If you really want areal (new sp!) Roots...
Just get one of these...
I can't believe we haven't seen this used yet at all.
They make all types of fittings for aquarium tubing...
I bet with the right reducer and manifold you could get this 5/8in? down to 8. 1/4in tubes putting humidity EXACTLY where you want areal roots to start.
A timer, a little ingenuity , an old cracked free Fish Tank.... Done.
Search 0soyoung about transpiration and humidity.
I never been to the tropics, but I been to my local Conservatory to Study. There is a Some kind of massive ficus that has, I dont know maybe Cuban cigar thick roots from about 12-16 feet up growing down over the koi pond....all barked up seeming to grow ever so slow.
That kind of areal root is different from a white tip root...dry spells won't kill this growth....
Same like on this Juniper, only tropical trees are more geared to go for it, where this just thinks its in soil still...hoping for soil?
These are "true" areal roots...these ones that don't die.
There is a different aesthetic end to using white tip roots...
If the tip dries when they are too new, the whole root usually stops...
But after a certain point it can die and it will continue growing again. Tree by tree root by root basis.
But this death and regrowth is different in the End.
You can see both of these types of growth in those pictures above.
IMO....balancing these roots as a feature of a bonsai tree is difficult, and I believe often overlooked. Not given the importance it deserves.
I think the difficulty lies in that it must be both chaotic, and completely organized.
As difficult as Literati, more difficult, as each line must also agree with the others.
Also, as a representation of the tree in it's Strongest state, which for tropicals, IMO, should be MOST of the time....
They should display these roots that have not died. Tropical roots. Not "fish tank" roots.
I have observed Ariel roots to form almost anywhere, indoors or outdoors, up to the height at which there is a bit of wind protection, if kept "wet as shit".
I have cutting indoors in a baking dish and it is growing roots from anywhere below the rim of the dish.
Outdoors, below a 6inch rock wind block, I had one growing roots from about 4in above and down.
The theory says, with the right amount of water....
And the right lxwxd humidity wall...
You can get good natural areal roots to grow with out much effort.
So long as you find the appropriate balance beforehand.
Everything we do is finding the appropriate balance beforehand!
It just "depends" how long it takes to get it!
Sorce