Why you cannot keep bonsai trees indoors

[snowman04]

Ah, the wonders of science...

 

[leatherback]

So interesting to see all the objections against the generic statement that bonsai in general should not been grown inside. Always the same. Some singular examples how a singles survives, or how a specific person manages to keep a range of species indoors (And the invariable technical setups required).

Why are people not willing to accept that growing bonsai requires optimal conditions which are pretty hard to replicate indoors and that outdoors is much better, assuming you grow species local to your climate? None of the tropicals do well over winter when kept inside. Then again, I do not invest in growing chambers, ventilators and grow-light. Just like most beginners who buy a tree to keep on the coffeetable would.

All these objections are just murking the water for people just starting out. That someone who delves into it, can replicate sufficiently similar growing conditions as outside does not mean growing indoors is the recommended route. Actually, it prooves the point that indoor is not great.

 

[rockm]

I have all of my tropicals in my basement and they are doing quite well. I have been doing trunk chops and hard pruning all fall. I also brought in some maple, juniper, azalea, and apple cuttings last week to see if I can get them to root early for next growing season. The boxwoods will live like a houseplant just fine - you just have to water them so I don't see the point when you can leave them outside. My azaleas are outside and while they did ok last winter, I think I will bring them in around Christmas so they dont need to be in the negatives this winter.

If you can keep everything pretty warm, bright and humid, I think most tropicals or evergreens will do quite well. I won't bring my conifers in except maybe some juniper cuttings.

Ive kept all my boxwood outside all year for 30 years. No issues at all. The only one I've killed I kept inside over the winter. Drier inside than a desert, particularly when the winter heat is on.

 

[Desert O'Piñon]

When I think about the trees in nature that we, as scientific artists, are trying to emulate, it strikes me that these naturally hard, gracefully rugged trees have been through some stuff. They've seen storms. They've survived fire. They overcame flood, drought, freeze and famine. Winds have tilted them, causing them to dig deeper into the earth with their roots. They compete for elbow room with their neighbors by growing higher, or denser foliage, or poisoning the nearby soil.
We just cannot reliably, consistently, or practically recreate these conditions all year without ridiculous cost and/or space. Of course we are not building trees that require the same conditions, but it seems to me that many of the growing and styling techniques we use imitate some of these same things that make such noble, strong, beautiful trees that we admire in their natural setting.
And we are using the same species that are in this natural environment, so I agree that it would appear obvious that our trees would require environmental conditions as close as possible to nature...
...which is found...
...in nature.

 

[Attmos]

This is an interesting concept, kinda like saying, "can people survive on McDonald's alone?". So, yes, it is possible, certainly not ideal, but yes, it is possible. I had never considered that light wavelengths would have a different quality, similar to food. I was always of the mind that the plant would adapt their leaves to capture the optimal amount of sunlight, but only in intensity, never in quality. I suppose this is why we would have the red and blue LED lights for plants for the optimal spectrum. I always thought that was marketing.

No, it isn't marketing, it's physics and biology . The angle of sunlight as it passes through our atmosphere affects the color of the light. In the summertime the sunlight in the northern hemisphere is more direct, and has a blue tone. In the fall and winter, the northern hemisphere leans away from the sun, so the sunlight comes through the atmosphere at a different angle, producing more red tones.

In the summertime sunlight has more of a bluish tone and plants do much better with this wavelength. Introducing reddish tones simulates fall and winter sunlight wavelengths, and signals to flowering plants that it's time to drop fruit so the seeds can get ready for springtime...

 

[leatherback]

No, it isn't marketing, it's physics and biology . The angle of sunlight as it passes through our atmosphere affects the color of the light. In the summertime the sunlight in the northern hemisphere is more direct, and has a blue tone. In the fall and winter, the northern hemisphere leans away from the sun, so the sunlight comes through the atmosphere at a different angle, producing more red tones.

In the summertime sunlight has more of a bluish tone and plants do much better with this wavelength. Introducing reddish tones simulates fall and winter sunlight wavelengths, and signals to flowering plants that it's time to drop fruit so the seeds can get ready for springtime...

ehm.. Nah, that is not how it works.
Distribution of absorption of light over the spectrum for different photoactive components in the leaves.

 

[Attmos]

ehm.. Nah, that is not how it works.
Distribution of absorption of light over the spectrum for different photoactive components in the leaves.
View attachment 577114

If you say so.