You said you put leca balls in the bottom of the bonsai pot, you can check if the roots grew at all by seeing if when you pick it up the balls fall out or the roots hang on like there was growth.
Looking for advice - Juniper Bonsai
- Thread starter JasonL
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JasonL
Sapling
What I meant was that a combination of bad soil and over watering (it rained for a couple of weeks straight) and temps fluctuated from warm to quite cold (+10C to -10C)...my area can have some pretty wild weather swings even in short periods of time. All that combined with the fact the tree spent three years inside with a constant temperature and moderated watering may have been a detriment to the trees survival.
I'm now working on getting better soils for my trees, understanding the attributes of each tree, and keeping them outside (except for my new Jades).
Currently have a Juniper, very young Pine, and a new sugar maple I just potted.
Leo in N E Illinois
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Long time BNutters know I usually advocate growing junipers outside. But today I am feeling like a cantankerous old coot, and I will point out that it IS POSSIBLE, to raise junipers, particularly shimpaku and procumbens under lights.
For those that don't know; for over 40 years I grew a collection of over 1000 orchids under lights, orchids of many genera, from shade lovers to sun lovers, all under lights. I successfully included a number of trees, Pomegranate, Ficus, and and Bursera all under lights. You can compensate for lower light intensity compared to outdoor sun with increased day length. Many tree species will adapt to this. Even American Bosai Society published an article or two on under lights growing. Jack Wilke wrote a great article on his 30 years experience, using standard fluorescent lamp technology. With today's LED technology lighting is a trivial issue. Biggest issue with trees under lights is proper temperature control. Most, if not all trees need a 10 to 20 degree F or 5 to 10 degree C temperature change between day and night. Warmer in the day cycle and cooler at night. Exact temp differential may vary from species to species, but cooler temps especially in the last 4 hours of night are needed to slow metabolism to allow sugars to accumulate for growth. Plants "adaptable" as house plants, can accumulate sugars for growth without the chilling at night. Trees generally need at least a little bit of cooling every night compared to peak temps for the day.
@Bonsai Nut - if you could link a reprint of that old Jack Wilke article to this thread, that would be great. I looked for it in resources and could not find it. Or a link to where it might reside on the ABS website if it is a matter of avoiding copyright issues.
For those that don't know; for over 40 years I grew a collection of over 1000 orchids under lights, orchids of many genera, from shade lovers to sun lovers, all under lights. I successfully included a number of trees, Pomegranate, Ficus, and and Bursera all under lights. You can compensate for lower light intensity compared to outdoor sun with increased day length. Many tree species will adapt to this. Even American Bosai Society published an article or two on under lights growing. Jack Wilke wrote a great article on his 30 years experience, using standard fluorescent lamp technology. With today's LED technology lighting is a trivial issue. Biggest issue with trees under lights is proper temperature control. Most, if not all trees need a 10 to 20 degree F or 5 to 10 degree C temperature change between day and night. Warmer in the day cycle and cooler at night. Exact temp differential may vary from species to species, but cooler temps especially in the last 4 hours of night are needed to slow metabolism to allow sugars to accumulate for growth. Plants "adaptable" as house plants, can accumulate sugars for growth without the chilling at night. Trees generally need at least a little bit of cooling every night compared to peak temps for the day.
@Bonsai Nut - if you could link a reprint of that old Jack Wilke article to this thread, that would be great. I looked for it in resources and could not find it. Or a link to where it might reside on the ABS website if it is a matter of avoiding copyright issues.
Leo in N E Illinois
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One of the objections to junipers indoors under lights is the perceived belief that they need a cold winter rest with near freezing temperatures. This is partially true, in that without a cold spell there will not be an spring flush of buds. Buds in spring will be more sporadic, and less vigorous, but they will come. Procumbens juniper does better under lights than other species. Shimpaku and the rest will be weak in their spring & summer growth response. North American junipers species are very likely to simply fail to thrive under lights regardless of day length and other treatments.
By the way, for under lights growing, to compensate for less than full sun intensity, most run their lights for 16 to 18 hours, as increased day length can compensate for lower intensity to a large degree. This is usually done for 9 months, then a 3 month dormancy or rest of 10 or 11 hours day length. Though for tropicals I kept 18 hours year round.
By the way, for under lights growing, to compensate for less than full sun intensity, most run their lights for 16 to 18 hours, as increased day length can compensate for lower intensity to a large degree. This is usually done for 9 months, then a 3 month dormancy or rest of 10 or 11 hours day length. Though for tropicals I kept 18 hours year round.
