Some things to consider: If it's on an east windowsill, (it's almost a given) it's not getting enough light, and it might be too cold there for the plant. (Your user info doesn't tell us where you live - you might wish to fix that. It makes it easier for others to help.) Soil temps should be above 60* always. They will tolerate lower soil temps for a while, but they prefer soil temps in the 65-75* range. If you're trying to water once each day, it's very likely that you're over-watering. In most cases I've seen, the bonsai soil sold at bonsai shops & even by bonsai clubs is finer than ideal. The reason is two-fold. They are trying to make a profit, so screening the fines out of the material is both an extra step (time is money) and they would lose a considerable fraction of the products they are using to make the soil (which they had to pay for) if they screened out the inappropriately-sized particles. I didn't say that to disparage the soils, I said it to impress upon you that you need to be very careful about how you water bonsai. Because of the shallow pots, ANY perched water table (PWT) is a large fraction of the soil, and PWTs kill roots. E.g., if you are growing in a pot that is 3" deep, and in a soil that supports a 1 - 1-1/2" PWT. 1/3 to 1/2 of your soil remains saturated after you water. This is decidedly bad for your roots, and may be why your tree is suffering. Water AS NEEDED. Use a sharp dowel & stick it in the soil all the way to the bottom of the pot. Don't water until it comes out clean and dry. After you water, tilt the pot steeply toward a drain hole - it will cause MUCH more water to drain from the soil. Try it. Water, making sure you flush the soil, & wait for the pot to stop draining. Then, tip the pot so a drain hole is down, and watch how much more water exits the pot. Also, use a wick to help with drainage - you can also use the wick as a 'tell', to let you know when it's time to water. You can read more about tips on how to deal with excess water retention by following the embedded link. Have you been flushing the soil regularly? Where do you live? Are you fertilizing - with what - what strength? Al

Well, genetics certainly plays a part; and your trees will reach their maximum potential genetic vigor when all cultural conditions, including nutrition, are ideal/optimal. If you are experiencing slow growth, and you discount the genetic weakling, the growth limiting factor must be cultural. Limiting factors for you to consider are myriad. Soil structure/composition/pH, ambient & soil temps, moisture/light levels, chemical & biotic pathogens, nutrient deficiencies/toxicities/antagonisms, provenance, and more - are each and all capable of being limiting growth factors You may be familiar with Liebig's Law. Paraphrased, it states that there are 6 factors that affect plant growth and yield; they are: air, water, light, temperature, soil, or media nutrients. Liebig's Law of Limiting Factors states that the most deficient factor limits plant growth and increasing the supply of non-limiting factors will not increase plant growth. Only by increasing the most deficient factor will the plant growth increase. There is also an optimum combination of the factors, and increasing them beyond optimum, individually or in various combinations, can lead to toxicity for the plant. From what I just said, it's logical to draw the conclusion that your error is in assuming your trees are growing under "ideal conditions". Isolate & correct the limiting factor, even on a tree by tree basis, & normal growth will follow; but, it's not possible for any of us to make conjecture about what that limiting factor actually is w/o better & accurate input from you. Al

I've read and reread recommendations for the best combination of florescents to promote the growth of tom and pepper seedlings. I was heavily infuenced by the results shown on wayneScmidt's site that was originally referenced above. As they say a picture is worth a thousand words and in that test, the ge plant and aq won leaves up. It's also interesting, as object16 pointed out, that the kitchen and bath finished a close second especially because it was not a so called plant light. I will in all liklihood go with 3 ge plant and aq for best growth qualities and 1 kitchen and bath to enhance brightness (lumens) and to capitalize on whatever else that caused a second place finish in the comparison test. Last but not least, I am impressed that that the pl and aq cost only $5.97 at walmart compared to $6.84 for kit and bath. The ott and phillips plant lights cost $10 at homedepot. I have copied an excerpt from an interesting post that I read on another site below that convinced me to add the 1 flo for lumens. "I put a couple of the "Plant and Aquariums" (40W) above a newly set up 55G and the tank really looked dim. They have so much energy nearly out of the visible spectrum that they need a *lot* of Watts for comfortable viewing (i.e., to get the lumens up). Otherwise, they look to me to be pretty white, but just a tad magenta or purplish in color. I added one "cool white" and it was as if I had quadrupled the illumination. The tank has a lot of irridescent fish, and the plants and fish just became dazzling. The "P/A" tubes probably provide plenty of plant energy, and the "cool white" lots of viewing light. The trick is to get a nice balance that grows plants and also looks good. Since plants and eyes have different response spectra, I always seem to be happier mixing different tubes to get the results I want."

The other plant in center is Tradescantia "Wandering Jew". These are suffering from low light and perhaps a combined lack of nutrients. They will survive this for quite some time but under better light (not direct sun) they will have shorter internodes (space between the leaves) and more branching. They look neat in water but will really thrive better in soil. The name of the other escapes me at the moment but it grows similarly.. Where in this world are you (e.g. in which state if you are in the USA)? Are the fluorescent bulbs you are using fairly new? With good light the jade should start to branch fairly quickly from those points you mention. Does that pot the jade is in have drainage holes?? I agree that soil looks a bit peaty/organic for the jade. Rina has great results with no soil, though I would recommend keeping a bit of soil in the mixture until you have grown things longer. You can take commercial cactus potting mix (or even regular potting mix) and mix that with about equal amounts perlite. Depending on where you are, if you can get that jade outside in the summer in some real sun, it will take off quite well in those ideal condtions. However any increase in lighting intensity should be done gradually, over several days to avoid sunburn. I am in NJ with minimal good inside window space so my plants go outside for "summer vacation" in Spring .