Growing Indoors? Be Sure You Are Growing an Indoor Bonsai Plant

There is an everyday misunderstanding that all bonsai are meant to be grown and displayed indoors. This belief may be because all bonsai trees and plants are planted in small pots rather than planted in the garden, or maybe they saw their first bonsai at an indoor garden show, and just assumed they are all grown indoors.

Sometimes this misunderstanding can result in the early and untimely death of the novice bonsai artist's first tree, which may discourage him/her from making another attempt at growing a bonsai. So if you want to grow and display an indoor bonsai tree then make sure that you purchase one that is intended or is adaptable to be grown indoors.

The trees and plants that are as a rule considered to be indoor bonsai are those that are native to tropical and subtropical climates, and they are being grown as bonsai in a more temperate climate. Your indoor bonsai plants and trees will need a warmer and more humid environment, similar to it's native environment, in order to to remain robust and survive. Maintaining the higher levels of humidity should be the ceaseless concern of the indoor bonsai gardener, but there are simple ways to accomplish this. One efficient way to keep the humidity levels up for your indoor bonsai is to spray it recurrently with a mister.

The growth cycles of outdoor bonsai trees are influenced to a high degree by the changing of the seasons, but this is not the case with indoor bonsai trees. Outdoor bonsai trees will experience new growth in the spring and summer, they will shed their leaves in fall, and then they will rest during a dormant stage in the winter - indoor bonsai do not follow this pattern. Because they are generally native to topical and subtropical regions which don't experience dramatic seasonal changes, indoor bonsai trees are usually "evergreen", meaning that they are green all year. Some bonsai trees, which ordinarily would go through the seasonal changes when grown outdoors, may stay green and leafed throughout the year when they are grown indoors.

The methods of pruning and training indoor bonsai is much the same as with outdoor bonsai, with the exception being the timing of the training and pruning. Pruning, cutting, grafting and other training methods are usually only done during periods of growth and dormancy on outdoor bonsai plants. Bonsai plants that are grown indoors will continue to grow throughout the year, however they will show more active growth during the spring and summer months.

You are better off shopping for a suitable plant to make into an indoor bonsai tree at a nursery or garden center than to purchase one at a supermarket. You have a broad range of suitable plants that you can find at a specialty bonsai garden center that will make a superb indoor bonsai project. I plan to do a follow-up to this article where I will provide a list of a few plants and trees that are excellent choices for the novice bonsai artist, and guidelines for choosing the best plants.