thanks, although this is not for my office at work, this is for a room in my home.

i am not set on any particular species, just anything that will work in the low light conditions. i would prefer not to have to surround it with lights. are there any species that wouldn't require me to set up a light fixture?

Well, the problem is.. it's one thing for a tree (not a fern or other garden plant) to be 'low light' outdoors, but indoor low light is going to be so dark for a tree that it would be quite a stretch to expect it to do much but grow very large leaves (they do that when needing more light), and generally look sad, plus you could run into watering issues). I hope someone else here has some ideas, because right now I'm having trouble.

I have two ficus bonsais, both in lower light, I only have a north window to help them out and they are about 10 feet from the window.....mine are doing fine, one is sprouting new leaves and full of new growth, I dont keep a water tray there either......I would go for a ficus, they are very low maintenance.

I have two ficus in a southeast facing window with no tray. They are happy, but it is very humid where I am. They are right in the window sill. How much light can yours get, trace00969, that far from a window? How long have you had them there?

The one nearest the window about 2 feet, is a few weeks old, no new sprouts on this one, the other sits about ten feet from the window, I also use flouro lights in that room, my dining room, can't see that being a major thing since they are hardly on, but that is the one that is getting new leaves, this one has been there a few months. Mine do okay in lower light conditions, I have always thought a ficus was one of the "easier" houseplants to grow, watch mine will start dying....lol.

It shouldn't be too much trouble if you keep them near the windows...indirect light is good for many types of plants.

Lucy will probably be able to explain it better as she did for me last year when I found this forum. Your ficus may be okay right now, but in the long run probably won't thrive that far from a window. I have a book that explains once you get more than a foot away from the window, the amount of light the plant gets in negligible. Now, if your dining room is facing the afternoon sun and the window is huge allowing the room to be flooded with light for a good 6 hours, they might get enough light to survive. Otherwise, after about a year, they may start deteriorating. They might live longer than that, but the roots will not colonize the pot as rapidly, you will not get as many shoots and leaves as you want, and the leaves that are there won't look as healthy. Ficus that has darker leaves may do better than the ones that have the lighter leaves. I might be wrong, but I believe that I've read the darker the leaf, the more chloroplasts it has to trap sunlight. So, the darker leaf would be able to trap more of what little it gets as opposed to the lighter ones. I think that is why the rubber plant does so well in doors because its leaves are so dark. Mine is outside and grows like a weed. I have seen them growing in the Bahamas as giant trees in wide open sun. That amazing growth is because they are getting the light they need to make their food. In Florida, ficus is a weed - that is the ones growing outside in the sun. I would only suggest that you move them closer to the window so as to get optimal growth and life.

Tanya explained it a lot better than I could!

Yes, darker green foliage can be a sign of not enough light.

It certainly wouldn't 'thrive' but your conditions are less than optimal; you could, however, just keep one alive as opposed to keeping it 'athrive'. ;)

If I were you, I'd look for a shrub or bush that needs very little light and see if you could make that into a bonsai subject. It'd be a nice experiment, to boot!

There is one simple cure to having a your bonsi in this office. First build a small wooden ledge just outside your window. This will be the mid spring through late fall resting place for your tropical tree. When the night time temperatures drop below 50 degrees F you should move the tree/trees indoors in close proximity to the windows they were outside of. this will provide them with the winter version of the light they were recieving. There will not be as much growth during the winter monthes, but they should survive sufficiently. although some people keep their trees alive without humidity trays i would suggest having one year around as the tropical regions which these types of trees come from are very humid this will provide the best growing environment. In this manner i am able to keep my two types of ficus,my serrisa and my bougainvillea alive and well. I hope I could be of some assistance.

Tim

I think my comment about leaf color was misunderstood. I wasn't referring to dark leaves not getting enough light, but rather darker leaves have more of the darker chloroplast which has better light trapping capabilities. Thus, a tree with darker leaves would be able to withstand less light because it can trap what little it may receive more efficiently. A tree with lighter leaves allows more light to penetrate, and, in fact, needs more light for the process of photosynthesis to work. I have attached a link that gives a more complete explanation.

Here is a link that might be useful: Leaf color and the absorbtion of light

What if you had several trees, and rotated them?

You could have 2 or 3 low-light plants, such as schefflera as mentioned above. Keep one in your room, and the other(s) in a higher light area, a window in another part of the house, at work, school, a friend-with-a-green-thumb's house, and then swap them out every 3 weeks or so.

The one in your room should recover while you enjoy the alternate.

Of course, you could do it with one and just live without it every other month or so.

That sounds like a good idea, but it'll stress the trees a lot (the switching around). Most of them really like to stay put, adjust to whatever light there is, and not have to go through it every few weeks again.

I recommend Lucky Bamboo. They will not tolerate sunlight and prefer much less light in general.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sashi-eda Bonsai

But that's not really bonsai, is it?

I am building a home and I wanted a large Bonsai Tree in the foyer mounted on a display stand, what type, and how much lighting would I need/

Bonsai are a lot of work, and for the health of the tree are not always display-ready. Thus, a collection of trees that are cared for daily and with zeal should be able to have one of those trees display-ready on any given day, and any tree would fit that bill. If you are looking for one piece that is always on display, perhaps a sculpture of a tree may serve better.

ez

Thank you that helps