M. Frary
Bonsai Godzilla
That statement is absurd.
Really new to bonsai. Any suggestions for trees to buy?
- Thread starter Nightfury413
- Start date
That statement is absurd.
Nightfury413
Sapling
Hey Frary and Joe,
You guys can still post on this thread. Just please argue somewhere else.
Thanks
You guys can still post on this thread. Just please argue somewhere else.
Thanks
Nightfury,
Trust me on this: juniper are outside trees. They thrive in full sun. Keeping it inside until it starts to look bad is a bad idea. If the tree starts to look bad, it's already dead. The guys here are trying to keep you from getting off to a bad start.
Bonsai trees are outside trees, for the most part. Some people choose to grow tropicals like ficus indoors, but even then they put them outside in the summer, and greenhouse them in the winter.
Why do you want an indoor bonsai? Do you have a place to keep trees outside?
Trust me on this: juniper are outside trees. They thrive in full sun. Keeping it inside until it starts to look bad is a bad idea. If the tree starts to look bad, it's already dead. The guys here are trying to keep you from getting off to a bad start.
Bonsai trees are outside trees, for the most part. Some people choose to grow tropicals like ficus indoors, but even then they put them outside in the summer, and greenhouse them in the winter.
Why do you want an indoor bonsai? Do you have a place to keep trees outside?
JoeR
Masterpiece
I understand. Save it for when you are more experienced!
You are not too inexperienced to try an airlayer. They are really not that hard. You just scrape some bark off and plop some sphagnum moss around it.
I dont know if you can even airlayer succulents though so I would take cuttings. I have been told they root extremely easily from cuttings.
M. Frary
Bonsai Godzilla
Oh don't worry. I'll never post or reply to either of you on any thread. I tried to help but you won't listen.
Good luck with the indoor junipers. And good luck to Joe with his houseplants.
sorce
Nonsense Rascal
sorce
Nonsense Rascal
I have a rooted cutting of a, hell, it's the only living peice of my BSC Parsons Juniper.
I know it's alive cuz it grew 4 needles on one shoot this year.
If you add it up, if dinosaurs first started this thing, I'd still be waiting for enough growth to wire.
I think I will go kill it now. Just out of principle. Burn it at the stake.
Hang it in the square. Then we can all hiss and throw stones. @Vance Wood , isn't that what they do to you!? Maybe they can get out their pitchforks for something else!
I know I know, a retractable roof!
Problem solved. It won't cost much, ask the Astros!
Sorce
I know it's alive cuz it grew 4 needles on one shoot this year.
If you add it up, if dinosaurs first started this thing, I'd still be waiting for enough growth to wire.
I think I will go kill it now. Just out of principle. Burn it at the stake.
Hang it in the square. Then we can all hiss and throw stones. @Vance Wood , isn't that what they do to you!? Maybe they can get out their pitchforks for something else!
I know I know, a retractable roof!
Problem solved. It won't cost much, ask the Astros!
Sorce
erb.75
Chumono
OK, welcome to bonsai! anything that holds branches in place will work. you don't need specialized anything for bonsai, although some tools make it easier than others. Juniper is an excellent choice overall, and I can remember when I started out buying like 1o different kinds of bonsai (they were small sticks in a pot and different species) from a bonsai nursery and having fun with it.
My biggest recommendation is to keep an open, learning mind, and also have fun with it! Remember that's why you want to do it.
You can go to most nurseries and get a dwarf (nana) juniper and you'll have plenty to hack back. That will be fun for you. I actually know almost nothing about evergreen trees. most of mine are deciduous.
I wouldn't drop a lot of money on one tree (don't spend more than $30). Just go look through a nursery and find a trunk that is large, has good surface roots, and is interesting. By the way, all 10 of my starting trees are dead. You WILL kill trees, but that just means you're on the right path
You can come back on bnut when they die and we might be able to troubleshoot with you and help you learn to keep them alive. Unless you have a bigger green thumb than I did when I started. Now I haven't lost a tree in a couple years. Hooray!Also, go to a bonsai club and join. Not only did I get a lot of info from them, but I bought a lot of hand me downs that they didn't want anymore (trees, pots, wire) and I got it all at really great prices.
JudyB
Queen of the Nuts
This - this is what you should do if you want to have a fun and easier path to any success with bonsai starting from where you are, and with your level of "I can do it" enthusiasm. Nothing wrong with that, but these advice givers here have been there, done that and they are just trying to save you from frustration. You might be able to grow something in an inside environment, but it probably won't be a juniper. Why not start with a ficus? Or even a chinese elm. Better chances of it working out.
Nightfury413
Sapling
Hey Guys,
I'm going to a nursery today, so any last suggestions. Junipers are my favorite, but that doesn't mean I have to get it if there are better choices for me. I want to keep an indoor one because of aesthetic purposes only. But I'll keep it outside if it's better for the tree. Two questions. Do junipers need a full day of sunlight? Why are bonsai trees with thick trunks better?
Thanks
I'm going to a nursery today, so any last suggestions. Junipers are my favorite, but that doesn't mean I have to get it if there are better choices for me. I want to keep an indoor one because of aesthetic purposes only. But I'll keep it outside if it's better for the tree. Two questions. Do junipers need a full day of sunlight? Why are bonsai trees with thick trunks better?
Thanks
Redwood Ryan
Masterpiece
The Juniper will die indoors.
Let me ask you a question: would you die if you were held without food for a month?
Probably.
Sunlight, full sun sunlight, are what junipers evolved to use as their energy source. Their food, if you will. Keeping a juniper away from full sun is starving it.
Thick trunks?
Bonsai is the art of representing the image of an idealized mature tree in miniature in a pot. A tree two foot tall with a thick 3 inch trunk will look more mature than a two foot tall tree with a pencil sized trunk. The thin trunk will make it look like a young tree. We want the tree to look old. As if it's lived in that pot for a century or more.
Probably.
Sunlight, full sun sunlight, are what junipers evolved to use as their energy source. Their food, if you will. Keeping a juniper away from full sun is starving it.
Thick trunks?
Bonsai is the art of representing the image of an idealized mature tree in miniature in a pot. A tree two foot tall with a thick 3 inch trunk will look more mature than a two foot tall tree with a pencil sized trunk. The thin trunk will make it look like a young tree. We want the tree to look old. As if it's lived in that pot for a century or more.
erb.75
Chumono
erb.75
Chumono
the skinny trees just have less there to work with...they are not awe inspiring...they just look like someone found a stick and put it in a pot. the other tree makes you stand back in awe. you have more branches, a bigger trunk, and more foliage to work with. it's really hard to make skinnier/smaller bonsai look like something that inspires awe. I'd say that even small bonsai bonsai lovers (myself) don't want to work with anything without a 1'' trunk. Not a hard rule, but you'd have to have a pretty special tree and some design talent to make a tree with smaller than 1'' trunk look good. Bigger trunk = better for a new person = you need less talent to make it look good, because the character is already built into the tree before you even came along and you didn't have to do it yourself ...you'll just add more to it
it's easier to make a work of art if you start with better material that you can do more with. not too many masterpieces hanging in the Louvre in Paris that were made with crayons and a white sheet of paper.
it's easier to make a work of art if you start with better material that you can do more with. not too many masterpieces hanging in the Louvre in Paris that were made with crayons and a white sheet of paper.
coh
Imperial Masterpiece
If you are really insistent on trying a juniper indoors, I strongly suggest (1) don't spend too much because it probably won't survive long, and (2) you'll almost certainly want to add supplemental lighting if you want to avoid (1). Read, for instance, http://www.fukubonsai.com/2b2a2a.html or search the archives here for discussions involving Jack Wikle, who has proven that it is possible to grow some junipers (and other species) completely indoors. However, just sticking it in an east facing window probably won't work out well for the tree.
A big south facing window might provide enough light. I know people who grow higher light tropicals quite successfully in that kind of environment.
A big south facing window might provide enough light. I know people who grow higher light tropicals quite successfully in that kind of environment.
Redwood Ryan
Masterpiece
Can Junipers be grown indoors? Some may say yes. But we can't keep telling beginners that just because professionals who have super green thumbs can do it they can too. The OP has zero experience with bonsai, so keeping a Juniper indoors will surely kill it, especially if it's just sitting next to a window.
Redwood Ryan
Masterpiece
erb.75
Chumono
also, it may be shocking to someone just starting bonsai, but a small tree like the one I posted doesn't grow into an impressive bonsai over a long period of time.
The impressive looking tree probably used to be a lot bigger and probably 90% of it's branches and foliage were cut off, and the tree you're seeing is what was left over! So, little trees do not become big trees, rather, big stock material gets smaller. if you start with unimpressive material chances are you'll end up with unimpressive material. Starting with bigger, better stock allows you to create a better, smaller tree.
The impressive looking tree probably used to be a lot bigger and probably 90% of it's branches and foliage were cut off, and the tree you're seeing is what was left over! So, little trees do not become big trees, rather, big stock material gets smaller. if you start with unimpressive material chances are you'll end up with unimpressive material. Starting with bigger, better stock allows you to create a better, smaller tree.
erb.75
Chumono
so all those sites online where they try to sell you a stick in the pot for $40 is the biggest scam on the internet
coh
Imperial Masterpiece
Ryan, all you can do is put the information out there and let people decide for themselves.
Jack said something to the effect "I had the advantage of not knowing that what I was trying to do was impossible". If he had read all these dire warnings when he was starting out, maybe he never would have tried growing some of those species indoors...including the juniper that has been growing inside under lights continuously for 15 years (or was it 25, can't remember).
Jack said something to the effect "I had the advantage of not knowing that what I was trying to do was impossible". If he had read all these dire warnings when he was starting out, maybe he never would have tried growing some of those species indoors...including the juniper that has been growing inside under lights continuously for 15 years (or was it 25, can't remember).
