first bonsai: fukien tea

[Vcent]

So after reading through the reddit wiki and some links suggested by members, I decided to go out and look for some nursery stock. Turn outs it's pretty hard to find unpotted nursery stock in toronto for less than $30 cad. I was at the CNE a few days ago and picked up a tiny unpotted fukien tea for $13. I know this isn;t necessarily a beginner tree but I figured I would give it a shot. Posted a picture of it on reddit group already and slip potting to a larger pot was recommended. I plan on just trying to keep it alive/let it grow before I start doing anything to it, ie. pruning, wiring etc. Currently have it sitting on a humidity plate with a 25 watt 6500K CFL light above it. Haven't transferred to a larger pot yet but when I do, I will be putting in Qualisorb (DE brand in canada) and the top soil it came in.

Was wondering if anyone had any feedback on what I plan on doing and if there are any suggestions for what I should or should not be doing at this point.

Update: In a bigger pot

 

[Victorim]

Get some bigger outdoor stuff to get stuck into bud. You seem in the mind set to build, and research, so speed up your journey. Look for trunks.

 

[Vcent]

Get some bigger outdoor stuff to get stuck into bud. You seem in the mind set to build, and research, so speed up your journey. Look for trunks.

I would if I could place where I'm living really has no outdoor place for plants. Really limited in terms of what I can keep.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Welcome to the site!

Indoor bonsai can be a tough road. It is possible, but not cheap. You have to not only have the proper lighting, but be willing to pay the electrical bills If people can keep coral reefs thriving in Toronto, they can certainly keep a Fukien Tea alive

Summer won't be too hard, but winter might be a challenge. Fukien Teas are tropical, and they need the humidity. A humidity tray isn't going to cut it come winter - think of a small enclosed space like a terrarium or aquarium where you can control humidity.

 

[Vcent]

Welcome to the site!

Indoor bonsai can be a tough road. It is possible, but not cheap. You have to not only have the proper lighting, but be willing to pay the electrical bills If people can keep coral reefs thriving in Toronto, they can certainly keep a Fukien Tea alive

Summer won't be too hard, but winter might be a challenge. Fukien Teas are tropical, and they need the humidity. A humidity tray isn't going to cut it come winter - think of a small enclosed space like a terrarium or aquarium where you can control humidity.

What sort of light would be proper lighting? I wasn't too sure if a "grow light " was different than a regular CFL.

In terms of an aquarium, I have a couple of those lying around haha. Been keep freshwater aquariums for quite some time. I think a 10 gallon would do for now. To keep the humidity up, would it be a similar to a humidity plate except inside an aquarium? Possibly have the top closed with some sort of transparent plastic ?

 

[Bonsai Nut]

In terms of an aquarium, I have a couple of those lying around haha. Been keep freshwater aquariums for quite some time.

I saw that heater in the background and I was going to mention it Lots of aquarium lovers on this site!

Consider for a moment planted freshwater aquariums. No one would (hopefully) recommend keeping a tropical South American aquascape using CFL's. They would have high-intensity T5 fluorescent setup, metal halides, or high intensity LED's with the proper spectral intensities.

Indoor bonsai is no different. The problem with Fukien Tea is that it comes from a tropical locale. You really need to blast it with light, or it will grow weak and leggy (if you are lucky), or gradually wither and die (if you're not). So a common CFL isn't going to work. I honestly don't have tons of experience in the indoor growing arena, but I recommend you check out hydroponic web sites to see what they use. I started to write a reference paper on artificial lighting for bonsai, but I haven't finished it yet, so I hesitate to steer you in the wrong direction.

Aquariums make great terrariums, particularly if you set them upright or on their side, and place a plastic curtain over what used to be the "top". Think of some of the vertical setups they use for herps.

 

[Vcent]

I saw that heater in the background and I was going to mention it Lots of aquarium lovers on this site!

Consider for a moment planted freshwater aquariums. No one would (hopefully) recommend keeping a tropical South American aquascape using CFL's. They would have high-intensity T5 fluorescent setup, metal halides, or high intensity LED's with the proper spectral intensities.

Indoor bonsai is no different. The problem with Fukien Tea is that it comes from a tropical locale. You really need to blast it with light, or it will grow weak and leggy (if you are lucky), or gradually wither and die (if you're not). So a common CFL isn't going to work. I honestly don't have tons of experience in the indoor growing arena, but I recommend you check out hydroponic web sites to see what they use. I started to write a reference paper on artificial lighting for bonsai, but I haven't finished it yet, so I hesitate to steer you in the wrong direction.

Aquariums make great terrariums, particularly if you set them upright or on their side, and place a plastic curtain over what used to be the "top". Think of some of the vertical setups they use for herps.

In aquascaping, there is a lot of talk about PAR and how much of that is needed to grow certain plants. There are a lot of people who use CFLs successfully for planted tanks. It all depends on the size of the aquarium and how close the light is to the substrate. 6500K is the common recommendation for aquatic plants and it may be the same for terrestrial plants as well. Here is a link to an interesting test done by someone in the aquascaping community regarding par levels for CFLs (http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/1...al-power-saver-bulbs-lighting-question-2.html, starting from post #21). Who knows, it might be useful for someone in the bonsai hobby as well. Im not sure whether any of this applies to growing bonsais but I figured the requirements of aquatic vs terrestrial plants can't be THAT different (I could be wrong haha)

Turning the aquarium on its side is a great idea. Never thought of that. in terms of lighting, I think I will try with my 25 watts for now and go higher if its not producing the results I want.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

It all depends on the size of the aquarium and how close the light is to the substrate.

Light diminishes based on the square of the distance. So, for example, a CFL 1' from your bonsai will deliver 4x the PAR as the same light 2' from your bonsai. It can be even more extreme when you are talking about the filtering effects of water. Because of the distance we are from the sun, there is very little difference in light intensity between the top of a tree and the bottom of a tree. But with artificial lighting it is very significant.

The other issue you have to deal with is shadowing. The sun moves each day - rising and setting - and so different surfaces of leaves are illuminated over the course of the day. If you have a static setup you need to make sure you rotate your tree regularly, or shift your light, or both, or else you run the risk of asymmetrical growth. This is one reason why commercial hydroponic operations often use lights on motorized tracks.

 

[three4rd]

I also have a fukien. Got it last summer. It did great during the summer and into the early fall. But then, it gradually lost all its leaves during the winter. I really thought it was dying, but then new growth started to appear VERY gradually around March-April and finally emerged into new leaves in May. As of now, it's still doing well but lately looks a bit droopy. I believe these are quite finicky from what I've been reading here and elsewhere.

 

[Vcent]

Ah

Light diminishes based on the square of the distance. So, for example, a CFL 1' from your bonsai will deliver 4x the PAR as the same light 2' from your bonsai. It can be even more extreme when you are talking about the filtering effects of water. Because of the distance we are from the sun, there is very little difference in light intensity between the top of a tree and the bottom of a tree. But with artificial lighting it is very significant.

The other issue you have to deal with is shadowing. The sun moves each day - rising and setting - and so different surfaces of leaves are illuminated over the course of the day. If you have a static setup you need to make sure you rotate your tree regularly, or shift your light, or both, or else you run the risk of asymmetrical growth. This is one reason why commercial hydroponic operations often use lights on motorized tracks.

Ahh that makes perfect sense