Suggest an indoor evergreen or conifer to stay under lights

[Flowerhouse]

why are there no Italian stone pine Christmas trees this year?

That looks nice! The Pinus pinea at my grocery store this year were in 3 gal pots, $40. The store doesn't water them, new growth is drooping, needles are crispy and they look dead or dying to me. I won't be picking up any new ones this year (unless they bring in some late trees?).

 

[Crazy Diamond]

Pineas for sure will die soon indoors they need a lot of direct sun and heat

 

[ShadyStump]

Repot and initial trim of what everyone agreed was a procumbens.

360 views



Didn't want to take too much off right away.
There was a low branch right near the soil line I'd wish I'd jin-ed, but oh well.
I'm thinking that long center branch will go, maybe a short jin. That tuft on the bottom I'm considering growing out into a bit of a cascade.
Thoughts?
I'm in no rush.

 

[Colorado]

@ShadyStump i thought of you and this thread when I got this Lawson’s Cypress, chamaecyparis lawsoniana.

My wife got it for me at the grocery store for like 5 bucks! This one came from Trader Joe’s. Here it is in all its Christmas pot and glittery glory:



The foliage is nice and tiny. The species is apparently native to coastal California and Oregon, mild climates, so perhaps can get away without a super cold dormancy. I’m going to grow it in the sunroom with my tropicals and see how it does indoors

 

[hinmo24t]

That might be one for the livingroom window in the future. Only so much counter space.

could scale it down!

 

[hinmo24t]

Repot and initial trim of what everyone agreed was a procumbens.
View attachment 411005
360 views
View attachment 411006
View attachment 411007
View attachment 411008
Didn't want to take too much off right away.
There was a low branch right near the soil line I'd wish I'd jin-ed, but oh well.
I'm thinking that long center branch will go, maybe a short jin. That tuft on the bottom I'm considering growing out into a bit of a cascade.
Thoughts?
I'm in no rush.

perhaps even get 2" riser block or stand under that and get it a bit closer to the lights for more probability!
nice though

 

[ShadyStump]

@ShadyStump i thought of you and this thread when I got this Lawson’s Cypress, chamaecyparis lawsoniana.

My wife got it for me at the grocery store for like 5 bucks! This one came from Trader Joe’s. Here it is in all its Christmas pot and glittery glory:

View attachment 411622View attachment 411623

The foliage is nice and tiny. The species is apparently native to coastal California and Oregon, mild climates, so perhaps can get away without a super cold dormancy. I’m going to grow it in the sunroom with my tropicals and see how it does indoors

I'll keep that one in mind. I get bored with the same views all the time, so I imagine I'll wind up trying a selection trees over time.

perhaps even get 2" riser block or stand under that and get it a bit closer to the lights for more probability!
nice though

I put two separate grow light meter apps on my phone, and they both max out under those lights. Readings like 244PAR/PPFD, and 20K lumens. Still learning exactly how lights work, but I know that ain't no small potatoes. It's also closer to the lights than the pic makes it look.
I do cheat, too. When the weather is nice and I know I won't be around the house to enjoy the tree anyway, I take it out on the back porch for the day for some real sun, along with my pepper, bay, and aloe.

Next stage of the project is finding someone to paint some landscapes for me so I can have some scenery to match.
Anyone know a terrible painter? Can't have a good painting competing with my DIY mallasai.

 

[hinmo24t]

I'll keep that one in mind. I get bored with the same views all the time, so I imagine I'll wind up trying a selection trees over time.

I put two separate grow light meter apps on my phone, and they both max out under those lights. Readings like 244PAR/PPFD, and 20K lumens. Still learning exactly how lights work, but I know that ain't no small potatoes. It's also closer to the lights than the pic makes it look.
I do cheat, too. When the weather is nice and I know I won't be around the house to enjoy the tree anyway, I take it out on the back porch for the day for some real sun, along with my pepper, bay, and aloe.

Next stage of the project is finding someone to paint some landscapes for me so I can have some scenery to match.
Anyone know a terrible painter? Can't have a good painting competing with my DIY mallasai.

Very cool, good luck with them. My buddy Eric would be proud of that banquet beer too, hes a coors/miller guy, he worked for them kind of

 

[ShadyStump]

Very cool, good luck with them. My buddy Eric would be proud of that banquet beer too, hes a coors/miller guy, he worked for them kind of

Well don't break his heart telling him I've decided it's time to dry out. Been through allot this year and wasn't coping so healthily, and finally found some folks I like to help me out. Not sure yet if this is a lifestyle change or just a reset, but it's time.

 

[hinmo24t]

Well don't break his heart telling him I've decided it's time to dry out. Been through allot this year and wasn't coping so healthily, and finally found some folks I like to help me out. Not sure yet if this is a lifestyle change or just a reset, but it's time.

Smart man. I wont tell him and between us. I haven't drank for over ten years and never been happier. It's possible so keep busy and move on if it's your time, you can do it

 

[hinmo24t]

also @ShadyStump feel free to PM me on here sometime, i had to pull myself out of an unknown future like i said, 12ish years ago, and can help you if you need some advice - it is possible and rewarding, you begin to protect the new found clarity and way of life after getting some traction with it

 

[ShadyStump]

So, It's got crunchy foliage now. Still green, but crunchy.

I don't think it's me. The lights are pretty hefty, I mist it at least twice a day, it gets moved to real sun routinely.
Also, it's only been two weeks since it moved in to its new home, and I would likely not notice it dying because of anything I did for at least another two weeks.

So, possible culprits include the tree's treatment at the garden center I bought it from- it was indoors under lights (yes, I am aware of the irony) and hadn't been watered in A LONG time- and the nearby heater vent I failed to take into consideration.

It's entirely possible I bought a dead tree back in October, but it was looking good when it went on the shelf, and until the past week when temperatures really started staying cooler, so I'm thinking heater vent. I moved the tree to the living room window for the day once I realized, and I'll see if there's something I can do to keep the hot air off. Maybe ban my family from coming over for the holidays, that'd eliminate allot of hot air.

 

[Underdog]

HOW I'VE BEEN GROWING BONSAI INDOORS UNDER FLOURESCENT LIGHT *

by Jack Wikle (Ann Arbor, Michigan)​

http://www.fukubonsai.com/2b2a2a.html

 

[ShadyStump]

HOW I'VE BEEN GROWING BONSAI INDOORS UNDER FLOURESCENT LIGHT *

by Jack Wikle (Ann Arbor, Michigan)​

http://www.fukubonsai.com/2b2a2a.html

Someone actually posted this exact article here before.
Only my phone won't open the file format, so I can only go back to it on my computer.

This is helpful! Thanks!

 

[shinmai]

This one is dormant for about eleven months of the year:

But for that other month or so…..

Merry Christmas, everyone.

 

[Crazy Diamond]

Pinus christmaensis var. "chinensis"

 

[shinmai]

Pinus christmaensis var. "chinensis"

One of my few achievements, of which I am most proud, is that I have watched the Charlie Brown Christmas special without fail, every year since it first aired in 1965.
I might have suggested Pinus Linus.

 

[ShadyStump]

So that juniper turned crunchy in less than a month, and that was with at least 20% of it's days outside in real sun, misting twice a day, and some high power lights.
Not entirely sure it was the sink shelf that did it, but a slightly out of season repot of a tree that had been previously abused, and totally spacing out a nearby heater vent sure as hell didn't help.

So, NEXT VICTIM!

Discounted lemon cypress from the supermarket.
Same story: misted twice a day, taken out for sun on nice days, watered when drying.
Only $2.50 so no great loss this time.

I really feel like this needs a sideways pot, so I can just stick the tree out parallel to the shelf and see what happens.

Lambast away.

 

[ShadyStump]

Oh, and I've mitigated the heater vent.
A cover that directs the airflow out across the floor vs up toward the shelf has resulted in exceptionally reduced temperature and air movement extremes.
The cover is made out of corrugated cardboard box, but my house hasn't burned down yet, so...

 

[leatherback]

Oh, and I've mitigated the heater vent.
A cover that directs the airflow out across the floor vs up toward the shelf has resulted in exceptionally reduced temperature and air movement extremes.
The cover is made out of corrugated cardboard box, but my house hasn't burned down yet, so...

Do not burn the house down please!