how to keep bonsai trees indoors

how to keep bonsai trees indoors

I tend not to keep to many bonsai trees at home as I spend most of my time at the centre. It means that I really don’t have a lot of time to care for them and they tend to get a little neglected, though thankfully my partner keeps them in good order. The watering usually falls to her, though she is kind enough to leave the good bits, ie pruning, to me, so I get the best of both worlds.

Many visitors to the nursery ask me about how to keep bonsai trees indoors.  I thought it might be a good idea to share some of the pictures of the trees we keep indoors, so here we are.

The first thing to note is that they are in a south facing window without a radiator below it. In this case, it’s our kitchen. It gets full sun all day. These pictures have just been taken in early February, at this time of year indoor bonsai need as much natural light as you can give them. I remember reading somewhere that for every foot a plant is away from a window, the amount of light is reduced be something silly like 75%. I’m not entirely sure that is the quote verbatim, but you see them point – as much light as possible is required at this time of year.

There are three kinds of tree, a Chinese Elm, a Syzygium and a Variegated Serissa. We have potted them into pots which are bigger than normal, as this gives the trees plenty of room to grow roots, which helps them to compensate for the dry atmosphere of life indoors. The pots also have drip trays, again to help create a humid atmosphere when water sits in the trays after watering. Being in the kitchen, it is easy to water (the taps are nearby) meaning that we (Jude) are less likely to forget to water. The Syzgium is a new addition to our kitchen and will go into a bigger pot when we get round to it.