I think you have a great webpage. I got a little bonsai plant from my friend for christmas, and the care instructions got thrown away by mistake. I have a few really basic questions for you. Will my plant be okay in the house for the winter. (I'm in PA and it's pretty cold here.) It's about 6 inches tall and a juniper. the tag says it's 3 years old. My other question is, can i just water it like a regular plant or am I supposed to soak it? How often should it be watered?

Thanks for your help.

Melissa.

If you have a 6" juniper - you should be okay with keeping the plant indoors, but only on certain set conditions. You must make sure that it does not dry out, is not subjected to any drafts, receives adequate light and is not placed in an inhospitable area i.e. beside a heater. Because the plant is so young don't be too worried about the bonsai element of maintaining it but rather what it takes to maintain a normal juniper. You can see the general guidelines for the juniper here.

PLEASE don't think about soaking your bonsai - especially in winter when junipers don't need much water. The humidity will not allow them to dry out. They are quite temperamental when being watered - so don't water them every day. The general rule is to put your finger down into the soil of the pot and see how moist the soil is. Try to keep the soil slightly damp at all times - but it is probably better to allow it to partially dry out rather than to overwater the plant - which is not good.

I hope this information has been of help -

Dan