Identify my bonsai + other questions

I have a couple of questions regarding my bonsai:

What types of species is it? (pictures follow at the end of this post) Is it an indoor or outdoor plant? How low and how high can it tolerate temperatures?

How do I care for it? (I've been watering it every 2 days, is that too much or too little? Also, how much sunlight does it need? Is necessary for it's leaves and roots to be trimmer/pruned? If so, how often? What and how to fertilize?)

Approximately, how old is my tree?

Pictures:







That's it for now, thank you.

Juniperus procumbins nana, Chinese Juniper
Not very old, they grow quickly from cuttings, probably less than 3 years.
Water using a meat skewer to test soil, wet skewer don't water, dry skewer water
Will not live indoors, needs as much sun as you can give it.
Pruning for looks and shape is OK, just don't over do it as a beginner.
They live fine here in Florida with 90+ summer days.
Winter I can't speak too, we had one fellow in Canada who claimed to winter his junipers outdoors

Thank you so much for all your information!

But, do you know exactly how high temperatures can get and how low it can get for my bonsai to be able to tolerate it? Here in Canada, it can get up to 40 degrees celsius during the summers and -30 degrees celsius during the winters. Is that just right or too harsh for my bonsai?

The +40 C it will tolerate, I don't know about low temperatures, many people up north bury the tree up to the soil line, pot and all, some mulch the trees against the side of a house or other building. The freeze/thaw cycle I am told is what does the damage. Also the cold might break the pot, since the clay is porous it traps water, when the water freezes it breaks the pot.

Since I am in Florida I don't have a winter, we may go a few degrees below 0 C for a few hours per year.

I am in Ottawa, Canada and I keep my junipers outside all year. (we can get -30C here).

In the winter I just put them on the ground in a sheltered spot, mulch them up to the first branch and let the snow cover them. The most important thing is to keep them out of the cold wind which will dry out the foliage - the tree cannot take up moisture to replace that lost to the wind when the roots are frozen.

Cheers,

Steve

Thanks you two.

I actually have a sort of porch enclosure, during the winters the snow will not get in unless the door is open but there is a screen window that is always open that lets the cold in. Can I just leave my bonsai there? Or is snow required for it to be wintered? The only problem is I'm not sure if it will get an adequate amount of sunlight. I will have to check tomorrow. Also, how many hours of sunlight at minimum will it need?

Well when mine are under the snow I don,t imagine that they get much light

It would be best to make sure the surface of the soil is covered with snow.

Cheers,

Steve

Oh, alright! I think I'll just leave it in the enclosure and just put the snow on myself when it starts to snow here. I just need to find a spare table for me to place it in...

Anyways, thanks again!

For these types of questions knowing where you are in Canada (zone) would really help us help U.
Cheers G

I'm in southern Ontario. Toronto, to be exact.

Hello. I have a few more questions now:

Since then, I have left my Juniper outside. Then, it was getting an abundance of sunlight. Around 3-5 hours. Is that enough? But now, it is getting colder but not was cold as it should be. There has been virtually no snow, but a lot of rain. The clouds are also covering the sun a lot, meaning that my plant does not get a lot of sunlight as much anymore. Is this bad? As well, I am seeing some brown leaves, some lighter and others darker. I'm not sure if they are dead or not.

If you have any other tips on how to take care of my juniper during the cold months that will be great as well.

Thanks.

EDIT: I have also since then moved my bonsai to outside in my backyard since it wasn't as cold in the enclosure as it was outside and not getting a lot of sunlight too. Thought I'd add this info.

I just noticed that your tree is sitting in a container with stones. This tree MUST have good drainage and the bottom MUST not stay wet. It is OK to water the tree and let the container catch the water, but the water MUST be dumped from the container. It would be better to use the container only when watering and just let the bonsai pot sit on the table otherwise.

Continue to use the "meat skewer method" to prevent over watering, which kills more of these than anything else. DO NOT water on a schedule, check the moisture on a schedule but water only when needed.

That 'container' is actually an old bonsai pot. It has pretty good drainage so it doesn't really hold water and the stones don't cover the holes very well either. Thank you for your concern though.