Hi everyone,

Just recently found this site and forum, have found it great so far.

Last summer I bought some "bonsai" trees from Walmart, as they looked kinda cool and I've always thought bonsai was neat. I repotted them and kept them outside until winter came around and had other plants to move inside into a terrarium I've made. I kept them under some lights, and they started growing.

The main one is a fukien tea tree, a juniper, and a odd ficus.

A few months ago I started a hydroponics experiment with lettuces, green beans, pumpkins, and I moved my trees into the hydroponic environment.

I have them lit up by roughly 10,000 lumens of light, and in a reflective box.

The tea tree has been growing much faster than it was in soil, and the ficus is haging in there. The juniper hasn't done much, but is still holding strong.

I've posted an overview pic of the setup, but don't have any pictures of the trees by themselves at the moment.

Has anyone heard of this being done? Thoughts? Suggestions?

the ficus and fukein are fine in this environment but the juniper will die if not left outside to go dormant over winter

Thanks for the response. I've seen quite a few different threads where it's suggested that junipers don't last inside due the the need for dormancy, but has anyone kept it under a constant 16 on and 8 off photoperiod for longer than a normal season? Also, if the dormancy is just about the right type of light and amount as well as the cold temps, couldn't this be simulated indoors as well?

It may be an interesting experiment if no one has seen it before.
I've attached a pic of how the juniper was 2 months ago, it's in a different angle in the bucket now, and showing a few small groth sprouts.

i cant say it is impossible to grow juniper indoors there is a grower(i cant recall his name) that has successsfuly grown junis indoors but it is an elaborate set up and they need to be kept at a temp of 40F or lower for 40 to 60 days to acheive dormancy.light needs to be timed to reflect the seasons and the foiliage must also be misted on a regular basis. if oyu want to try it i say go for it ,but realize the tree has more of a chance of dieing then surviving

Thanks for the response, I'll keep trying the juniper in the box for a few years ideally to see how it goes. I'm not sure yet how to regulate temperatures for my box yet, but I have an idea or two to try. At the least I'll find out and share how it does with just the light schedule changes.

Just a quick update on how this experiment is doing. I added a new box and another tea tree. I also took the pumpkin and other vegies out and moved them into another experiment outdoors, so the pictures are less crowded.

Would a moderator mind moving this to the progression section?

Well, these are still chugging a long pretty well. The tea trees are certainly liking the environment the best, and the juniper is slowly growing and hasn't died yet. I did manage to kill my outdoor juniper when trying to make it a root over rock by leaving too many exposed roots though.

I added another small ficus as well to replace the one I took back outside. The big one which is now outside was removed since the container I had it in was crushing the roots coming out of the large base

Another update coming in around a month!

Hi all,

So its now ealy November, and in northern Virginia its been a bit chilly for a week or so, but with warm spells mixed in.

My juniper is still alive and growing in my growbox inside after about 6 months.

I think that it won't miss the winter season at all, as it possibly still thinks its spring inside the growbox.

Here's a follow up picture of it taken today.

yes it is still doing fine but 6 months is not that long...after 2 years the tree will begin to exhaust itself and its health will start to deteriorate. I do have to commend you on getting it this far tho. nice expierament...

Its been a few more months and I've been busy planning and building a new bonsai grow tent to replace the two boxes I built.

The old boxes were 2' W x 2 D' x 3' H.

The new tent is 3' W x 3' D x 3.5' H.

Its been a few months, so time for an update!


I was able to move all the trees and a cactus to the new tent, and have room for a few more, and maybe a seedling tray.

Attached is a pic of my juniper, which has gone through 2 large growth spurts since I last posted a pic. The other is a pic of the tent before I finished it and moved some plants in. Below is a link to a drop box folder with other pictures from the last few months, and a few videos of how things work.

db.tt/2n2k4V8d

P.s.

The juniper is going great it appears. There are two areas of new growth, one super tight and bushy, the other is a long branching horizontal area. These grew within the past 4 months.