Reddit reviews Bonsai

Shipping a tropical tree in winter is a terrible idea. If temps drop and shipping gets delayed (both likely around Christmas), you end up receiving a very dead tree.

The only way I'd get a tropical right now is if I could go to an actual garden center/greenhouse and buy one that I could see and immediately take home with me that day.

And as the guy who wrote that wiki page on gifting trees - my strongest possible recommendation is to buy her some really nice bonsai books instead, or a bonsai class in the spring if there's a place near you that offers them.

• This is a good book
  
  
• So is this.
  
  
• And this one too.
  
  You can even make it a couple's project to go and pick out some nursery stock in the spring (or a finished tree, if you prefer) and work on it together. Or you could buy two seats to that bonsai class instead of one.
  

Yes, I can definitely expand on those subjects - I just didn't want to go into more detail on a subject you didn't originally ask for unless you were interested.

1. Indoors, I imagine your temperatures are above 60 or even 70F (sorry, my Celsius knowledge is sorely inadequete - 23C?) year round. If the tree senses colder temperatures below a certain level, the tree will drop its leaves and go dormant like all the oaks or maples. If the tree is only exposed to the warmer conditions, the tree will mostly maintain its leaves throughout winter.
   
   
2. Indoor conditions are very static compared to outdoors. There is less airflow, less temperature fluctuation, less difference between day and night cycles based on artificial light use, and generally less light in total compared to outside. Trees have evolved to grow best outdoors and although outdoor trees are more susceptible to pests and weather, we as bonsai hobbyists can monitor conditions to help our trees if their natural defenses fail or if a unseasonable storm is coming. The light, temperature, and humidity outdoors compared to indoors especially I think contribute to our bonsai growing faster and being healthier outdoors. A lot of indoor bonsai especially away from windows are less vigorous and that means they may be less tolerant to a mistake on your part of watering or may die of their own accord.
   Also, make sure any tree you keep indoors is tropical. Junipers are commonly sold to beginners as bonsai, but they are advertised by those who don't know better as indoor trees. Such species need winter dormancy or they will eventually die.
   
   
3. Thanks for filling in your flair - I hope you will enjoy your bonsai and grow in this hobby with us!
   
   
4. I don't know exactly how amazon works over there or if you will have the same sales as the US, but I was recommending some beginner books to someone else recently and noticed both are on sale. I highly recommend a thorough beginner book to help you with basic concepts when starting out.
   This is the book I first got when I entered bonsai many years ago - still good and sustained my interest even after some initial trees died.
   https://www.amazon.com/Bonsai-Survival-Manual-Tree-Tree/dp/0882668536
   
   I got this beginner book a while back and it also Is well written and has tons of useful basic information for your beginner journey.
   https://www.amazon.com/Bonsai-DK/dp/1465419586

That book looks like it actually has useful detail. Think I'll pick up a copy. Here is a link to a substantially cheaper copy if others are interested--$20 instead of $56.

https://www.amazon.ca/Bonsai-Beginners-Bible-Peter-Chan/dp/178472369X/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=peter+chan&qid=1570281843&sr=8-1

And


https://www.amazon.ca/Bonsai-DK/dp/1465419586/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?keywords=bonsai+books&qid=1570281874&sr=8-2

Fill in your flair. Honestly my advice is to pick up a couple of nice books with that money before you dive in. Here are a few you might consider:

• Bonsai Basics
  
• Bonsai4Me Series.
  
• Bonsai - techniques, styles, display ideas. Haven't read this myself yet but Peter Warren was involved so I'm sure its high quality.