--- Bill Daniels wrote:
I'm very new to bonsai hobby.

Bill,

This is a lot like asking how to make soup. The
ingredients vary from place to place, from mini
climatic zone to mini climatic zone.

Where in California?


One thing most agree on is that soil needs to have the
fine particles sifted out. I don't regularly do this
(my sifters are broken) and can't see a problem, but
my soil mix is very porous and fast draining. I may
wash the fines out in the process of watering.

That said, you use a combination of orgainic an
inorganic materials for the moisture retention
required in your area. Also take acidity into
consideration.

In California, we have a lot of lava available. So I
use that, sand, peat, planting mix, various bagged
sterile composts, and mix as I need the soil. I also
add some micronutrients and a starter plant food.

I don't waste my time on non sterile soil. It is a
false cost savings compared to the damage you can do
to your plants.

So I could give you my soil mixes, but if your
climate and watering constraints vary from mine, my
mixes might hinder you instead of help.

I have found two products that most of us can use,
especially here in the United States. One is Turface
and the other is Dry Stall. Both can be found on the
net for your local distributor. The third component I
like is an orchid mix by Unigrow. It has peat, fir
bark and fine sand. Doesn't see to have much powder,
if at all. My starter fertilizer is Vita Start and is
very weak. I save the akadama and kanuma soils for
special occasions.

Conifers need faster draining soil than decidious.
Azaleas need acidity and drainage.

Hope that helps!

Keep at it until you can do things in your sleep. It
is a hobby that brings me great joy, from either the
serenity I feel from the peacfullness of the trees or
the possiblity that I can pinch and prune trees rather
than people.

Kitsune Miko


What soil
ingredients do you use for
Bonsia? If you could break it down for
Confiers
Decidious tree
Azaeles

thank you Bill from Caifornia



=====
"Art does not take kindly to facts, is helpless to grapple with theories, and is killed outright by a sermon." Agnes Ropplier
(added to the above)
"How many things in life do we bludgeon with facts, render helpless
with theories, and kill with sermons? If art can help us go beyond
these patterns, we certainly need it in our lives."
Anne Wilson Schaef
From, "Women Who Do Too Much Calandar 2004."

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