Once & for all, junipers inside yes or no?

ALDEVAUX

If my memory is good Juniper species that are adapted to tropical climates are grown as bonsai in Hawaii.
It is true that there are juniper species like J. barbadensis-West Indies Juniper that are well adapted to tropical climates and I would not be surprised that they can be grown indoors like the tropical Norfolk pine.
Those tropical cultivars have been adapted to hot climates all year round and do not need a cold dormant period as the temperate cultivars and species.

Advertisement

RonMartin(deceased)

Yes and the 1st thing you will hear there (from an experienced bonsaiest anyway) is keep it out side.

BonsaiSeed

My small bonsai did quite well last year indoors without any adverse effects on the tree. I bought him from a nursury who didnt seem to be to enthused about taking him outside either. I'd imagine that larger bonsai might do better than smaller ones seeing as how the smaller pots can freeze quicker.

ALDEVAUX

This is perfectly true for all species of bonsai trees for which indoor conditions are certainly not the best.

RonMartin(deceased)

This is something that just about everybody in bonsai said when they first started.
Experience and failures do take their toll on this credo though.
Pity it is a lesson that only time and lost money will teach

Staselwood

I am going to go out on a limb and "Just say No!" without reading any of the posts...

with that said... i will now read the entire post hahaha

__________________
Jeffery Carr

Staselwood Bonsai Studio
Hanover, Ohio
cell: 740-403-0215

...Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now...

www.staselwoodbonsai.com

mailto:jcarr@staselwoodbonsai.com

Your Source for: Tools, Wire, Soil, Pots, Bonsai and More.

PatArizona

G'day all...

It seems that there are some, somewhere out there, who still want to keep a juniper bonsai indoors...

Well...from my viewpoint, it just isn't worth the effort, or the cost. Why not simply get a ficus or a sheffferellla? They adapt much easier, although they are much happier if they get some outdoor time.

However...I HAVE A DREAM! I want to cultivate bonsai from a variety of climates...indoors...all under one roof...all in one room. I suddenly realized that the solution to this quandry is right up the road a piece, here in Southern Arizona...about 20 miles.

BIOSPHERE 2. It's all there...beach front...ocean...rain forest...hot, dry desert. And that's just for starters. B2 has the technical capability to create any climate you might want.

Didn't I just say a bit ago "it just isn't worth...the cost..."?

Well...I've changed my mind. There is, after all, room for several world class collections in B2.

I'm told that the owners just MIGHT...MIGHT, I say, MIGHT...entertain an offer if I walked in with $175 million...

Any backers?

That's where I woke up...

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.

Vance Wood

I think it is going to be a long time before we get any real answers about why temperate trees cannot be grown indoors even under optimal conditions where man attempts to duplicate the environment. We had this discussion about a year ago and one of the members made the observation that there was or is an arboretum in Canada that represents all growing climates including temperate rainforests such as the Pacific North West. The argument was that growing temperate trees could be done indoors if all the natural conditions were met. I visited the site and took careful note of all the pines and conifers in the exhibit. Most were obviously under stress and many were dieing. I did not see one that looked like it was happy.

As a side bar siting a similar problem; marine biologists have been struggling with keeping a Great White Shark in captivity. As of the last I heard this was not possible. The animal tends to react to the magnetic fields in the aquarium settings and swims into walls making long term captivity impossible. The point being; even if all the conditions seem to be provided, sometimes these living organisms need something that is beyond our knowledge, or ability to discover. I also believe that once we do discover the real reason, we may not be able to include this unknown factor into an artificial environment.

Original question: Junipers indoors, yes or no?

NO.

__________________
The only finished bonsai is a dead one; me 1992 MABA Des Moines Iowa

ElGringo

Sorry if anyone has already posted this. I've found that most trees can be periodically brought inside for a maximum of 3 days, as long as 95% of their life is spent outside. I've always believed that constant ferrying between diferent environments can be harmful, and during winter i leave my trees outside, even juni's as the massive change in conditions from the warm, dry environment of the house, and the cold, wet outdoors is bound to stress them out. This isnt such an issue in warm weather (when we are lucky enough to get it!).

Its ok if your friends come over for tea etc and you want to put a bonsai on the coffee table as a bit of a temporary display i think. Yeh, Juni's come from hot climates but it's the lack of humudity and lower light levels inside that does them in. Some halogen lights etc may not cover the corect light spectrum that is actively used in phtosynthsis. for example a lot of artificial lights emitt strongly in the green and yellow, although photosnthesis requires red light (670 nanometers) and blue (340 nanometers) or something like that.

I've just made a peng jing out of some old houseplants my mum had forgoten about. I think that they're date palms, but anyway they thrive indoors and can go outside in the summer, if i wanted to display them for example. Other house plants can be used for bonsai too, although i don't know how popular they are.

A friend of mine has manages to keep a small magnolia alive, he leaves it on the windowsill and leaves the window slightly open on the latch 24/7. its healthy and growing, but its going outside soon as its needs a dormancy period.

Vance- recent research has sugested that GW sharks may migrate 1000s of km from the Medditteranean to the Pacific every year. Perhaps they are sensitive to the earths magnetic field, so any ferrous metal in the tank would cetainly confuse them. during their travels they experience a massive range of water temperatures and we dont fully understand their breeding cycle. I agree, some things are best just left alone in the wild.

__________________
Richard


If I was a lady, would I be 'LaGringa'?