Bonsai placement during the summer outdoors in Va.

Hello everyone,
This spring and summer so far has seen weather extremes here in Virginia.....but I have a question about bonsai growth in different amounts of sunlight...last summer I had my display table in what i would call a part sun location and i got great growth from my indoor specie....this year i decided to put table in location that gets about 3 more hours of sunlight per day...and i was seeing slower growth but far more compact and smaller leaved growth.
I personally like the faster more robust growth but this may be wrong on my part...feel free to comment!
List of indoor specie,
1 dwarf pomegranate
1 narrow leaf ficus
1 golden gate ficus
1 fukien tea
1 grewia occ.
1 fla.brush cherry
Thanks!
Bryan

So wait, what exactly is your question??  

Hi,
Trying to get some advice on outside placement for the above listed trees.....Full sun or part sun...drawbacks,benefits,etc etc.
Bryan

I can only speak for the dwarf pomegranate and narrow leaf ficus.  I would consider the dwarf pom. an outdoor shrub rather than indoor, maybe indoor for you because of your winter temps?  I my Texas location dwarf and full sized pomegranate thrive in all the full sun they can get and sun intensity is serious here.  I also have a narrow leaf ficus in full sun all day and it is growing very strong but compact.  I do caution with full sun I feel drainage is critical since respiration rate can possibly be increased by sun intensity.  When respiration is fast roots need to also be able to efficiently supply water to the leaves, which means roots need good drainage.

With a bit of hand waving if you want fast robust growth you will need to experiment but I'd say partial sun may be best for the ficus but full for the dwarf pom.

D-HO,
Thanks for the reply.....And as I look at your website, the pic of the display under the shade netting is the sun level I gave my bonsai last year....this year so far they are in full sun.
I am gonna move them back to location from last summer...maybe a bit less shade though and do some experimenting.
Thanks again!
Bryan

The whole point of growing bonsai is to achieve the smallest leaves and most compact growth possible. The general rule of thumb is to put your trees out (gradually) in as much sun as they will tolerate. If your trees tolerated full sun last year, continue to give them full sun. The compact growth is what you want. You are not in Texas. Adjust your fertilizer and watering to match.
Iris

Good question, and I think Iris answered it perfectly.

Ye' Auld Rubberbandman wrote:List of indoor specie,
1 dwarf pomegranate
1 narrow leaf ficus
1 golden gate ficus
1 fukien tea
1 grewia occ.
1 fla.brush cherry

All of those trees need as much full sun, feeding and growing as you can give them.  These tropicals/semi-tropicals need to get the full benefit of the now occurring hot, summer months in our climate to restore vigor and heal over those styling wounds you've put into them to make them bonsai.  Keep up with your watering.  And, if they get too thirsty on those really hot-humid days that push the heat index past 110 degrees in Virginia..... you may want to consider placing long-grain sphagnum moss as a soil top coat on these trees to hold in the water for your soil just a while longer.