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| The only bonsai I've ever owned was a japanese juniper, and it was regrettable destroyed by my families cats...
But, since I've moved off to college and no longer have to worry about anything destroying my plants, I've thought about getting another bonsai. However, I'm not sure what kind I should get. Since I live in Montana, we have a rather long and cold winter season, so it would have to be an indoor plant as I would either be living in the dorms or in the off campus housing, and therefor I'm not sure how much sunlight I would be able to give it. I've read a bit about Chinese Elms, and was considering getting one of those... does anyone have any suggestions for what species would do well in those conditions or tips for the beginner? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Hawaiian Schefflera. I'm new with bonsai and that's what I got 4 weeks ago. It is 6 yrs old, strong, does not need too much light and it's a perfect indoor bonsai, especially for the beginner. It's beautiful and most importantly, it's alive! I will be getting a second one this week. A Fukien Tea tree, 60 yrs old. That was expensive and much more of a challenge - so I'm nervous. I bought my Hawaiian Schefflera from bonsaiboy.com. I received it in 3 days, well packaged, free of bugs, just perfect. I bought a humidity tray and a miniature chinese house to put in the soil. Hope it helps! |
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| Hi, don't get C. elms (or much else honestly) because they really need special care if grown indoors (they belong outside, only in places that don't get below 20 F. in winter and I doubt if you qualify). The trouble with dorms and offices is that they're much drier (cental htg) than most bonsai need, and the light's usually awful. If you can keep whatever you want (tropicals only please) about 5 inches below a T5 bulb(s) in fluorescent fixtures for 15 hr/day, and place it on a humidity tray, you might be ok. The tray is anything wide with sides high enough (1-2") to hold water, and stones higher than the water so it doesn't get wicked into the pot on the stones and rot the roots. You could try Schefflera, or some kind of Ficus, which usually needs very high light (certainly high hum.) but if carefully accustomed to lower light slowly, may survive, but will have large leaves and not as many as you might want. |
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