Once & for all, junipers inside yes or no?

ALDEVAUX

I certainly would not advice anyone to grow trees in their home because we know very well that these indoor environments are not adequate, at least for temperate trees, but I do not agree that it is not possible to do so in well controlled environments.
With the advanced technology we have today, It is certainly possible to successfully grow trees in an artificial environment. In fact, during my career, I have used several types of controlled environment cabinets for my research experiments for the control of certain plant diseases. The plants used had growth comparable, and sometimes even better, than what they looked like when planted in a outdoor environment.
Furthermore, the botanical gardens of most of our big cities of the world have many different species of plants that are grown very sucessfully in controlled environmental greenhouses for a very long time without problems.



When you go into a natural forest environment you will observe trees in all stages of health : some very vigorous, some less vigorous, others slowly dying and others dead. In the Montreal biosphere you will observe about this same type of phenomenom which also makes it much less artificial than having all perfectly healthy trees.
However, those of us who had the chance to visit the biosphere personnally, as I did, (not just only looking at the pictures shown on the web site) will also observe the presence of many very vigorous young trees which seem very happy in this well balanced artificial environment.
More so, since this biosphere was built only about 13 years ago, the first trees had to be transplanted as adult trees which are more vulnerable to the shock of transplantation than younger ones and would probably have behaved in the same manner as if they had been transplanted outside in a landscape environment.
For a person who has all the money needed to build one of those very expensive “walk-in” controlled environment cabinets, I would certainly advice him to try growing a bonsai tree in it. Probably, he could make a masterpiece (if he is a good artist) in even less time than he could by growing it outside at the ordinary growing conditions.

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Vance Wood

OK, let us assume for a moment that it is possible to grow temperate trees indoors with advanced modern technology. Having come to that conclusion is it therefore financially feasible for the average, or even more aggressive bonsai grower to do such a thing? I doubt it.

In this argument I keep hearing a lot of probably and maybe but not absolutely and definitely. Until such time I will not advise someone asking of help in this area to risk a financial investment in a bonsai the "Iffy" possibilities that they might be able to grow it indoors.

We know that with the right amount of money and the advanced cooperation of a lot of different scientific fields and disciplines it is possible to go to the Moon. The question is whether you or I can go to the Moon.

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

rockm

Tropical species of juniper may be able to handle higher temperatures indoors, but they are high light plants. High output Metal Halide systems would be a must for them indoors, I'd bet.

MountainMan

I am a newcomer to this forum and relatively new to bonsai. My niece just gave me a six year old "nana" juniper. I am well aware of the difficulty of keeeping any juniper alive indoors. However, this gift holds very special meaning to me and my niece is like a daughter to me. I must find a way to keep it alive. Here in North Dakota we have winter temps reaching -35 F. or colder. The temp will rise to 110 F. or greater in the summer.
Can it be kept alive in a room with temps of 55 F. to 65 F. ? It has a Southern exposure, but onto a patio with an overhang.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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Dav4

Sorry, Mountainman, but junipers will not survive for long indoors, meaning maybe a year or two if you are lucky. You live in a very harsh climate, more so then mine, so please take my advice with that in mind. Your juniper is very hardy, almost hardy enough to survive winters in your locale if planted in the ground as a landscape tree. As a potted tree it needs winter protection of its pot/roots, and, to a lesser extent, its foliage. Covering the pot and the lower trunk with mulch in an area out of the winter sun and wind might be ok, particularly if your snow cover is reliable...snow is a great insulator. An outbuilding or garage is another option...I would still mulch the pot, though. Do a search on overwintering/winter protection and you'll have plenty to read up on.


Dave

ps Junipers are also very heat tolerant... so maybe a little mid day shade on +100F days would be ok, but just a bit. They do best in full sun, even in the hottest of climates.