Lighting for an Indoor Bonsai

[yankee4321]

I was thinking of having a nice sized indoor bonsai tree on my desk. What would be a good light recommendation? How many watts? What is a good fixture? I will have the light on a timer...

 

[KennedyMarx]

Do you have a type of tree in mind? Schefflera and ficus do ok indoors under lights during the cold months, but it's best to be able to put them outside in the summer while it's warm.

I used clamping reflectors with single daylight color temperature CFLs when I only had a couple plants. The plants grew better than just sitting in a window. I'm not sure if it would be enough in an office without a window nearby.

 

[yankee4321]

Do you have a type of tree in mind? Schefflera and ficus do ok indoors under lights during the cold months, but it's best to be able to put them outside in the summer while it's warm.

I used clamping reflectors with single daylight color temperature CFLs when I only had a couple plants. The plants grew better than just sitting in a window. I'm not sure if it would be enough in an office without a window nearby.

http://www.bonsaiboy.com/catalog/product7474.html

Yeah, its on a desk, but it isnt near a window, it sometimes has natural daylight.

 

[Paradox]

Funny, Bonsaioutlet.com says this is an outdoor tree

http://www.bonsaioutlet.com/brush-cherry-bonsai-care/

I am going to give you some advice. Stay away from Bonsai Boy. They are not the best vendor around. I hope you didnt purchase this tree already. To be honest, $125 for that tree is a rip off. You could do ALOT better for that kind of money elsewhere. That tree is just....bad.

If you want a tree for your desk, go with a ficus like Tigerbark Ficus (ficus retusa/microcarpa) or Willow leaf ficus (ficus salicifolia).

 

[yankee4321]

Funny, Bonsaioutlet.com says this is an outdoor tree

http://www.bonsaioutlet.com/brush-cherry-bonsai-care/

I am going to give you some advice. Stay away from Bonsai Boy. They are not the best vendor around. I hope you didnt purchase this tree already. To be honest, $125 for that tree is a rip off. You could do ALOT better for that kind of money elsewhere. That tree is just....bad.

If you want a tree for your desk, go with a ficus like Tigerbark Ficus (ficus retusa/microcarpa) or Willow leaf ficus (ficus salicifolia).

I'd like to have a flowering bonsai, I feel it adds more of a look to the tree.

 

[KennedyMarx]

http://www.meehansminiatures.com/sh...355&prevaction=category&previd=1&prevstart=24

Same plant for around ten bucks. Pair it up with a cheap pot and you'll save yourself a lot of cash. I haven't dealt with bonsai boy, but by all accounts the site is out to make a cheap buck by telling people they can grow junipers indoors and overcharging people.

 

[yankee4321]

http://www.meehansminiatures.com/sh...355&prevaction=category&previd=1&prevstart=24

Same plant for around ten bucks. Pair it up with a cheap pot and you'll save yourself a lot of cash. I haven't dealt with bonsai boy, but by all accounts the site is out to make a cheap buck by telling people they can grow junipers indoors and overcharging people.

Funny, Bonsaioutlet.com says this is an outdoor tree

http://www.bonsaioutlet.com/brush-cherry-bonsai-care/

I am going to give you some advice. Stay away from Bonsai Boy. They are not the best vendor around. I hope you didnt purchase this tree already. To be honest, $125 for that tree is a rip off. You could do ALOT better for that kind of money elsewhere. That tree is just....bad.

If you want a tree for your desk, go with a ficus like Tigerbark Ficus (ficus retusa/microcarpa) or Willow leaf ficus (ficus salicifolia).

Honestly guys, I just want a nice plant that can be indoors. I really want it to look good. I don't want to cheap this out. Don't take that the wrong way, I don't want to get overcharged but at the same time I don't want to get a barebones bonsai.

 

[Paradox]

Honestly guys, I just want a nice plant that can be indoors. I really want it to look good. I don't want to cheap this out. Don't take that the wrong way, I don't want to get overcharged but at the same time I don't want to get a barebones bonsai.

I am not talking about the kind of tree that Kennedy Marx posted, which, I agree is a seedling. For $125 you can get a MUCH nicer tree than the one you posted.

Take a look at
Brazilian Rain tree (does fine indoors and has an odd little flower in the fall)
Ficus (doesnt flower but you can get a very nice tree for same money as the bush cherry)
Bougainvilla (will flower but will need strong light)
There are lots others. Pretty much anything will need some supplemental lighting.


Vendors to look at
New England Bonsai Gardens www.nebonsai.com - some consider to be on the expensive side
Wigerts http://wigertsbonsai.com/ - has lots of tropicals
Miami Tropical Bonsai http://miamitropicalbonsai.com/ - Also lots of tropicals, I have a ficus from them and they were good to deal with
Brussels Bonsai http://www.brusselsbonsai.com/

All of those places are better to get bonsai from than Bonsai Boy. I live 20 minutes away from Bonsai Boy, Ive been there. They are overpriced for most of what they sell and most of what they sell are strait trunk seedlings or weird pom pom trees (like the one you posted) stuck in pots and called "bonsai".

If you dont see what you like on their web page, contact them via email or phone. They have a ton more stock than they can list on the web page and chances are they have something you are looking for.

 

[yankee4321]

I am not talking about the kind of tree that Kennedy Marx posted, which, I agree is a seedling. For $125 you can get a MUCH nicer tree than the one you posted.

Take a look at
Brazilian Rain tree (does fine indoors and has an odd little flower in the fall)
Ficus (doesnt flower but you can get a very nice tree for same money as the bush cherry)
Bougainvilla (will flower but will need strong light)
There are lots others. Pretty much anything will need some supplemental lighting.


Vendors to look at
New England Bonsai Gardens www.nebonsai.com - some consider to be on the expensive side
Wigerts http://wigertsbonsai.com/ - has lots of tropicals
Miami Tropical Bonsai http://miamitropicalbonsai.com/ - Also lots of tropicals, I have a ficus from them and they were good to deal with
Brussels Bonsai http://www.brusselsbonsai.com/

All of those places are better to get bonsai from than Bonsai Boy. I live 20 minutes away from Bonsai Boy, Ive been there. They are overpriced for most of what they sell and most of what they sell are strait trunk seedlings or weird pom pom trees (like the one you posted) stuck in pots and called "bonsai".

If you dont see what you like on their web page, contact them via email or phone. They have a ton more stock than they can list on the web page and chances are they have something you are looking for.

Yes, I can definitely see some cooler trees. Bonsai Boy was really the only option for me because it was really the only one on my search results.

Now onto the lighting. I need a light fixture that can go on my desk.
An example would be something that looked like this: http://www.staples.com/Tensor-Architect-CFL-Desk-Lamp-Black/product_797781?externalize=certona

Obviously, something stronger than that.

 

[edprocoat]

Yankee, a Brush Cherry (Eugenia) is a tropical outdoor plant. Indoors it will survive with a great lighting system, but it will not be happy. I doubt you will be able to keep it year around indoors and keep it alive and thriving, but you should be able to keep it outdoors when the weather is right and it will really take off then. Good luck with it. I would check out some other vendors, there have been some great ones posted in this thread already, Wigerts has some nice Barbados Cherry and reasonable too. The vendors posted here in this thread are all reliable vendors.

ed

 

[yankee4321]

Yankee, a Brush Cherry (Eugenia) is a tropical outdoor plant. Indoors it will survive with a great lighting system, but it will not be happy. I doubt you will be able to keep it year around indoors and keep it alive and thriving, but you should be able to keep it outdoors when the weather is right and it will really take off then. Good luck with it. I would check out some other vendors, there have been some great ones posted in this thread already, Wigerts has some nice Barbados Cherry and reasonable too. The vendors posted here in this thread are all reliable vendors.

ed

With all of these new options, I think a brush cherry is out of the equation. I need a nice lighting system now.

 

[yankee4321]

Yankee, a Brush Cherry (Eugenia) is a tropical outdoor plant. Indoors it will survive with a great lighting system, but it will not be happy. I doubt you will be able to keep it year around indoors and keep it alive and thriving, but you should be able to keep it outdoors when the weather is right and it will really take off then. Good luck with it. I would check out some other vendors, there have been some great ones posted in this thread already, Wigerts has some nice Barbados Cherry and reasonable too. The vendors posted here in this thread are all reliable vendors.

ed

I am not talking about the kind of tree that Kennedy Marx posted, which, I agree is a seedling. For $125 you can get a MUCH nicer tree than the one you posted.

Take a look at
Brazilian Rain tree (does fine indoors and has an odd little flower in the fall)
Ficus (doesnt flower but you can get a very nice tree for same money as the bush cherry)
Bougainvilla (will flower but will need strong light)
There are lots others. Pretty much anything will need some supplemental lighting.


Vendors to look at
New England Bonsai Gardens www.nebonsai.com - some consider to be on the expensive side
Wigerts http://wigertsbonsai.com/ - has lots of tropicals
Miami Tropical Bonsai http://miamitropicalbonsai.com/ - Also lots of tropicals, I have a ficus from them and they were good to deal with
Brussels Bonsai http://www.brusselsbonsai.com/

All of those places are better to get bonsai from than Bonsai Boy. I live 20 minutes away from Bonsai Boy, Ive been there. They are overpriced for most of what they sell and most of what they sell are strait trunk seedlings or weird pom pom trees (like the one you posted) stuck in pots and called "bonsai".

If you dont see what you like on their web page, contact them via email or phone. They have a ton more stock than they can list on the web page and chances are they have something you are looking for.

http://www.meehansminiatures.com/sh...355&prevaction=category&previd=1&prevstart=24

Same plant for around ten bucks. Pair it up with a cheap pot and you'll save yourself a lot of cash. I haven't dealt with bonsai boy, but by all accounts the site is out to make a cheap buck by telling people they can grow junipers indoors and overcharging people.

How does this bonsai look? http://shop.brusselsbonsai.com/Details.cfm?ProdID=8550&category=14

How many watts would this tree need?

 

[edprocoat]

Yankee that plant is over-priced too, you can buy similar Fukien teas in wally-mark for less than $25. Of course that vendor would give you a healthy tree though. Your insistence that the plant be inside really limits you, and wanting a flowering species to grow indoors is asking for a miracle. Inside I would look for Willow Leaf Ficus, it does not flower but its an understory type of tree - needs less light to thrive - and would actually grow well indoors.

ed

 

[RickMartin]

My fukien tea is under 400 watts of led lighting. They take quiet a bit of light

Rick

 

[edprocoat]

Check out this one Yankee, may be perfect for what you want.
http://www.nebonsai.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=NEBG&Product_Code=TM_29&Category_Code=BON

ed

 

[yankee4321]

My fukien tea is under 400 watts of led lighting. They take quiet a bit of light

Rick

Check out this one Yankee, may be perfect for what you want.
http://www.nebonsai.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=NEBG&Product_Code=TM_29&Category_Code=BON

ed

Alright. I've done some reasearch-I think!

I found a cfl growlight on Amazon. Maybe it will do the trick? http://www.amazon.com/Hydroponic-Full-Spectrum-Light-5500K/dp/B005P29K1S

I guess now I am looking for a low light bonsai tree now... I originally said I wanted a flowering bonsai, but now it doesn't really matter.

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Check out this one Yankee, may be perfect for what you want.
http://www.nebonsai.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=NEBG&Product_Code=TM_29&Category_Code=BON

ed

I have a feeling that tree would require quite a bit of light, which isn't going to happen on a desk.

You may have trouble keeping anything alive and happy on a desk, let alone getting it to bloom. Unless you have a powerful (usually expensive) light, it won't flourish and flower in an office.

 

[yankee4321]

http://www.nebonsai.com/mm5/merchan...ode=NEBG&Product_Code=BK_WJ&Category_Code=KIT

You know I kind of like this...
Maybe I get this, have it for a bit where I can learn about bonsai-I am new to this as you can tell. I could eventually move this somewhere else in my house after I had learned the ropes and then upgrade... Would the grow light that I previously posted be acceptable? If not, then what?

 

[edprocoat]

I have a feeling that tree would require quite a bit of light, which isn't going to happen on a desk.

You may have trouble keeping anything alive and happy on a desk, let alone getting it to bloom. Unless you have a powerful (usually expensive) light, it won't flourish and flower in an office.

Ryan, actually these Fuschia do well in partial sun or even in shade.

ed

 

[Redwood Ryan]

http://www.nebonsai.com/mm5/merchan...ode=NEBG&Product_Code=BK_WJ&Category_Code=KIT

You know I kind of like this...
Maybe I get this, have it for a bit where I can learn about bonsai-I am new to this as you can tell. I could eventually move this somewhere else in my house after I had learned the ropes and then upgrade... Would the grow light that I previously posted be acceptable? If not, then what?

I haven't looked at the light, but Junipers are NOT indoor trees.