and vibrant in doing so) for more than five. Talk to us about how to keep junipers indoors only after you've done it for more than three or four years and the tree actually looks like a bonsai, not a sickly stick with tufts of yellowing foliage on it.

bwaynef

Vance, either you're missing something, or I am.
(emphasis mine)

Wouldn't Spencer's tree get the same temperature ranges and variability and buffeting (ok, not the same since its on a ledge presumably 5-6 feet above ground) on a ledge OUTSIDE as on a grow bench/on the ground?

He's just maximizing his space available outdoors.

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Vance Wood

I should have been more clear. Growing on a ledge is only inches away from growing indoors---literally in this case. I put up the parameters of dormancy and exposure so as to remove the temptation to bring indoors.

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bwaynef

Proximity to the house causes less fluctuation in temps? Less wind (though considerably more than indoors?) I'd still think dormancy (or whatever its called that an evergreen needs) requirements could be met on a ledge. My trees are right next to my house on benches (2-by and cement blocks) but I'd tend to think they have enough exposure to get them into/thru dormancy.

Could you clarify? Are you saying that the tree(s) won't be exposed enough?

Vance Wood

This is what I said.

I wrote earlier what I wrote so that the poster understood why bringing this tree indoors is not a good idea. Depending on what direction this shelf or ledge faces the grower may still be faced with a problem of the tree getting really hot. Will it get enough air circulation? I have no way of knowing. Will it receive the required dormancy requirement? I have no way of knowing that either due to all of the variables of growing zone, and growing location on the little ledge. I do know that its odds of surviving indoors are not good without some pretty fancy lighting and knowledgeable care.

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