In article , Jim Lewis
writes
Alan Silver wrote:
Alan Silver wrote:
Hello,
I know zero about bonasi, other than the popular idea that
they are dwarf trees. I fancy the idea of having one in my
office, but know nothing about how hard they are to keep,
what I need, what type is suitable, etc.

In general, an office is a terrible place to keep a bonsai.
The "conditioned" air (heat or cooling, but especially heat in
the winter) is so dry that the trees spend all their energy
trying to respire. Neither misting nor sitting your bonsai
attop a shallow, gravel-filled tray of water does any
appreciable good.

Hmm, that probably knocks my idea on the head right at the start then.
My office is 10'x7' with two computers and a laser printer. I tend to
keep the window open (slightly in the winter, lots in the summer),
heating at a fairly minimal level and with a fan blowing, but the air
can still be quite dry sometimes. This doesn't sound like a good start
does it?

I have a large window, but it seems even that wouldn't be enough. I
don't have the space to start hanging lights over where the bonsai would
go, so I would have to rely on natural light. I am happy to put it on
the windowsill, but those articles didn't seem to think even that was
enough.

I did a quick search and, of course, found huge numbers of
pages. It was hard to get a good overview from any of them,
and I don't know how reliable any of them are. I looked on
eBay, and there were loads for sale, but again, I don't know
if what they are offering is suitable or reasonable.

We, of course, will recommend www.internetbonsaiclub.org.

Nice site, thanks. I didn't come across that one when searching.

Click on "Knowledge Base." You will want to look at the
articles on "indoor bonsai." But for growing in an office you
will be pretty much limited to one of the Ficus species.

Well, given my comments above, would even any of the Ficus be suitable?
If so, which do you recommend? Most of the sites I looked at (from the
links on the IBC site) used common names, didn't see Ficus mentioned.
What should I look for?

I don't mind misting the tree once a day and standing it over a tray of
water if that makes a big difference, but you seemed to think it
woudln't. Bonasi are small enough to pick up and move somewhere where
the stray water won't damage anything electrical.

I wouldn't touch an e-bay bonsai. And I don't recommend them
to anyone else, either.

I wasn't going to buy one from there, I was merely pointing out how many
sites/products I had found, and how little information I had found!!

Try one of the sponsors you will see
on www.internetbonsaiclub.org. They're all reliable and you
may well find one that is near wherever it is you are.

I'm in the UK. Do you know of any suitable suppliers here? Of the ones
linked on the IBC site, only www.mishobonsai.com mentioned shipping
internationally. hollowcreekbonsai.com didn't mention it (that I could
see), and the others only shipped to the US.

I noticed two more local sites (one in Northern Ireland and one in the
UK) in the links section of the IBC site, but neither had good ratings.

Thanks very much for the helpful reply. Any more info would be
gratefully received.

--
Alan Silver
(anything added below this line is nothing to do with me)