Theo,
Orchid bark is the ground up sequoia bark that orchid growers use for
potting. Actually you want "Baby" orchid bark which is about 1/4" chunks.
( some of the sizes can get quite large for orchids) Nice and clean with no
dust. It's packaged in 2 or 3 cu/ft bags. I get mine from an orchid
groweer/supplier so I've never looked elsewhere for it. Try looking in
yellow pages or calling a big nursery for grower info locally.I don't think
it's really any better than finer ground pine bark ( if you can find it) or
partially decompossed fine pine bark potting component ( even harder to
find, (Try "Summit" BTW) but it's usually, for me anyway, easier to find
and is pretty good sized and uniform for bonsai, and, it looks nice in the
pot.
BTW, this is a good spot to pop in something I forgot to mention in my
earlier mail about soils "I" use and fertilizer. I forgot to mention that a
couple times a year now I'll sprinkle some "Espoma" fertilizer on trees.
I've been using it about 5 years since I started seeing it on shelves. It's
all natural powder that is VERY similar to ingredients in my poo balls,
except it's ground fine. It comes in several NPK mixes and some of the types
are "plant tone", "tree tone" , "holly tone" and I think maybe a couple
others. I have also , a couple times, thrown a couple handfulls into soil
mix when I was mixing up a wheelbarrow for something specific in mind. It's
a real good product and fairly cheap in 10 or 25 pound bags.
Regards,
Dale
----- Original Message -----
From: "Theo"
Subject: [IBC] Satsuki problem, soils ( I changed the title as subject
HI
very interesting
one question what is "orchid bark"?
dalecochoy wrote:
azalea was planted in a standard mix of turface, haydite, orchid bark,
and
Michael Persiano
My normal soil FOR EVERYTHING ( Including azaleas) is haydite, large
silica sand, orchid bark and either a LITTLE forest humus or decompossed
pine bark
Dale " How can I use unsifted soil?" Cochoy
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