What to do when this is all you have to grow your plants / Bonsai?

[ShawnK]

Lack of light makes plants grow long and skinny. That's not what we want from bonsai.
Even less light leads to dead branches and possibly an entirely dead plant. I guess that's about as small as you can get?

Thank you
What about artificial lighting? Or is this already being discussed in other forum threads?

[shibui]

We don't seem to use much artificial lighting in Australia but American growers seem to talk about grow lights much more. There are lots of low energy LED lights with light spectrum that suit plants if you search for them. Most seem to need to be relatively close to the plants to be effective.
Personally I'd try seeing how they go before resorting to artificial lighting.

[Stevie_B]

Artificial lighting is very common in Aus for hops growers and hydroponic growers. Hops growers in Qld get hours more light than normal and the yield is significant. And hydroponic growers... well, as a police officer, I can attest to seeing some of the biggest, um, indoor plants, grown by artificial light possible.

So check hydroponic shops for the best artificial lighting.

[BonsaiBobbie]

I just want to know what the ramification is like!!!

[Stevie_B]

Lots.
Enough said

[BonsaiBobbie]

Been awhile since I have bee. On here and indeed have been able to pay attention to my plants.

In fact moving right before Christmas is difficult, especially when you haven’t worked out your watering setup for when you are away. A few plants died and a couple that I was really hoping not to have had near fatal shock. Slowly they are coming back. We will see what the real damage is if they ever truly come back.

Here is a quick view of my balcony in the most afternoon sun it gets. ie not much at the end of the day.

for the moment the plants doing the best are my Kunzea Baxteri seedlings. They are going gangbusters. We’ll see what happens but I have far too many of them.

It is the first time I have really struggled with pests (white fly?). At first I wasn’t sure if the maples were still recovering from Christmas, but eventually worked out it was the insects stunting all the new growth.

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My previous investigations show I have until about the end of the month before fully in shade.

[Ryceman3]

The roof with the pyramid skylight thing in it looks handy… just sayin’.
I’m pretty well versed in roof growing…

[melbrackstone]

Depending on your body corporate, you might be able to make a series of shelves that stack up on the far end of the balcony, which might at least get "some" sun during Autumn or Spring. You will have to make sure it's safe and secure and won't cause problems with neighbours, ie: plants flying around on a windy day etc. Indoor setup with lighting could be your best option if you want to keep so many plants alive through Winter.

[BonsaiBobbie]

The roof with the pyramid skylight thing in it looks handy… just sayin’.
I’m pretty well versed in roof growing…

It does indeed! If I was down a level!

[BonsaiBobbie]

Depending on your body corporate, you might be able to make a series of shelves that stack up on the far end of the balcony, which might at least get "some" sun during Autumn or Spring. You will have to make sure it's safe and secure and won't cause problems with neighbours, ie: plants flying around on a windy day etc. Indoor setup with lighting could be your best option if you want to keep so many plants alive through Winter.

Thanks Mel.

I am still in the process of consolidating the number of plants.

I’ve got far too many for the current location.

One end has some opaque glass that is probably the best come winter but sadly on that side the other buildings are quite high.

I’m going to try and make some boards for the internal east window sills for winter that will protect them so I can put plants on them. They get good light. Just my better looking plants. Come winter I will have the blinds open all day I think.

[melbrackstone]

I’m going to try and make some boards for the internal east window sills for winter that will protect them so I can put plants on them. They get good light. Just my better looking plants. Come winter I will have the blinds open all day I think.

Definitely worth a try. You will have a better idea of chasing the sun after a full year living there. Good luck.

[BonsaiBobbie]

Been awhile since I have bee. On here and indeed have been able to pay attention to my plants.

In fact moving right before Christmas is difficult, especially when you haven’t worked out your watering setup for when you are away. A few plants died and a couple that I was really hoping not to have had near fatal shock. Slowly they are coming back. We will see what the real damage is if they ever truly come back.

Here is a quick view of my balcony in the most afternoon sun it gets. ie not much at the end of the day.

for the moment the plants doing the best are my Kunzea Baxteri seedlings. They are going gangbusters. We’ll see what happens but I have far too many of them.

It is the first time I have really struggled with pests (white fly?). At first I wasn’t sure if the maples were still recovering from Christmas, but eventually worked out it was the insects stunting all the new growth.

9F857902-27F9-4B86-97EE-34468BF0A49D.jpeg380CA9BD-75A5-429F-9B30-E060E1DE8DE5.jpeg27C3260D-BEEF-443F-90F4-F441C6A62037.jpeg

My previous investigations show I have until about the end of the month before fully in shade.

Thought it worth revisiting this thread, now that I have moved out of this apartment.

Seeing this post I should have taken a photo of my stock 18 months later as it is greatly reduced.

The issues became watering as much as sun light. It was incredibly difficult to water on a small balcony without a tap out there. Whilst the lack of sun light meant that was forgiving at times, when it was combined with a very difficult year for me personally I pushed my luck (ie time) on a lot of plants.


What have done well?

Ficus (Port Jackson - less so Moreton Bay)
Kunzea Baxteri - very tolerant of both lack of sun and water
Juniper Squamata (surprisingly)
Eucalyptus- yellow gum until I killed it

Survived?
Trident Maple
Eucalyptus River Red Gum
Buxus - could almost put above but really needed more light, and I should have just left to grow rather than fiddling with them as that is what killed the Buxus Harlandii that I had.

Died a quick death?
Japanese Maple
Eucalyptus - Snow gum
Leptospermum (had a few varieties)

[Promethius]

Sorry to hear that you lost a few, but thanks for sharing your experiences.