Hello, I'm acquiring an interest in gardening, so I'm starting here to learn about it. I live on Vancouver Island and I have purchased a small greenhouse and am trying to get ideas about how I should use it. My question would be, do greenhouses serve any purpose for aiding in bonsai growing? I currrently have jack pine seeds planted in a small bonsai pot and have always toyed with the idea of getting into the art and hobby of bonsai growing. Just wondering if my greenhouse will be better used for other growing endeavors. Thanks, Ryan
Hi, they may have a place in the fall to extend the 'growing' period, but really I think letting them acclimate to a natural cycle of being colder and going into dormancy is best. If you have flowering shrubs (like azalea) you might put them in there as long as temps remain above freezing even at nite, to speed up spring, but again, it's unnatural and can mess with their timing. Or to put it another way, how many trees in nature are growing in g-houses :0)? What I DO find them handy for is if you're in an area that gets not just rain, but extended deluges, and you have some trees which can't handle those too well (some maples, pines, etc... even in the fastest draining bonsai 'soil' (gravel), then you haul them in and out of the gh. Or in early winter, for unexpected (tho' predicted on the day) o-nite cold snaps before some trees are quite ready for them... It's always a balancing act.
The biggest concern would be overheating, too much sun, dryness, etc. even when using the built-in vents.
if you are concerned about weather extremes for young plants or newly potted plants you may want to consider a screen house that is adjacent to the greenhouse and may even receive some venting from it but that it not a heated area though it offers the protection of either lath or saran cloth and is a good way at discouraging insects and other unexpected visitors that may wreck havoc with the plants!
