Thread: Newbie!
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Old 06-07-2009, 09:30 AM   #9 (permalink)
Phil
A bit "Windswept"
 
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Chicago, Ill. USDA Zone 5
Posts: 1,051
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mortalis View Post
Phil I hate to disagree with you. I have great success with my ficus growing indoors. When you say trees are meant to be outdoors what you could say is they must have conditions that meet their requirements. With good lighting, Proper humidity, and air circulation they can flourish indoors. If you only have one of those things they will "survive" but if you replicate them all as I do they will do just as well as if outdoors. With me it has been by necessity.
I was simply trying to clarify for those that may be new to bonsai that there is no such thing as an indoor tree. I keep my ficus outside during the summer months and bring them in during the cold months. My lighting is just substantial enough to keep them alive and that’s about it. However, if one must keep a ficus indoors all year then by all means the optimum conditions are a must.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mortalis View Post
Oh I forgot to mention that the needs of temperate deciduous trees are different in that they must have a dormant period. I don't bother with them myself. But I actually do have a Green mound Juniper growing amongst my tropical trees and it has yet to complain about no winter.
You may possibly have some success with keeping a Juniper inside for a period of time but it will eventually succumb to not having its much needed period of dormancy. It’s not a question of if but merely a question of when. I can assure you that if your Juniper could talk it would definitely be complaining. Here is a quote from one of Brent Walston’s articles:

"One of the most common misconceptions about bonsai is that they should be grown indoors. With the exception of tropicals and sub tropicals, all bonsai should be grown outdoors. Temperate climate woody plants must go through a period of cold dormancy in order to survive. This dormancy completes a yearly cycle. In deciduous trees this is a very obvious phenomenon, however, temperate evergreens such as Juniper also need to go through this cycle."

~Phil
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