plantsnewbie
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First time taking care of bonsai - have questions!

Hi,

I recently bought these two bonsai plants and this will be my first time working with bonsai. I believe one is the juniper bonsai and the other one is a baby jade bonsai. I'm not great with bonsai identification, but I googled these two species and they seem to match.

I read online that juniper bonsai are meant to be outdoor bonsai plants. Unfortunately, I did not know this when I purchased this and live in an apartment so I can't leave it outdoors. Is there anyway that I can salvage this and keep this juniper bonsai alive while indoors? It is also in a water/land pot. Should I just add water to the water part and let it be? I'm not exactly sure how this type of pot works.

I got the baby jade bonsai from Home Depot and I'm not sure if I should repot it to a different type of pot. It seems to be doing okay so far. Today was my first time trimming the baby jade and after I trimmed it, the spot where I cut it off started oozing white liquid. Is this normal?

I'm all new to taking care of bonsai and would appreciate all the help that I can get.

Thanks!!
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rainbowgardener
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Unfortunately, what you read about the juniper is right, it will die indoors. It needs winter cold dormancy, and doesn't like the lack of humidity and all the conditions of indoors. Do you not have a balcony or even an outdoor window sill you could set it on? (It would have to be tied down to the window sill somehow, so wind doesn't blow it off). A rooftop garden?

If you absolutely have no way to leave it outdoors, the next best thing would be any unheated indoor space you have... a storage bin? I have a coat closet right by my front door that is pretty cut off from the house heat and doesn't freeze but stays pretty cold in winter that I use for things that need to stay cool. You would have to rig up a light on a timer. Set it on a humidity tray and mist daily.

If you can keep it under fluorescent lighting, keep it humidified, and give it at least 4 -6 wks with temps below 60 (preferably below 50), you have a decent chance of it surviving indoors, but outdoors would still be better.

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Gnome
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plantsnewbie,

The plant with the milky sap is almost certainly a Ficus rather than a Baby Jade.

Norm

plantsnewbie
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Joined: Sun Aug 25, 2013 3:19 pm

Thanks for the advice rainbowgardener! I'll try to do as suggested, if not I might have to find a better home for it.

Gnome - Are you sure the plant that looks like a baby jade is a ficus plant? I looked at images of a ficus plant and the leaves on the ficus is different than the leaves on my plant. I will take a picture and post it up on the bonsai identification thread for further assistance. Thanks!!

baileysup
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All I know is the jade plant does not appear to be a jade plant. I say this because under the leaves, you can see the veins of the leaf. Jade leaves do not look like that as they are smooth and flat on both top and bottom. The trunk and branches don't look right either. As far as what it is, I'm not sure. Could be a ficus though

The Ficus Guy
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Location: Gaineville, VA, USA

That would be a Green Isle Ficus microcarpa.



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