Indoor winter grow area

[cheap_walmart_art]

So this winter I have been slowly growing a collection of tropical trees that are currently living in my spare bedroom under grow lights. I had a different light system last year and I saw my trees struggling to just "make it" but this year's light system has actually produced a bit of growth! Assuming lighting needs are taken care of, what have you all found to be the next most important thing for an indoor winter setup? I have a Hygrometer on its way to measure temp and humidity. I have my trees sitting on humidity trays and the room stays around 63 - 67 degrees. What sort of temperatures and relative humidity would I be shooting for to see if I can get some more growth out of my trees this winter before temps are good for moving outdoors? Mainly just have Tiger bark ficus, Willow leaf ficus, and a schefflera.

 

[AZbonsai]

Air circulation is critical. Put a fan in the room to keep the air circulating.

 

[cheap_walmart_art]

Air circulation is critical. Put a fan in the room to keep the air circulating.

Right now the air is circulating via ceiling fan and this seems to be doing well - no mold or algae or excessive water retention in the pots.

 

[AZbonsai]

???

 

[BrianBay9]

I did what you're doing with the same species, but in Madison, WI. You can improve the conditions for your trees if you can rig up some kind of enclosure to increase temp and humidity. I bought a grow tent, installed lights (18 h on, 6 h off) and a fan. The lights were enough to increase the heat, so my set up typically saw 80 F and 80% humidity. If you can get near those conditions your plants should thrive.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

You got exactly the same recommendations that I would have suggested. #1 lights, more intense the better, within practical limits. (half the intensity the marijuana growers use is usually adequate for a wide range of trees and orchids).

#2 - air movement - ceiling fan is excellent, leave it on 24/7, day and night, critical to leave it on.

#3 - humidity - if you can keep humidity up near 35% to 40%, you will see a nice improvement. In an open room, going much over 45% humidity will peel the paint off walls, rot out wood sashes of your window frames, and otherwise have moisture migrate through your home and do damage in places you would not initially expect. Winter humidity in the average home runs as low as 10%, even less when the heat is running. Just getting into the 35% to 40 % range will really dramatically improve growth.

If you want to get to the 60 to 80% range - you really should build a humidity barrier, tent or other structure and have an exhaust fan, venting the excess humidity outdoors. This will avoid damaging your home. If you achieve the 90 to 100% humidity, you may encounter disease problems, many fungi and molds will thrive in this high humidity, and you could have catastrophic disease episodes.

#4 - if you get to the point where you are having good strong growth all winter, you will of course need to fertilize. There are some tricks to improve fertilizer regimes, but it would be a lengthy post, so I will just leave it as a topic to be explored later. Someday I will write the ''ultimate, well researched and insightful article'' about fertilizer. Just have not got the time right now.

 

[amcoffeegirl]

My best advice is don’t mess with them too much in the winter. Light trimming is ok.
Save your root work and repotting for spring and summer. If you have a struggling plant you can add bottom heat. Like a seedling mat to encourage root growth.
Don’t overwater- don’t underwater. Listen to your trees.

 

[BrianBay9]

Oh yeah, a couple more things. No matter what I did, I'd always get a bloom of insects at some point inside. Usually just gnat-like things and aphids, sometimes scale. I could control them using standard fly paper for the flying buds, and a mid winter shower with hand-picking for the scale and aphids. A systemic pesticide can be useful. Get them outside as much as your climate will allow. They will always do better outside - better light, and lots of predators to eat the problem bugs.

 

[W3rk]

Oh yeah, a couple more things. No matter what I did, I'd always get a bloom of insects at some point inside. Usually just gnat-like things and aphids, sometimes scale. I could control them using standard fly paper for the flying buds, and a mid winter shower with hand-picking for the scale and aphids. A systemic pesticide can be useful. Get them outside as much as your climate will allow. They will always do better outside - better light, and lots of predators to eat the problem bugs.

RE: "gnat like things" - probably fungus gnats. They lay their eggs in the upper layers of your soil, they need it moist, but you can't not water. I have dealt with them successfully but slightly reducing the frequency of my watering. And when I water my indoor trees (mostly a few Ficus) I mix Hydrogen Peroxide in with my water. Doesn't harm the trees/roots and kills the gnat eggs. Due to their life cycle you'll need to do this over an extended period to really knock them back and eventually eliminate them.

 

[AZbonsai]

I mix Hydrogen Peroxide in with my water.

Pro tip....heard the same from @milehigh_7 to aerate.

 

[amatbrewer]

For what it is worth I “stumbled” into a few tropical trees this fall (Note to self: Beer and nurseries don’t mix.). As my winters tend to be cold (from around freezing to far below) and dry (down to single digit humidity) figured I would share what is working for me so far.
I tented a south facing window with painters tarp (2mm? clear plastic), added a grow light (probably too small but all I could afford at the time) on a timer, and a large sheet pan full of pea gravel as a humidity tray. I found the night time temperatures were still a bit low (<50F) so I added a 40W appliance light to help maintain temperatures.
So far my humidity has remained in the 45-75% range and temps surprisingly stable ~60-75F.
I am sure I am doing something right because I am seeing LOTS of growth in my Scheffleras. The willow leaf ficus seems to be less thrilled about its new home, it has shown a little growth but also drops leaf’s. I suspect it may need less watering/humidity.
I was originally concerned with having too much humidity and not enough circulation, but so far that does not seem to be an issue (over a month and no sign of mold or mildew). But I am keeping a very close eye on it. I have a small fan I can add if necessary.
Next year I am budgeting for a heating mat and better grow light…and to only go to nurseries when sober.

Hope some of this is helpful.

 

[cheap_walmart_art]

For what it is worth I “stumbled” into a few tropical trees this fall (Note to self: Beer and nurseries don’t mix.). As my winters tend to be cold (from around freezing to far below) and dry (down to single digit humidity) figured I would share what is working for me so far.
I tented a south facing window with painters tarp (2mm? clear plastic), added a grow light (probably too small but all I could afford at the time) on a timer, and a large sheet pan full of pea gravel as a humidity tray. I found the night time temperatures were still a bit low (<50F) so I added a 40W appliance light to help maintain temperatures.
So far my humidity has remained in the 45-75% range and temps surprisingly stable ~60-75F.
I am sure I am doing something right because I am seeing LOTS of growth in my Scheffleras. The willow leaf ficus seems to be less thrilled about its new home, it has shown a little growth but also drops leaf’s. I suspect it may need less watering/humidity.
I was originally concerned with having too much humidity and not enough circulation, but so far that does not seem to be an issue (over a month and no sign of mold or mildew). But I am keeping a very close eye on it. I have a small fan I can add if necessary.
Next year I am budgeting for a heating mat and better grow light…and to only go to nurseries when sober.

Hope some of this is helpful.

My Willow leaf ficus always gets temperamental when I bring it in. Little growth and a lot of leaf drop. Bounces right back once it's outside though!

 

[W3rk]

My Willow leaf ficus always gets temperamental when I bring it in. Little growth and a lot of leaf drop. Bounces right back once it's outside though!

Same. I have 4 varieties of Ficus and the Willow leaf by far suffers the most with coming inside for over-wintering.

 

[Johnathan]

What ratio of peroxide and water are yall using?

What kind of lights?

Anyone care to share a pic of their setup?

 

[Carol 83]

My Willow leaf ficus always gets temperamental when I bring it in. Little growth and a lot of leaf drop. Bounces right back once it's outside though!

Mine also.

 

[cheap_walmart_art]

What ratio of peroxide and water are yall using?

What kind of lights?

Anyone care to share a pic of their setup?

Using 45w LEDs from Amazon. Here's my setup pre wire cleanup.

 

[Underdog]

I'm lucky to have a large southern window. No lights. Everything is doing well but my Willow leaf too. Swarm off any more tropicals. Have another window full too.

 

[Johnathan]

@cheap_walmart_art sweet lights. I have some metal rack/shelves. I may get one of those lights and suspend it inside them. Cool glow lol

@Underdog very cool shelf. Did you make that?

 

[Underdog]

5 dollar yard sale item from my neighbor. I love it and use it outside too.

 

[nrgizerrod]

What ratio of peroxide and water are yall using?

What kind of lights?

Anyone care to share a pic of their setup?

I've been at war with fungus gnats this winter. I use 4 parts water to 1 part peroxide once a week on any suspicious pots. Yellow fly tape around those pots to catch any as they start to fly around. I've also made a sport of catching adults with my tweezers Mr Miyagi style.

I've almost completely eliminated them at this stage.