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I'm guessing my bonsai is dead

Posted by andyjewell none (My Page) on
Tue, Feb 7, 12 at 4:53

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


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RE: I'm guessing my bonsai is dead

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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