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No offense taken. I doubt I have another 36 years in me, 15 maybe, and they may all outlive me.

I may be completely wrong about the Junipers being able to survive indoors, and if in 3-4 months they're dead as a doornail I'll man up and admit it, Photos included.

But if in 3-4 months they're thriving, I'll back that up too with photos to compare to the ones I've already posted of when I purchased them,

Once I get a feel for the plant, how much water they need, and how they do with the light I can provide I'll be better able to speak to it. They grow wild where I live so I still believe that as long as I can provide enough light source and the right amount of water they'll do fine, whether or not they ever become a bonsai remains to be seen.

I'm completely new to bonsai, so I don't mean any disrespect to anyone here (everyone) who obviously knows more about it than I do. I've only begun to read about it and have yet to watch any videos, but it's going to be quite a while before I can do anything with the ones I've got, so I have plenty of time to educate myself on the subject.

Nishiama wrote: I hope you can get a good shot, I really would like to see it. But with 12 years experience in the field of bonsai, a 35 year old tree must have been bought when it was already 23 years old, unless you purchased it more recently.

12 years of trying to grow them, but very much interested in bonsai since I got awed by the first one I saw. I must have been about 18, so that's more than 30 years ago... I got my first mallsai as a relation gift, probably 20 years ago. It did not survive. I did start planting seeds - with the intention to let them grow and make bonsai out of them later, when I had more knowledge. One of them is in my front garden and is 3 meters high now - and won't fit in a pot anymore

I can buy a 60 year old tree today and claim I have a 60 year old tree. I got my Peace Lilly as a small plant from the local flower shop for my grandmother when she was in the hospital in 1978 and raised it myself.

You are making the wrong assumption - I did not buy this tree. Getting good starting material is one of the ways to grow beautiful bonsai. You could find that at nurseries, but you would buy bigger, older trees with certain features (thick, tapering trunk, low branches, beautiful roots), not the young, tiny cuttings you bought. They take too much time to grow into something usable (and like you, I will not have enough time to live to achieve that).

There are bonsai that are over 1000 years old. That doesn't mean someone has been growing them for 1000 years, obviously.
Check this page:
This concerns naturally dwarfed trees that were collected - and that have grown under probably harsh conditions.
Also see:

Such trees may have been in training for hundreds of years - being passed down from generation to generation - and I find that fascinating.

My tree is a juniper. It was owned by my parents, they purchased it when it was young and put it in a large garden pot, on the camping where we stayed in summer. As this large pot - that I still have - does not have a bottom, my father placed a metal plate half way - creating a wide and shallow pot, not knowing he created ideal circumstances to grow starting material.
I started work on this tree maybe 15 years ago as it was neglected. I cleaned out all the inner dead foliage, so light and air could enter again - then left it alone. I wanted to have the tree, but my father wouldn't give it... until my mother got ill and they sold their summer-home. They both passed away - so this tree has a special meaning for me.

I'll try to make that photo. It's not a price winner, it may be ready for an exhibition soon - there's still a lot of work to be done - but that's not important for me. The tree obviously has a very high emotional value for me.

Auk wrote: You are making the wrong assumption - I did not buy this tree. Getting good starting material is one of the ways to grow beautiful bonsai. You could find that at nurseries, but you would buy bigger, older trees with certain features (thick, tapering trunk, low branches, beautiful roots), not the young, tiny cuttings you bought. They take too much time to grow into something usable (and like you, I will not have enough time to live to achieve that).

You're assuming to know how long I'll live.

Whether you bought it or somebody gave it to you, you may have a 35 year old tree, but you did not grow a 35 year old tree if you did not grow it from a start, seed, etc.

I want to grow my own tree. Not buy one someone else grew and call it mine. I thought I made that clear. I don't care who says it's not possible, and while it might well be, I won't believe it's not possible for me to do it till the trees are dead, and I already stated if that happens I'll say so and post photos to show them, dead or alive.

I can provide a link to someone who has been growing Junipers indoors for 19 years under florescent lights:

Now, how about needle evergreens as fluorescent light bonsai? I have heard again and again that junipers (Juniperus spp.) cannot be grown indoors for any length of time. I know that even if I swear here that my two oldest indoor junipers have grown inside under cool white fluorescent light for 21 and 19 years respectively with no outdoor vacations, there will be those who read this and continue to assure their friends that it cannot be done. Admittedly juniper growth is slow under fluorescent light, but they survive and are healthy.

You may well have 12 years experience in growing bonsai, and I respect that, but that does not make you an expert on what can and can't be done by someone else, and you have no idea what is and is not possible for me.

This thread has run it's course as far as I'm concerned. I asked if someone could confirm whether or not my belief that the tree I bought was a Juniper and that's long since been confirmed.

Your rant about "There are laws against deception. Shops selling this as bonsai should be punished." was anything but informative, or constructive, and took the thread in a whole different direction and tone than I hoped to find here.

Nishiama wrote: You're assuming to know how long I'll live.

No, you did...

doubt I have another 36 years in me, 15 maybe

Back to topic?

The plant you have is, imho a juniper.

I am an ecologist myself, and am truely convinced any plant can be grown indoors, given the right conditions. Best proof for me was an experiemnt, groing C. Mopane in the Netherlands for my PhD on plant pfysiology: The staff of Kruger park in South Africa where it is native told me it could not be done. Yet they helped me source the seeds. After 12 months the plants were over 1 m tall.

When people say it cannot be done, it is assuming people grow a juniper in the window sill, where in winter, when the heating is on, atmosphere gets too dry, resulting in spider mites, which will be very hard to control. 99,99% of the junipers kept indoors die within 12 months. The exceptions are the confirmation to the rule.

My hall of fame does not hold a tree of 30+ years; I do however grow strelitzia, which I grew from .5cm seeds into 2m tall giant. I know plants. I also know the limits of the maorioty of people that first arrive on this forum. Telling those people: Sure, you can grow juniper indoors, if you create the right situation, is just as biga deception as Wallmart advertising duttings as bonsai.

I wish you all the best with your juniper. If you want a bonsai, it might be interesting to also get a 5 gallong juniper and work on that too. It will give you seomething to do while you wait a few years for the other plants to gain some mass?

I agree with self-growing: I am in the process of buying land to start a bonsai nursery; I love to grow seedlings, take cuttings and in general, 'get my hands dirty'. It is enjoyable to see a seed turn into a large healthy plant.

Have fun, and keep us updated, please.