Indoor Bonsai - One tip that is often missed

[SaltyBuddha]

A fan!

Yes, you can find this if you specifically search "indoor bonsai circulating fan" but most of the major guides for "indoor bonsai" don't include this tip. If they do, it is not highlighted enough.

With some common sense, I realized my Akadama/pumice/lavarock soil was staying wet for way longer than what most people said. I gave it a good watering and it stayed wet for over a week. White mold started growing on top and the plant was not happy.

I added a fan directed towards the pot and lower half of the tree. It took another 5 days for the substrate to dry sufficiently for watering. Now, I can completely soak the tree and it will need to be watered within 1 to 2 days.

"I hadn't been told you have to run a fan to circulate air." 13 out of the 4,379 words in Jack Wikle's guide to growing plants indoors...and I missed it.

Just posting this for any newbies out there wondering why their indoor plant may not be thriving. Air circulation is always happening outside and needs to be replicated on the inside.

TLDR; add a fan to make watering easier and plants healthier

 

[GrimLore]

We run a ceiling fan in reverse in the plant room here 24 hours a day since 2013. I also consider it critical enough that I have a new replacement on standby as nothing lasts forever. It not only helps for a watering schedule but also fungal and insects.

Grimmy

 

[BrianBay9]

When I first set up my grow tent and lights I neglected the fan and grew a great crop of fluffy, white fungus on everything. It took a lot of time and effort to clean everything, added a small cheap fan, and the problem never recurred.

 

[milehigh_7]

A fan!

Yes, this is a must. I try to remind folks but sometimes forget. Thanks!

 

[bonsai-ben]

There are as many liters of air on Earth as there are atoms in a liter of air. Mass-wise we have 5140 "gigatonnes" of air.

How much air flows through your indoor grow room each day? Not much. YES! FAN! Trees like to be able to breath.

You should see what happens if you replace the grow light with a sun!

 

[davetree]

Don’t forget air exchange as well. If your trees are in an enclosed space you need to set up intake and exhaust.

 

[GrimLore]

Don’t forget air exchange as well. If your trees are in an enclosed space you need to set up intake and exhaust.

The room itself in the Winter is sealed off from the rest of the house. Having Forced hot air heat the room has a good size cold air return so no problems. I might add there is also a humidifier in the set to 50 percent and an Ion air filter that runs 16 hours so air circulation along with that ceiling fan works nicely.

I am ordering cold air returns that take an electrostatic filter material soon to additional keep any dust and particles out of the heat system - last step in keeping the room isolated.

The whole idea of having an entire room is nice but to be honest it took close to two years to get it all "correct" for our needs and that of Thomas who resides in there. Once done though - worth every experiment

Grimmy

 

[queenofsheba52]

Thank you @saltybuddah!

I am learning things from this forum every day: you all are a great bunch of Nuts!

 

[SaltyBuddha]

Thanks for all the positive feedback! I had everything else figured out (I think) but without the fan, my tree was definitely going to die. It is a simple and overlooked item I cannot find in many "Beginner Bonsai...." posts.

Hopefully this helps more newbies like myself in the future

 

[Melospiza]

This was my takeaway lesson this winter. I had a good lighting setup and a very nice grow tent for ficus, portulacaria etc, but they still didn't have a good winter. Essentially spent winter dropping leaves and regrowing them at the same pace. I think air circulation was the missing ingredient. That, and the fact that it was cool-ish inside the tent.

 

[BrianBay9]

This was my takeaway lesson this winter. I had a good lighting setup and a very nice grow tent for ficus, portulacaria etc, but they still didn't have a good winter. Essentially spent winter dropping leaves and regrowing them at the same pace. I think air circulation was the missing ingredient. That, and the fact that it was cool-ish inside the tent.

My grow tent cycled between 72 F (lights off) and 80 F (lights on), 50% rel humidity (before watering) to 80% rel humidity (after watering). My tropicals loved it. Two more tips - you can't get enough light, but the lights can add too much heat. And it never hurts to hang up a couple of those sticky fly-paper like pest strips. It's amazing how many of those tine gnats and fruit fly like bugs you catch on those things.

 

[bonsai-ben]

This was my takeaway lesson this winter. I had a good lighting setup and a very nice grow tent for ficus, portulacaria etc, but they still didn't have a good winter. Essentially spent winter dropping leaves and regrowing them at the same pace. I think air circulation was the missing ingredient. That, and the fact that it was cool-ish inside the tent.

Nope..... Inadequate lighting is the primary problem. Air circulation will help you, yes, but your primary problem is those really low powered lights. Google "inverse square law of light" -- if you know that you win the indoor light game. If you dont know that, you get exact results you see here. I know, some guy says they are awesome. And then you see these posts follow up every time. Light! Remember, under those lights, you get 10x more light in mostly shade!

 

[Melospiza]

Nope..... Inadequate lighting is the primary problem. Air circulation will help you, yes, but your primary problem is those really low powered lights. Google "inverse square law of light" -- if you know that you win the indoor light game. If you dont know that, you get exact results you see here. I know, some guy says they are awesome. And then you see these posts follow up every time. Light! Remember, under those lights, you get 10x more light in mostly shade!

Maybe I need to move my lights closer, to within a foot of the top of the plants. They are quite high-powered.

 

[bonsai-ben]

Maybe I need to move my lights closer, to within a foot of the top of the plants. They are quite high-powered.

You are very close! The absolute best way to move your lights close is simple. Put your hand on the apex of your tallest tree. Is your hand warm? No? Move the light closer. Keep doing it till your hand starts to feel the warmth of the light. When you do, back it up one INCH (not foot, remember, inverse square law of light!) and you are done.

Since every "grow light" puts out different amounts of warmth heat, and varys by humidity and temperature in your home, there's no "x inches above tree" rule. Just use your hand, when hand warm, back it up and done.

If you use Flourescent/LED they will be nearly touching. Anyone who does not do this is paying extra for shade.

 

[SaltyBuddha]

Maybe I need to move my lights closer, to within a foot of the top of the plants. They are quite high-powered.

I'm assuming you are using an LED grow light due to the magenta color of your picture. LED lights greatly vary depending on the optics and specific LED arrays used. For example, an 18 watt LED light that uses 6 separate 3 watt LED arrays will produce more PAR farther away from the light than an 18 watt LED with 36 separate 0.5 watt LED arrays. A 120 degree optic will spread the light for more display area with a lower PAR value compared to a 90 degree which will concentrate more PAR for less spread.

LEDs also heat up on the back end so you won't feel any heat from the light on your hand.

 

[Melospiza]

I'm assuming you are using an LED grow light due to the magenta color of your picture. LED lights greatly vary depending on the optics and specific LED arrays used. For example, an 18 watt LED light that uses 6 separate 3 watt LED arrays will produce more PAR farther away from the light than an 18 watt LED with 36 separate 0.5 watt LED arrays. A 120 degree optic will spread the light for more display area with a lower PAR value compared to a 90 degree which will concentrate more PAR for less spread.

LEDs also heat up on the back end so you won't feel any heat from the light on your hand.

Yes, I knew the hand-heat test wouldn't work here, but I took the rest of his points, especially "Anyone who does not do this is paying extra for shade". I got a hydroponic herb garden with LED lights as a Christmas gift and the instructions are to keep the LEDs a few inches above the top of th plant and adjust upward as it grew. I will make this change next year, and maybe invest in a heating fan. My indoor plants have been out for a few days but came in last night for a few more days because it is going to be cold again.

 

[SaltyBuddha]

Yes, I knew the hand-heat test wouldn't work here, but I took the rest of his points, especially "Anyone who does not do this is paying extra for shade". I got a hydroponic herb garden with LED lights as a Christmas gift and the instructions are to keep the LEDs a few inches above the top of th plant and adjust upward as it grew. I will make this change next year, and maybe invest in a heating fan. My indoor plants have been out for a few days but came in last night for a few more days because it is going to be cold again.

Don't forget the fan! ?

 

[miker]

In my experience, providing adequate air ciculation for indoor plants/trees of any kind is sage advice. Great thread.

I find that a fan aimed at a wall in the growing area is the best way to provide gentle air circulation.

 

[Vinnie Charity]

There are as many liters of air on Earth as there are atoms in a liter of air. Mass-wise we have 5140 "gigatonnes" of air.

How much air flows through your indoor grow room each day? Not much. YES! FAN! Trees like to be able to breath.

You should see what happens if you replace the grow light with a sun!

This would be a better option than a grow light, in my opinion...



Imagine having THIS in your living room, lol...

 

[eb84327]

good advice. i found out the hard way too. I also had to add a humidifier during the winter because of how dry it gets here. my very first tree (long dead) was a Canadian Jarvis Hemlock. I tried to grow it inside and on top of my fire place mantel.
back in my younger days we would grow things in our closets, not bonsai trees, using MH or HPS lights and it was a given that i needed a fan but in a huge open room i thought air would circulate enough.