Ficus in The cold north ( Denmark)

Hi Dreamcast

Happy you like my setup....the lamps are lying/liftet up on the 3 cm wide frames, and does not heat up the plastic underneath very much, it is the black ribs abowe that realy give the heath...hope this is enough. I will lift them up further, if  the trees bleach...for now are there 10 cm air under the plastic, and 3 cm air ower.... thank you for the warning, I will monitor them closely the next days.
I already have white paint in the window, so I will just save my money, and dont buy mirrors

All for now
Kind regards Yvonne

Yeah, as long as it is some air circulation under the light then it should be no problem, but i still feel like you have them to close to the trees, but just monitor everything closely and like you said, raise them if you see any signs of bleaching.

Another good reason to have them a little higher is so the light spectrum (red and white light) have some space to mix properly before hitting the trees, do you understand what i mean?

The heat sinks can get quite warm i know, to help the lights cool them self a little better you can always have a small fan blowing over the whole area, just to keep some air circulating around the lights.

Hi Dreamcast

"Another good reason to have them a little higher is so the light spectrum (red and white light) have some space to mix properly before hitting the trees, do you understand what i mean?"

yes, it makes a lot of sense, had the thought my selfes.

Will still Watch everything closely.

Kind regards Yvonne

Hi Dreamcast

I can only lift the units very little, the smallest bonsai is more than the max distance I can reach for the big bonsais...went to try, but from above could I see, it would be no difrence, as all the trees is  in white light seen from above, it is in the shadows red and green appears...moving the lamps slightly closer to my viewing front ( in the room) and the white "old" LED in the front solve the problem fairly nice...a stronger would be better...Natural sun will light up the shadows from the windowside....I dont think heath will be a problem.
For now am I very pleased...What do you think of this?

Kind regards Yvonne

Yvonne, i think it all sounds very good, just raise them as much as you possible can.

You can also move the smallest Ficus to the middle, this way you will use the light footprint of each light a little better and up the efficiency of the whole setup a little extra.
The small guy in the middle will then get good overlapping light from both side units as well as direct light from the one above it, therefore probably getting around the same light intensity as the 2 bigger ones witch are closer to the lights.
This is IMO the best way to place your trees under these new lights to get the most even light distribution possible.

A quick drawing to illustrate what i mean just in case.

Hi Dreamcast

Love your drawing of my trees ...I am pleased you think about small things like placement too. The small tree was moved to the center already a few days ago
I will lift up the spots a little...will be back later, have a nice day

Kind regards Yvonne

Yeah my drawing was really detailed.. got the height of the trees about right at least.

You know, Great minds think alike...

Good luck with the new setup, its a little trial and error when getting new lights, but seams like you getting the hang of how to use them for your setup now, i am quite sure you will see great improvement over using the old LED light.

Can't believe i did not think of this before... but i just realized something, that i don't think you have to be even the least worried about any potential damage from the lights being as close as they are, the plastic roof of the tent should defuse a lot of light, in normal cases that would be a bad thing since it means less efficiency, but in your case that plastic in between lights and tree might actually be a blessing, and efficiency should balance it self out somewhat anyways since they are so close, this is just my theory... but sounds a little logical i think.


Looking forward to next update.

"Can't believe i did not think of this before... but i just realized something, that i don't think you have to be even the least worried about any potential damage from the lights being as close as they are, the plastic roof of the tent should defuse a lot of light, in normal cases that would be a bad thing since it means less efficiency, but in your case that plastic in between lights and tree might actually be a blessing, and efficiency should balance it self out somewhat anyways since they are so close, this is just my theory... but sounds a little logical i think."

Had ben on my mind all the time...had this plastick tent for some years now, know the plastic "eat" some of the light....for you is it something new

Kind regards Yvonne

Yvonne, i know i thought about the plastic blocking light when you posted about your first LED, i even think i mentioned it back then.. anyways, since then it just slipped my mind i guess.

Fiona has made a nice shorted version of this tread to be publiced in the British Shohin Bonsai Club...Many thanks Fiona...also useful for new readers here.

http://britishshohinbonsai.com/art…/ficus-in-the-cold-north/

Kind regards Yvonne

Hi Yvonne,



Curious as to how this tent is helping you. I like the idea of the increased humidity around the trees, as I used to do it myself. I got too many bug issues though and gave it up. You may have mentioned this already, but how do you deal with the poor circulation and bug issues inside the tent?

I really really appreciate the way you are handling ficus in the cold season. We, in the tropics, never imagine all your effort on keeping the tree growing in a health condition. Salute!

Budi

Dear Ryan

I dont have a bugissue...once I had blackflies after the garden season, I just sprayed them, and they were gone.
I dont think humid condition give bugs, the bugs are allready there, and will only just have better conditions when it is humid....solve your bugproblem as it arrives, and spray them away untill the very last egg has gone, afterwards can you and the trees, enjoy the mutch helthier enviroment, and also the growth of airroots, witch is something you can follow on daily basis during winter too, when it is dark outside.

Lack of airflow, is not something I spend any time on, it is a matter of temperature in the tent, if mould grow, or not grow...as far as I remember is 21 degrees enough, but I keep the temperature on 24.5 degrees, and that is it.

Thank you Budi...I never expected the 3 small plants from back then would end up being nice trees, but as the progress was good, allready from the beginning, did a wish to do it even better, come as a must. So like other indoor driven indoor growers, do I pay the costs- lamps, electricity and so on .

I am very happy to keep mine in a southwindow.... but I certanly understand people without gardens and usefull windows. want green plants in their life/house too...not just plants, but bonsai, with the challence to make them the best they can be.
I enjoy wery much to see the big indonesian grown ficusbonsaitrees , not to forgett the photos of the huge trees in the wild, they are my goal... hope to see them one day for real....want to keep mine small though, due to the windowspace

Kind regards Yvonne

Yvonne Graubaek wrote:Dear Ryan

I dont have a bugissue...once I had blackflies after the garden season, I just sprayed them, and they were gone.
I dont think humid condition give bugs, the bugs are allready there, and will only just have better conditions when it is humid....solve your bugproblem as it arrives, and spray them away untill the very last egg has gone, afterwards can you and the trees, enjoy the mutch helthier enviroment, and also the growth of airroots, witch is something you can follow on daily basis during winter too, when it is dark outside.

Lack of airflow, is not something I spend any time on, it is a matter of temperature in the tent, if mould grow, or not grow...as far as I remember is 21 degrees enough, but I keep the temperature on 24.5 degrees, and that is it.

I used to grow all my Ficus like this, in small greenhouse like structures. However, the humidity began to affect cut wounds and that is where I got mold. Since then I've been afraid to use the same setups.

Hi Ryan

I take my ficustrees to the green/humidhouse in the garden during summer, when the night temperature is steady at 15 degrees...when it drop below in late summer or early autumn is it time to take them indoors again...a spray against fungus will kill the beginning of mould, if a little has begun to show up...I dont see a problem.

Kind regards Yvonne

Thank you for moving my ficustrees to "top tread"

I dont think I ever showed how much I have dared to cut back my trees, and still leave enough green on it, to keep it alive without any problems

the smallest tree went from this, to this

Now

The tree standing 25 cm tall

Kind regards Yvonne

Budi Sulistyo wrote:... ...We, in the tropics, never imagine all your effort on keeping the tree growing in a health condition... ...

But this effort is being rewarded, Yvonne. And you must feel great satisfaction looking at your beautiful trees. Then you get over all your effort.


PS : Yvonne, what do you think is the cause for my F. salicaria and Wrightia religiosa (moved inside and growing under lights during winter) droping their leaves? Is it perhaps a dry environment? Thank you

Thank you Alexandra

I am not familar with the kind of ficus you have...but a guess could be, it came from sun, and went indoors...this would make mine ficus drop their leaves, but new would appear again....have your tree new small buds?
I you have very dry inviroment can it be a good idea, to let the tree stand ower/on a tray of water....Witch temperature do you have in the room?

Kind regards Yvonne

Good morning, Yvonne!
Let me try to describe my construction so that you can have -hopefuly- a clear idea.
It comprises of a wooden frame with one shelf standing on my kitchen bench under the kitchen kabinets, which frame is wrapped into a clear plastic sheet.
I use two T5 GRO LUX, F-18W, 8500K tubes and the temperature into this small "invented" green house is 21 C.
The lamps are on about 18 hours a day.
What do you think?

Hi Alexandra

It does sound like it could work..the lamps should be strong enough...have you placed a tray with water in the "hothouse", I think the tree will love that.
My ficustrees are not realy growing at the moment, even though they are in nice hot inviroment, do they basicly sleep...or just grow very slow during october, november and december...in january do they wake up again.
This could be a growing habit of yours too...

Kind regards Yvonne...have a nice day

my nellie wrote:
PS : Yvonne, what do you think is the cause for my F. salicaria and Wrightia religiosa (moved inside and growing under lights during winter) droping their leaves? Is it perhaps a dry environment? Thank you

Not Yvonne, but...I have 2 F. salicaria that I've brought indoors under lights (after spending the summer outside), and neither one has lost any foliage. Did you gradually decrease the outdoor light intensity for a couple of weeks before bringing them in? I move mine out of full sun into a shadier location before bringing them in, as the indoor light intensity is nowhere near full sun. That gradual light reduction may help with the foliage drop problem.

My indoor location is pretty dry so I don't think humidity alone is a problem.

Spider mites or scale can cause leaves to yellow and drop.

Good luck! Oh, and thanks to Yvonne for all the great information in this thread!

Chris

Good luck! Oh, and thanks to Yvonne for all the great information in this thread!

And thank you Chris for your information too, very usefull

Kind regards Yvonne

Chris, thank you very much for taking the time to respond.
In fact, before I put the trees into the shade frame with the lights I just let them stand in a position beside the balkony glass door and after some days I put them into the enclosure.
Thanks again everybody for your help!

Have a happy Christmas!

healthy ficus in temperate climate. wow.

A long time has gone since I posted last time.
The new lamps Dreamcast helped my to buy, was not just new to me, but also very much for the trees.
The setup appeared, to work nice, and I ordered two more lamps...strong white lights, one with a red tone, and a lamp with a blue tone.
They arrived soon after, and as I was installing them between the lamps I already had, did I see the top of all the ficustrees had turned pale yellow...something had to be done...
I lifted the 3 lamps up as high ower the tent as possible, and mowed them at he same time two of them to the sides, to keep them as far away from the trees as possible in the window.
As it was a very gray Winter without sun did I want to use the extra lamps, but felt the trees had to become better before I began to use them....they have become fairly handy when I take Photos.

The trees grew nicely all the time, and dont turn yellow any more, but they should not be kept closer to the light, so they have to be quit small, I can not allow the trees to fill the tent.
Also did they due to the new light Loose basicly all the old leafes, as they were growing, it was not a problem.
I gave me space to clean up the  trees, and make small changes...also did I cut the multitrunk far back.


32 cm

27 cm

34 cm

The fall last year was gray, and so was the Winter, spring was without sun too, and the summer have ben bad...the trees never made it to the garden, due to cold days, and wery cold nights...this week the summer began, and the trees are in the window, having warm low sun comming in...the tent is warm, and moist, they love it.

I am planning to install the two White lights in the window for the Winter...keep them in the room and turn them towards the trees, for better light....also do the lights generate a lot of heat, they are burning hot,  and all heat adds to the warm up the small room.

Kind regards Yvonne