I agree that the word "conditioner" might be
missapplied.
Gravel, sand, ceramic grave, pumice all serve to add
drainage to bonsai soil mixes. With the fast draining
peroperties, one can feed more often.
I have an automatic watering system that goes off
twice a day. The mix I use is about 2/3 gravel. My
plants are healthy. I don't recommend you follow my
mix if you 1) water less than I do or 2) live in a
place more arid and hotter.
Kitsune Miko
--- Adam Gottschalk wrote:
In article ,
(Billy M. Rhodes) wrote:
I guess I missed something here. A lot of things
can condition soil. It
depends upon what you want it to do. Usually I
mean an organic component when
I
refer to soil conditioner, such as composted pine
bark.
This material sounds like it would be a substitute
for gravel. Ceramics
usually don't hold water, which of course makes
sense if it is meant to hold
plants in a pond.
I think your answer is no.
I felt I missed something too. Indeed, I think of a
wide variety of
organic amendments when I think of "conditioner",
what a good lab will
tell you to add after a soil test for example, from
alfalfa meal to
boron. Ceramic "gravels" are widely used in aquaria
(another developing
passion of mine) and are designed to be inert and
non-porous. They don't
condition a thing, except in aquaria where they are
used as a substrate
in which benefical bacteria can develop.
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=====
"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."
************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by John Quinn++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail
+++++