bonsai or terrarium .... that the rub ...

bonsai is a system of dwarfing growth by repeated pruning of not only the plant.. but also the roots ... it would be hard to do that in the jar you have it in ... most;y because it would just be a pia to deal with it in there .... and without the dwarfing aspect.. that tree should be in a jar ..

so get it out... root prune it.. cut back the excessive growth ..

and then go buy some other mini plants to grow in your terrarium ...

we probably need to ID the plant to make best suggestions on the whole process .. if someone doesnt come thru this forum with a name based on your words.. try the peeps in the NAME THAT PLANT FORUM... they usually tool around the various forums.. but if you dont have an answer in a few says.. repost over there ...

all that said.. this looks like some florist bright idea of a neat planting .. and im sure it was ... it got your attention .. but in reality ... we are going to have to change everything if you want it to grow on ... its akin to house builders who think they are landscaper.. and fast forward 10 years.. the the owners is big plant trouble for such ...who knew those tiny bigbox plants that he planted 2 feet from the foundation.. would grow into the 20 foot blobs hiding the house ... when in reality.. they just didnt belong there in the first place ....

have fun learning with it ... two new hobbies here.. bonsai .. and terrariums ... and maybe gardening.. if we decide the tree has to go outside where trees belongs ...

ken

The bonsai-ed plant is “Fukien tea” - Ehretia microphylla.

I agree with Ken: get it out of the glass thing and into a pot with drainage. Prune the long growths.

Root pruning could wait IMHO.

You did a good job with it so far, and it likes the terrarium; however, it won't be long before the terrarium is full of a tangle of branches which will be difficult to prune. Not only that, the dissolved solids (salts) in your tapwater and fertilizer solution all accumulate in the terrarium's soil. Eventually that will make it increasingly difficult for the plant to absorb water. The tree should spend it's time indoors whenever temps are below 60-65*, and it wants to be outdoors with some protection from the brightest sun during midday. Be careful, however, about acclimating the plant to significantly brighter light over the course of a week - 10 days.

I disagree about the root pruning. You can't start maintaining a root system too soon, and the sooner you start, the sooner you will have nice looking roots, an important consideration for all bonsai. Not only that, but the longer you wait, the more difficult and complicated the work will be. The congestion in the current root mass will forever remain a significant limitation in terms of growth, vitality, and appearance ..... unless you get into the roots with your hands and correct the issues.

Prune? Definitely, but avoid "shearing" the plant. Fukien tea has a tendency to produce unsightly knobs when you allow more than 2 branches to come together at any one point. IOW you want all branches to be bifurcations (Ys) instead of trifurcations (3 branches from 1 point like a trident pitchfork) or worse, more than 3. I drew this to instruct on how to prune jades and other plants with opposite leaves, but it explains bifurcation and trifurcation. Your plant doesn't have opposite leaves, but it does tend to push branches in clumps, which should be avoided.:

Al

As always, I disagree with Tapla; this plant is fine as a houseplant, and I would not be inclined to put it outside, especially immediately after being transplanted.

And @HU-26... you have not reavealed your location. Do you live in Antarctica? Southwest Florida? Upper Mongolia? Is it a suitable climate for this subtropical species?

Hi there - thank you for your feedback / advice so far. I’m actually from England so the weather isn’t all too sunny, nor bright and nor hot!

I’m actually from England so the weather isn’t all too sunny, nor bright and nor hot! No matter. It's still much better if you can at least occasionally move the plant outdoors. If skies are sunny or overcast, it will still be much brighter outdoors than indoors. Also, air movement is a more important consideration than most growers realize. It means the plant will lose more water. As the plant loses water, the nutrients dissolved in the nutrient stream are left behind. Nutrients are the building blocks plants use to grow and keep their systems orderly.

Even though what's below is directed toward another, there is still useful info in it. There are many bonsai studios and nurseries in England. My suggestion, if you have any doubts about what I said, is that you contact one of the nurseries and ask what they suggest you do insofar as whether or not you should move the plant outdoors as much/often as possible. I promise it will make a conspicuous difference in health and growth rate. Keep your eyes pealed for scale (insects), They seem to really like Fukien tea trees.

**********************************************************************************

Ichroma - Anyone can disagree, but "always"? You're exaggerating, right? You gotta be. I must be right once in a while, yes? ..... that whole "even a blind pig finds an acorn now and then" thing?

Unfortunately the act of disagreeing has no bearing on whether or not what you're putting forth is right/ wrong/ indifferent. There is really no such thing as a 'houseplant' as no plants we purposely cultivate naturally occur in houses. What we refer to as houseplants are all outdoor plants, assigned the moniker "houseplant"primarily for the fact they tolerate the not insignificant stress of being indoors better than other less tolerant candidates.

If you transplant Fukien tea, generally considered to be a temperamental subject, at an appropriate point in the growth cycle, the very best place for it is outdoors where it has opportunity to make much more food for itself than indoors where most plants are barely able to meet their 'light compensation point' (LCP), which is the point at which carbohydrates (food supply) required by plants in respiration phase are equal to carbohydrates produced during photosynthesis (food production). A plant's photosynthetic rate must be greater than its respiration rate if the plant is to survive ...... so it's really difficult to see how one might conclude indoors is the best place for a plant, unless temperatures disallow that practice, as noted earlier. No one disagrees that Fukien Tea CAN be grown indoors, but experienced growers realize that when plant is INDOORS it's more or less just treading water, waiting to be moved outdoors so it can realize a far greater measure of its genetic potential.

Not that it means anything, but I have 100+ woody containerized tropicals and subtropicals I over-winter under lights. I would never even consider repotting one while it resides indoors if any part of the recovery process had to take place there, even though it would be under lights and controlled temps/ humidity. The reason - recovery is MUCH faster outdoors. I bring all plants that winter indoors to grow benches outdoors, between mid-May and Memorial Day, depending on night temps, and start repotting before mid-Jun. Repots of tropicals and sub-tropicals usually always includes bare-rooting, root pruning, and a full change of grow medium.

Al

Hu many numbers, I’m not a bonsai expert but I am in England so I know that at the moment our temps are fluctuating between a few degrees at night and 13 - 15 ish during the day, so I would not put it outside now. Maybe by late May or June.

“They are a very poplar species for indoor bonsai but are often quite a hard one as they tend to have a tendency to struggle in the UK inside if the conditions are not quite right and are quite hypersensitive. They are a species that does like to be watered regularly but not kept too wet, they require a bright location for light but not in full sun with some shade. They also like a constant temperature of around 15-24 degrees and do not thrive above or below this temperature range and often object to drafts.” Source https://swindon-bonsai.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/IMG_2378.jpg