5 best bonsai trees/ plants for indoor

A precise guide that could lead you to find the best plants for Bonsai. If you’re looking for something like that – you’ve come to the right place.

“Hey, what are the best Bonsai trees for beginners that could also be suitable for indoors?” – for the last few days, I was asking Mr.Google this question again and again. When I got my answers, I gathered them all and crafted this article to turn you into a Bonsai thought leader (?) overnight.
As a bonus, I’ll recommend my top 5 Bonsai trees, so that you can come to a better conclusion.

Here are those VIP trees, for which you’ve tolerated my wordy torture so far!

Go ahead and fall behind with facts I’ve vomited out in this article. But before you begin your ridiculous journey into the art of Bonsai, I want to ask you a question.

How much a Bonsai lover loves these beautiful plants? What do you think?

Why Do People Love Bonsai and You Should Too?

People who love bonsai have a dramatic affection for their Bonsai plants. And this drama began thousands of years ago. When the Chinese traditional art ‘Penzai’ – a technique to grow dwarf trees in containers, entered Japan. From that time, bonsai became a lifelong companion for their owners.

“Those Bonsai, they are like our children”, after losing some of her bonsai trees, Fuyumi Imura expressed her feelings to the New York Times.
“Our kids have been living for 400 years from now. It’s like someone has taken away our limbs. We miss them every single day.”

This is how a bonsai lover takes care of her trees. Over the past few centuries, Bonsai have won hundreds and thousands of hearts like this.

Bonsai Is a Pain Killer!

When your heart falls in the gloom, a Bonsai will calm down your obsessed mind. In your lonely moments, caring for Bonsai could be a tonic for you. It’ll relieve you from stress – which a boring psychologist can’t always give you.

Every moment you feel depressed, it’s the emotion that’ll make you smile. And that smile will create a strong bond between you and your child – I mean those cute little trees.

It’s the love that matters, and trust – that you can rarely expect from your human mate. This is why people love bonsai so much.

Emotional happiness, that a Bonsai can give its grower. How can you achieve that? Begin your new life with a Bonsai tree. But how do you do that? What’s the best way?

How To Start The Art of Bonsai?

As one of the world’s top eggheads (?), begin your journey with a ready-made Bonsai tree. That would be the best choice for you as a beginner. After spending some time growing and training bonsai, you’ll become an expert.

There are two types of Bonsai plants out there, indoor and outdoor Bonsai. I’ll discuss only some of the best bonsai trees for indoors. After that, I’ll guide you on indoor bonsai tree care, if you’re able to face the sparkle of my wisdom!

Best Bonsai Trees for Indoors & Beginners

Indoor Bonsai plants aren’t completely indoor trees, actually. Like outdoor plants, these trees need proper caring and sunlight for some time. You might want to pick the best indoor Bonsai tree out there. I’ve written about the 5 most popular trees that are also suitable for beginners in this article. Go ahead to know about each of them.

Best for Beginners

Ficus

Especially for beginners, Ficus is the go-to plant because it’s very easy to care for. It adapts to the indoor climate of the house. This habit made it the most popular choice for indoor Bonsai over other trees. This evergreen tree has oval-shaped green-colored leaves and an s-curved trunk.

Huge varieties of Ficus are out there in the market, so you’ll get a larger option to choose from. Place this tree in a sunny spot to provide it with enough sunlight. You can put it behind the window pan for that.

Keep pruning if you want to maintain a nice shape. Every two years, you must report your Ficus to keep it healthy and live long.

Young forever

Hawaiian umbrella

A unique artistic look with attractive leaves makes it an astonishing tree. As these plants don’t produce any hardwood and rough bark, the tree will always look young – like you.

Hawaiian umbrella is a native Australian tropical tree. 

It’s perfect for indoor Bonsai. Lots of sunlight isn’t needed, as these trees can live with dim light. They can also survive in low humidity until it goes below 10°C.

You can achieve the desired ramification and some taper with constant pruning. But wiring for shaping isn’t recommended.

Aged Grandpa

Chinese elm

Dark brown colored flaking bark in the trunk with a network of fine branches, Chinese elm creates an artistic appearance for its gigantic shape in a small form. When you look at the tree, you might think that an old and colossal tree turned into a tiny plant.

The cute little leaves of the tree give it a fantastic look. It’s an outdoor tree, but you can keep it indoors also. It’s perfect for a beginner to dive into the art of Bonsai.

Best for Formal Upright Style

Dwarf Jade

Reddish stems with green oval-shaped leaves, dwarf jade trees are succulent small plants. Bark color turned green to red-brown when the tree ages. If the plant faces droughts during Autumn, some small white flowers might bloom.

These South African plants usually reach around 3 m. These trees need simple caring but must have a sunny location if you keep them indoors. You can also use them as outdoor bonsai if you live in a frost-free region.

Whole Year Flowering

Fukien tea

If you love to see flowers all year round in a bonsai, then the Fukien tea is for you. This tree often produces attractive white-colored blossoms, almost every month. Tiny dark-green leaves with white dots make it more eye-catching even when there is no blossom on the tree. That’s why I’ve included this in the list of the top 5 best indoor Bonsai trees that people love.

When the flowers aged, they turned into colorful small berries. You can expect them in early summer.

Sculpting a Fukien tea into a characteristic bonsai design is a bit tricky. So this tree isn’t ideal for beginners. But you’ll get a huge reward after all the effort you gave. A beautiful Fukien Bonsai, full of white little flowers will calm down your mind.

A Clever Bonsai Buying Guide | Spend Your Bucks Like a Pro

Running to the nearest Bonsai shop to get your ones? Stop right there! I’ve not completed my words yet. As the world’s most wise man, I have the responsibility to guide you in buying a Bonsai. So, what are you waiting for? Jump to your first lesson.

What to Look for When Buying a Bonsai Tree?

Bonsai trees come at different prices with different qualities. You can buy them from any offline garden centers or specialized online bonsai shops. Careful picking will give you a good bonsai that you desired. Here is some advice for an amateur bonsai fan, who wants to buy love for a few bucks!

  • Keep in mind where you want to put the Bonsai. Indoor and outdoor Bonsai trees are different. Tropical and subtropical trees are ideal indoor Bonsai. These plants survive inside the house where the season’s change doesn’t make any notable impact on the temperature.

Outdoor Bonsai plants are different, they need to undergo one season after another with different climates. Some well-known outdoor Bonsai plants are Juniper, Flowering Pyracantha, Hinoki Cypress, etc.

  • Shaping the trunk and root flare is the most crucial part of a Bonsai tree. Usually, they remain fixed. As a beginner, I recommend you to not jump into the hassle with the trunk. Pick a tree with a trunk that attracts you.

You can change the shape of your Bonsai using some simple techniques like wiring and pruning. After spending some time with this art, you’ll learn to take care of the trunk.

Pick trees that are easy to care for and suitable for beginners. Don’t go for plants that are hard to care for.

If you don’t know what species you’ve chosen, don’t forget to ask it. Otherwise, it’ll become very hard for you to look after your Bonsai.

A healthy plant is significant for a successful Bonsai project. So make sure you picked a healthy tree with vigorous growth.

  • Pot is another important tool that you should care for. Check the pot for any damages.

How To Take Care of Your Bonsai

Bonsai trees need special caring than other trees. Trees that grow in the wild can become mature and gain proper strength. But Bonsai plants can’t do that because of the limitations.

Normal trees can grow their roots up to several meters and go deep into the ground. It’s very easy for them to absorb the necessary water and other nutrients. In contrast, typical Bonsai trees can absorb a limited amount of water and nutrients because of the environment they live in. 

This interruption causes several impacts on the growth of a Bonsai. Bonsai plants can’t gain proper maturity, strength, etc. That’s why they need special care for these shortages.

Growing Environment

Your Bonsai should get the climate and sunlight which is approximate to its native climate. 

You can’t always give a Bonsai the exact native climate. But by controlling the temperature, humidity, and sunlight hours, you can try your best.

Watering

You shouldn’t give the same amount of water to every plant. When some continuous wetness is good for some species, others might start rotting if the soil remains wet.

Make a soil mixture that drains water well. That’s standard practice for preparing the soil for Bonsai plants so that the roots won’t be wet for a long time. I’ll discuss how to prepare the soil later in this article.

Apply water often, because Bonsai plants have a low water retention habit. If you give too much water at one time, the soil will become wet and that’ll rot the roots. Applying a little amount of water will often help the tree to absorb enough water. After that, the soil will become dry. So there’d be no chance of rotting the roots.

Soil

The most important component of a tree’s life is soil because it’s the storage of most of the things a tree needs to live. You need to mix several ingredients with the soil to prepare it for a Bonsai. You can bring some premixed soil from the shop. Furthermore, you can also make it on your own to save money. To prepare the best soil for bonsai you’ll need Akadama, potting compost, and fine gravel.

Akadama is hard-baked clay. It gives better drainage and aeration to the soil. Potting compost is required for reserving water and nutrients in the soil. Fine gravel helps to gain better aeration. But it won’t be useful until you mix it with other soil components.

Don’t provide the same kind of soil to all plants. Different trees needed various soil mixtures. Here is how to prepare the best soil for bonsai in your home –

For Deciduous Bonsai Trees

The mixture will have a ratio of 2:1:1 of the ingredients I’ve mentioned above. Let’s say you want to prepare 400 grams of soil. So take 200g Akadama, 100g potting compost, and another 100g of grit.

For Coniferous or Pine Bonsai Trees

This has no difference except one. Add another part of Akadama with the previous mixture.

Repotting

Regular repotting is essential to keep a Bonsai tree healthy. How do you know if your plants need repotting? Look for the signs given below in your bonsai. If you find one or more, then you can start repotting.

  • Roots are coming out through the drainage hole of the pot.
  • Roots are growing and pushing the plant upward from the pot.
  • Decreasing plant growth.
  • Plants need more watering than usual.

What is the perfect time for it?

You can repost your Bonsai in the Early spring. Follow the instructions given in the video below to repot your bonsai.

Location

Find out the best place to put your Bonsai considering the local climate, season, and tree species. A great amount of sunlight is essential for the health of your tree, so place your indoor Bonsai right at a south-facing window.

Don’t place the tree even a few feet away from the window. This will drop down the light intensity, which will slow down the growth and lead the tree to death.

Indoor bonsai trees need high humidity compared to outdoor ones. If you can, place the tree on a humidity tray. Follow the video to make a humidity tray on your own.

Conclusion

You won’t bring a whole forest to your house. You can bring a Bonsai tree that will give you the aesthetics and emotion of a forest, in miniaturized form. A Bonsai will teach you many things about life which you wouldn’t expect. Taking care of Bonsai will develop patience in your character, you’ll learn how to better focus and many things.

Day after day, your bonsai will make an emotional bonding with your heart. A human mate might betray you at any time – but a Bonsai will never do that. So Bring a bonsai in your life – if you haven’t done that yet. Look at that with a bit of love and take a deep breath. It should be enough to fall in love with your Bonsai. 

Enjoy your new life.