TPT Bonsai Thread! Show off your collection!

[Geniusdudekiran]

Originally Posted by MABJ

College dorm room. Lol. That's a negative, unfortunately.


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It'll be hard to house any tree, save for a ficus, possibly an elm... don't invest in anything too big.

[MABJ]

I do have a year or two old jade plant I possibly could turn into a bonsai, however I'm not sure if it is getting enough light either :/. I'm pretty sure I'm doing well with watering it, letting the leaves go from plump to not plump and drying the soil out inbetween waterings.

Should I supplementally light it to see better results?


From MABJ's iPhone
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[Geniusdudekiran]

You could try... in my experience it simply doesn't work. Trees are adapted to the sunlight, and no indoor light can really come close...

[rainbuilder]

I'd have to agree with Kiran... Sunlight is the only way to go with trees. I tried it a while ago and it did not work at all. The tree promptly died.

I think I might try to do bonsai with a cypress tree or a cedar elm. There's plenty of cedar elms around here, so I may try to dig one up and put it in a pot. There's some good looking trees in this thread!

[mattschaefer92]

These are so cool. It makes me want a bonsai so bad!

[MABJ]

Well for the moment at least I'll keep it in the northern window, but it only gets like 2-3 hours of direct sun all day. Indirect it has plenty of.

I'll be sure to follow along with everybody's progress. Your trees make me jealous!


From MABJ's iPhone
2G Fluval Spec ~ fauna and flora in the works!

[orchidman]

You can grow ficus indoors because they are tropical. You just have to have the right light. It sounds like if you had it on the window I would be okay, but might get too cold in winter.

Tropical trees can be grown inside. They just need the right light or sunlight.

[Geniusdudekiran]

But will you get the same growth you would outdoors? I don't think it's likely. Go with an established tree if you're going to do this.

[orchidman]

Originally Posted by Geniusdudekiran

But will you get the same growth you would outdoors? I don't think it's likely. Go with an established tree if you're going to do this.

in the winter, yeah more so then outdoors, because it will be dead outdoors in winter.. lol. in summer, its unlikely. hpwever with a well trained and mature bonsai, the fastest growth possible isnt always wahts desireable. and what good is a bonsai if you cant enjoy it?

[MABJ]

I think the indoor / outdoor topic is very hotly debated wherever it comes up.

I agree an established tree is best, however I think I should wait with everything other than my already purchased jade plant for the bonsai culture. I need an east/west facing window. Maybe senior year of school I'll finally get one.


From MABJ's iPhone
2G Fluval Spec ~ fauna and flora in the works!

[Geniusdudekiran]

Originally Posted by orchidman

in the winter, yeah more so then outdoors, because it will be dead outdoors in winter.. lol. in summer, its unlikely. hpwever with a well trained and mature bonsai, the fastest growth possible isnt always wahts desireable. and what good is a bonsai if you cant enjoy it?

True, true. I guess how you enjoy bonsai depends on what kind of space is available.

I'm just saying, I wanted to keep my first tree inside so badly that I did so for weeks on end to the point of almost killing it, but now I keep my collection outdoors -- it's really helped me discover bonsai a lot better and understand how the trees grow and respond to natural events.

[orchidman]

kiran, if im not confused, your first bonsai was not a tropical bonsai. if it was tropical it would have been fine outdoors

[Geniusdudekiran]

Originally Posted by orchidman

kiran, if im not confused, your first bonsai was not a tropical bonsai. if it was tropical it would have been fine outdoors

Oh, I know, but I had been told at the time that Chinese Elms could be kept indoors. Which, apparently, there is some truth to.

[orchidman]

i dont have much experience with elms.. actually no experience with them.. lol it could have been that the light in your particular growing area was not adequate. but thats not to say that all areas in all houses are inadequate though

[Geniusdudekiran]

Here is an excellent article (I'd encourage anyone even vaguely into bonsai to read this guy's blog regularly!): http://bonsaitonight.com/2011/11/25/...dollar-bonsai/