Bil Corcoran says Let's discuss this more.
O.K., here are my 2c.
I have fussed about soil for more than 40 years, looking back over my
shoulder at guys like Hal Mahoney, who uses 50% peat and 50% builder's sand,
and Horst Krekeller, who uses "anything I can get my hands on".
Both of these gents are first class bonsai men, and both have first class
trees. What does that tell me? It says that
soil composition is far less important than how the individual grower deals
with watering, sunlight and fertilizer. We have to know the water retention
rate of our mix, the leaching effect, sun vs. shade effect, and deep pot
vs. shallow pot effect. We also have to know how nutrients break down in
our particular mix.
Want know what I use? This year it's Granni-grit ( crushed granite),
crushed feather rock, Scultz's clay soil conditioner, crushed charcoal, and
ground cedar chips
(Cedarcide). As time goes by, I use less and less organic material and more
inorganic. Why? Because I have more time now to water whenever things look
too dry. Very unscientific, but quite practical.
Marty
----- Original Message -----
From: "Corcoran. Bil"
To:
Sent: Thursday, July 01, 2004 11:42 AM
Subject: [IBC] organic component


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