I'm guessing my bonsai is dead

I got a bonsai for my birthday last Oct. It's a Juniper. i had no idea until tonight that it was an outdoor plant! It was doing fine, it was getting morning sun and i was watering it regularly but now the leaves are brown. I did a scratch test on the trunk and it's creamy colour inside. do you think it's dead? Should it be green inside? Can anyone recommend an INDOOR bonsai?

thanks so much

Andrea

Your Juniper is probably not dead, just a bit sick. I'd accept that maybe it IS an outdoor bonsai, and try to get it acclimatised. Don't do anything radical, just move it outdoors to a sheltered spot where it gets filtered light or morning sun . At first keep up the same watering as the pot will dry out faster outdoors. Then if you see signs of life, you can gradually move into a spot where it receives a bit more sun, and re-assess. Only then, and giving it a bit of recovery time, you might consider re=potting it into something a little larger (but still to maintain the mini-size) and adding a bit of fertilizer.
If it doesn't snap off when bent, there is definitely some life going on.
As to an indoors bonsai, there is probably not a lot other than, the sort of plant that grows as an understudy tree in a tropical situation. Little fig trees seem OK - those small pot-bellied ones. You can also of course grow some bonsai outdoors and then bring them inside for a week or two and rotate, if you have the room
If all that is too much trouble and all you want is a bit of greenery on your window-sill, there are plenty of other choices.

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RE: I'm guessing my bonsai is dead

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