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Wondering if someone can help me out here. I want to buy a bonsai for my partner's birthday; the 2 varieties that caught my eye & were visually appealing was the pepper tree (Zanthoxylum piperitum) & the sweet plum tree (Sageretia theezans).

My partner lives in far northern England where the weather is usually cold and gloomy. Futhermore she does not have access to a greenhouse or any kind of lights used for growing. With summer coming up there will be no problem with light or heat but I'm worried about when autumn & winter sets in, that the bonsai will die.

I'm wondering which is a more appropriate variety out of those 2 for indoor low light conditions especially in autumn/winter? Which one needs less light.

I showed her pictures of ficus bonsai tree & she found that very ugly & unaesthetic. So that's not an option lol.

Both can handle low light in winter if kept cool. If they are kept in normal living room conditions both of them will eventually die.

A cold frame outside with frost protection is the best solution for people with a few trees......or even better, to go and get species hardy to your location. Go check Herons bonsai online, they ship all over uk. My recomendation is japaneese maple.

I agree with Tropfrog. Better stay away from “ indoor bonsai “ . 99% of the “ help my tree is dying “ questions in the help section are from people with indoor trees. Our homes are way too dry , have not nearly enough light and no ventilation for the (sub) tropical species to stay alive.
So, as Tropfrog said, go for a native tree , place it outside and enjoy it there, where it is supposed to be.

I am sure we agree. But just to clarify. Native trees are a good choice. But any tree that is hardy to your area will work equally good. My suggestion on japanese maple would not be concidered native to uk, but are still a good choise since it is hardy to uk climate.

Thanks for your advice, unfortunately for her having an outside bonsai would defeat the purpose of having a nice tree to admire by her windowsill. Let's say she kept them in a cold frame during winter. Out of the pepper tree and Chinese elm( not sweet plum) which is going to last in your opinion? In all honesty I prefer the pepper tree, but don't want to throw money down drain.

Tropfrog wrote: Both can handle low light in winter if kept cool. If they are kept in normal living room conditions both of them will eventually die.

A cold frame outside with frost protection is the best solution for people with a few trees......or even better, to go and get species hardy to your location. Go check Herons bonsai online, they ship all over uk. My recomendation is japaneese maple.

I only have experience with elm and sweet plum. But in my opinion trees belong outside. That is what they are evolved to be.

We have hundreds of threads help my bonsai is dying every month. Most of them from beginners with so called indoor trees. None of them comes back and show us a success story. Proboably none of them becomes hocked by this wonderful hobby. Indoor trees kills the passion.

You cannot water a tree correctly indoors without creating a mess. The air is way too dry. Day/night emperature variances is too low. Light is in most cases not enough. Air mowement lacking and season variances as well.

Even experienced bonsai-ists stay away from “ indoor” trees.
Without experience... you will be looking at a dead tree fast.

lucR wrote: Even experienced bonsai-ists stay away from “ indoor” trees.
Without experience... you will be looking at a dead tree fast.

I agree with this, they are hard to keep. Especially for novice growers.