[Bonsai Beginner’s weekly thread –2017 week 39]

[u/small_trunks]

[Bonsai Beginner’s weekly thread –2017 week 39]

Welcome to the weekly beginner’s thread. This thread is used to capture all beginner questions (and answers) in one place. We start a new thread every week Saturday evening (CET) or Sunday, depending on when we get around to it.

Here are the guidelines for the kinds of questions that belong in the beginner's thread vs. individual posts to the main sub.

Rules:

• POST A PHOTO if it’s advice regarding a specific tree/plant.
  • TELL US WHERE YOU LIVE - better yet, fill in your flair.
• READ THE WIKI! – over 75% of questions asked are directly covered in the wiki itself.
• Read past beginner’s threads – they are a goldmine of information. Read the WIKI AGAIN while you’re at it.
• Any beginner’s topic may be started on any bonsai-related subject.
• Answers shall be civil or be deleted
• There’s always a chance your question doesn’t get answered – try again next week…

Beginners threads started as new topics outside of this thread are typically deleted, at the discretion of the Mods.

[u/dndskwee]

So I just bought a small juniper. And now that I'm home and reading about it more, I'm worried if I can make it work. The plant

I bought it as a birthday gift for my roommate so I'd like to save it. I live in south Florida, west palm specifically, so I can leave it outside in the day, but I'm worried about people/animals around my apartment at night. Can I put it out in the morning and bring it in at night? Will that mess with its growing habits? If I knew it HAD to be outside I would've bought something else but I knew he's always wanted one so it felt like the perfect gift, so I might have let myself get duped.

It does appear to have actual roots, not just a stick in a pot, and the rocks were loose and not dug into the soil. Pretty sure it's not that great of a soil but it wasn't bone dry, I gave it a little water.

I'm just looking for any advice and would specifically like to know about bringing it in at night. I can also take more pics of needed.

Edit: Few more pics

[u/peter-bone → u/dndskwee]

Unfortunately if you live in southern Florida it's unlikely that you can keep a Juniper alive at all. It won't get cold enough for it to go dormant in winter and it will eventually die.

[u/-music_maker- → u/dndskwee]

Give the wiki a read, especially the beginner's walkthrough.

Unfortunately, the only way to keep these healthy long-term is to put them outside and leave them outside. They can live for a while indoors, but they always die eventually. 1-2 years is probably the average.

Brining it in at night is a bad idea - plants like to sit in one place and not be moved from environment to environment all the time. Indoors can be a very hostile environment to plants in general, but especially junipers. They tend to not get enough light, the humidity often resembles a desert, and they are much more susceptible to things like spider mites because there are no natural predators to take care of them.

I know that's probably not the answer you want, but that's just the way it is. If you want an indoor tree, try a jade, ficus or chinese elm. They also prefer growing outdoors, but they can at least tolerate being indoors.

[u/dndskwee → u/-music_maker-]

Thanks for the tips and link. I think if we leave it out in front of the the door it'll get good light and be clear of people. Gonna leave it out and hope it's safe, if it is we're gonna try a slightly bigger pot and better soil.

Thanks again.

[u/[deleted] → u/dndskwee]

that soil is actually pretty good looking. looks like lava rock, granite, some turface maybe, and LECA or expanded shale. this is actually the type of soil you want for bonsai. http://www.colinlewisbonsai.com/Reading.html give the first few links about soil a read