Ficus in The cold north ( Denmark)

VERY nice trees !! if only i could have 1 that looked that good and keep to it alive !! You have great talent to grow them where you are... take care john

Many thanks Moyogijohn

There is a tread about LED on IBC at the moment I follow...I find it interesting   

When this is said, have I ordered a 120 cm long LED lamp for my trees some 10 days ago, as I have been told the neonlamp I use now, slowly loose the strength, and become weak.
The LED is 3 times as strong and have the same blue and red lights as the lamp I use now, the LED die instant without just getting weak, witch is good...and also does it, like the neon, not give any warmth, that burn the trees.

Though ficus tolerate low light, do I think they will become even happier with "full" light.

Kind regards Yvonne

Hey Yvonne, wonderful trees! i hope mine will someday reach that level of quality.

Its awesome to hear that someone else also will be using LED for there Ficus Bonsai
Is it a LED tube to be used in the same fixture you currently have over your small indoor greenhouse in the picture?


Med vänliga hälsningar

Hi Dreamcast

Many thanks for your kind words, hope you also will have good results...I hope you in your topic will let us know witch kind of trees you are planning to use.

It is my son who are interested in aquariums, who has ordered the lamp for me....it is a long one, 120 cm. build almost like the one I use now..it is comming as one
whole waterproof unit, and I will no longer need the lamp I have now 80 cm.

Med venlig hilsen Yvonne

I will update with info and pictures of the lights i will be using as well as the trees that will go under them, just need to get done building the cabinets first.

I hope that light works very well for you, any more info about it?
Glad you had your son to choose one for you, the aquarium folks really know there stuffs when it comes to LED.
It's actually quite confusing with all the different models and company's selling these lights online, but like with everything these days some reading and studying before choosing what to buy will make all the difference in how happy one will be with the final purchase.  

You said the LED is waterproof so maybe you could build a bigger humid-house, (at least higher) and have the light inside the tent, that would give you much more usable lights for the trees since the plastic will block quite a bit of light.

Hi dreamcast

Many new doors will maybe open when I have the new lamp, and have more information about it...My tent is in a window, and give only limited Space, the tent can not be bigger.
Up to now have the light not given any problems, as also sun from the window add to the light.
I will ofcourse update later....the lamp is being made to order in China...I must be patient.

Kind regards Yvonne

Yvonne, I'm sure you will rock that light! looking forward to the update later on

The new lamp arrived today, and is up working now, it give a LOT more light than the lamp I used to use, and I expect I and my trees now will be more happy....the last 6 weeks has been without any, or just little sun..dark and cloudy

http://www.terrajova.eu/priser/NYE%20DOBBELTARMATURER%202014.pdf

It is the 120 m lamp I bought....I will ofcourse update if anything special happens...good or bad.

Kind regards Yvonne

Yvonne, That LED looks awesome! i am sure it will be great for your setup it dose not look like those bad quality Chinese made LED's that has the bad reputation for failing, and the seller is in Denmark so if it dose fail it should be no problem to get it sorted out quick and easy.

Hi Dreamcast

I have high hopes...the seller is a frind of my soon too..but hopefully does the lamp just Work   

kind regards Yvonne

This winter has been terrible gray, and only the old lamp gave light to the ficustrees...also february was gray... but the new LED lamp was now up and working. Look what a little more than one month did for this tree

Late december


Now


Kind regards Yvonne

Glad to hear the new light is working good! gotta love LED!

Any pictures of the new setup in action?

It is incredible how well you can grow Ficus in the area you live!

Temperatures here never go close to frost or freezing in my garden, but now, with autumn coming and temperatures falling below 20 degrees Celcius at night, I am already worried about winter, especially when it comes to my Ficus!

Well done, especially taking into account the variety you are growing.

Lennard

You tree is looking good Yvonne, I also find it surreal that you can grow them in the Viking country, how time has evolved.

I was paging through one of my bonsai books over the Weekend, Mame bonsai, when I noticed a absolute stunning little Elm....I then I read with great surprise that it was yours Yvonne. What about an update of that beautiful Elm tree, or have you already posted it recently and I didnt see.

Nicely done on both accounts!

Lennard why are you worried about your ficus, do you get frost?

Love and light

Hi Dreamcast, and also Lennard   

If you scroll back a little can you see my "humidhouse"....not much to look at, the new lamp is just lying on the top of the house, as it is not burning the plastic, due to the low warmth it give....Later, when the trees are in the gardenhumidhouse, will I see, if I can place it in the house, and not on the outside.

Hi Andre

The climate will become better and better for the ficustrees     ....they may in the future be able to stay outside...you know they are becomming old, the climate min my house has worked out OK for the trees.

The ulmus you talk about...send a photo from the book.....

kind regards Yvonne

Hi Andre

https://ibonsaiclub.forumotion.com/t9762-5-ulmus-nire-cuttings-facing-5th-growingseason?highlight=facing

Here you find it

Kind regards Yvonne

On summercamp from today... the 3 ficus in the last evening sun.....during daytime is the door open, in the evening closed...the wall behind facing north, heat up during daytime, and keep the trees warm during the night.


Kind regards Yvonne

As I dont want/need more arealroots to develope, and the arealroots thats already there dont need extra humid protection, as they are strong and fat enough now, do I think it is safe to let the trees enjoy the fresh air during daytime now and in the future... still they are kept out of direct sun....I close the tent for humid at night.




Ficus in the morning   

Kind regards Yvonne

Love your ficus Yvonne. They look very happy and healthy. Very inspirational to see such nice tropicals so far north. Just goes to show what can be accomplished with enough knowledge, care and love.

Mike

Is this what you call double glazing? I have no idea.... hihihhihihihihihihi

Very sweet.

Love and light

Hi Mike

Many thanks...I hope other people will do the same, ficus is a nice plant to work with   

Kind regards Yvonne

 

Andre Beaurain wrote:Is this what you call double glazing?  I have no idea....  hihihhihihihihihihi

Very sweet.

Love and light

One layer is plastic    

Kind regards Yvonne

In periodes with low light ( no sun) during winter, was I not pleased with the fairly weak new LED lamp I had invested in last winter, and I needed something better for my trees, as I could see the internodes was a bit longer now, than when I used a T5 lamp.
With Dreamcast' help have I bought 3 M30 units, one for each tree....I do look a lot forward to see, how it will work for my trees.

This is how the window used to look in gray weather...


minutes later with the new setup....


The look on how the trees was in the new light scared me, can this be healthy?...pretty is it not, looks spraypainted


Quikly I found out, by adding the old lamp in the front, removed the painted collors, and made the trees look normal again in the shaded areas...maybe in the future, if I see this setup works, will I Invest in a couple of more lamps....am planning to use mirrors in the sides of the tent ASAP


Thank you for your help Dreamcast  

Kind regards Yvonne

Yvonne, glad i could help out, and great to see you found a way to fight of those red colored shades! i hope you will like your M30's as much as i like mine.

Are you having the units laying directly on the plastic? if so i would use the frame and hang them at least a couple of cm's over the plastic.
Reason for this is the LED chips themselves do get hot and there are still some radiating heat from them, maybe if they lay direct on the plastic they can get to hot from trapped hot air and get overheated or something, or the plastic tent roof could melt.. i don't know, but IMO it feels safer to be on the safe side always.

Actually, if i where you i would raise the lights a little anyways, at that distance i have seen pale and yellow growth, bleaching i think its called, it takes some trial and error to find the best hanging distances.

Also do not use mirrors as reflective material, from what i heard it can give you serious light hot spots, like the ones you get when the sun shines on a mirror, it can burn your leaves, the best home made reflector is a flat surface painted with non shiny white paint, it is +90% reflective if i remember correctly, and it will give you a nice diffused light reflected.

Other then that i think your trees and setup looks great! simple yet very effective and energy efficient.