Artificial light for bonsai tree

[myCharlie]

What are some of the best artificial lights for bonsai trees? I live in a place where we have 6 months of winter. I am also wondering if it is even possible to successfully grow a bonsai tree in such an environment.

[imafan26]

It really depends on what kind of plant you have. Gardenia, azalea, jade, ficus, schefflera, and Fukien tea can tolerate lower light levels. A fluorescent daylight bulb or 4 bulbs will be better 8 inches above the plant for 10 hours a day would be good. It is better than the light come from above and not the side to prevent etiolation. A fan will help with air circulation. Most of these trees like the same temperatures that people are comfortable in.

Most bonsai are not happy as house plants and should be outside as much as possible.

https://www.bonsaiempire.com/tree-species/indoor-bonsai

[myCharlie]

Thank you for the response. I was thinking of mango, tamarind, and other tropical trees. I was thinking about the https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0778Z8M5H/ light.

[imafan26]

It is hard to consider a mango as a bonsai. A potted tree is still over 5ft tall unless it is pruned. In Hokkaido mangoes are grown in greenhouses. It takes a ridiculous amount of $$ to keep the place heated and the trees are kept in pots and pruned. the fruit are suspended in bags to avoid damage and each perfect fruit is sold for about $95 for 2 mango. The cheap mango from Mexico sells for $25 each.

https://www.hawaiitropicalfruitgrowers. ... _Japan.pdf

If you want to try a tropical tree in a house, consider the understory trees like cacao, coffee, or Katuk. Some citrus trees can be grown indoors and in partial shade and they do stay smaller in pots although they would rather be outside when the weather is good.

[rainbowgardener]

I don't know much about kinds of lights, especially not LED's. But once you have one, be sure it is close enough to your plant:

Supplemental lighting is a dedicated fluorescent light, shining on it from just a few inches away:


Tropical trees are better for indoor growing than temperate/ deciduous trees. The most common and easiest choice is the Ficus, of which there are many varieties. Other popular indoor bonsai include the the Carmona (Fukien Tea), the Schefflera Arboricola (Hawaiian Umbrella) and the Sageretia (Sweet Plum).

Let us know what you end up with!!

[imafan26]

Unless you have an LED grow light, I don't think the regular LED lights have the full spectrum of light or the power to cover a lot of plants.

https://growlightinfo.com/regular-light ... ow-lights/

[imafan26]

Fruiting trees are different. Citrus trees are fairly easy to dwarf, but avocado and mango are not. If you try to dwarf them you may end up with one or two fruit if you are lucky. Tropical trees don't need long hours of daylight. Our max hours at our latitude is a little less than 14 hours a day and our shortest day is a little less than 11 hours. Temperature wise, they will want to be in the 80's to fruit. We have a lot of humidity, but I can't say whether that is a factor. Humidity keeps the temperatures from going to extremes. We rarely have 100 degree temperatures and that is usually at the airport or Waipahu surrounded by asphalt and cement. Lychee are marginal here since most varieties only do better in the higher elevations because they do need a minimum number of chilling hours to set fruit. Mango won't set fruit when the winters are cold in the upper elevations. Avocadoes are less fussy about elevations but they are not salt tolerant. They are also very hard to keep small in a container unless you get a dwarf variety and the fruit is not very good on that one.

Citrus trees for upper elevations are limes, jabong, and lemons. Satsuma tangerine will do o.k. Oranges, tangerines, tangelo (my favorite) and sweet citrus are not going to be very sweet in colder areas. They like the heat.

If you want to grow lychee, Kaimana has the lowest winter chill and a small seed. It can set fruit at sea level.

if you have a sun room or conservatory where you can maximize light that would be good. But I don't think they will survive well in an unheated space as most are not the slightest bit frost tolerant. 50 degrees would probably be the safest low.

I did try to bonsai a kinsu orange. It is a dwarf orange on a dwarf plant. It did not make it.

Here is a publication from ctahr for growing conditions of common tropical fruit trees. Not bonsai.
https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/uhmg/confe ... t_2010.pdf