Hey Tom,

thx info.

I'll find some locally and give it a try.

Best,
/jhd

Central Tennessee, USDA zone 6a-6b, Sunset zone 33

"Tom Kehoe" wrote in message
.. .
I was afraid you were going to ask that g. I'm not sure of the brand,
the
product is simply called "Soil Conditioner," although the trademark is
"The
Water Keeper." Billy, do you know the brand?

Most of the folks I know buy it locally at a place called Rockledge
Gardens
in Rockledge, FL. It's about $3 for a bag that holds a couple of cubic
feet -- about the size of a bag of wood chips.

A LOT of it is fines. Out of the bag, I'll get maybe four gallons of
useable
material, and 7-8 hallons of fines. That's not sunch a problem for me
because the fines do great things for the sandy soil around here. Because
it
rains so much down here, I like soil that drains really fast, so I sift
out
any organic particles smaller than 1/16 of an inch. I keep the particles
in
the 1/16 -- 3/16 range. I do keep some fine stuff, say 1/32 -- 1/16, for
soil for my mame: Smaller trees, smaller pots, smaller soil.

BTW: Sifting a bag or two like this with a set of hand sieves is Really
good
wrist exercise ....

tk


"John Dhom" bonsaiATdhomDOTnet wrote in message
...
Hey Tom,

Sounds good. Can you post a brand name or two that you use/have used?

How many sizes do you get out of soil conditioner?

About what percentage of the soil conditioner is fines?

Best,
/jhd

How would you characterize the yield (approximately)?
"Tom Kehoe" wrote in message
...
John,

Down here in the sub-tropical zone of Florida, one common formula for
bonsai
soil is one part sharp sand, one part turface, and one part
"organic" --
generally a fine pine chip that is sieved from a product called "soil
conditioner." The product is nothing more than well-decayed pine
mulch.
I
sieve mine by hand using standard bonsai soil sieves.

Tom Kehoe


"John Dhom" bonsaiATdhomDOTnet wrote in message
...
Hey all,

I'm spending inordinate amounts of time sieving my organic material
and
could use some encouraging words regarding a) better sources, b)
better
materials, c) better techniques, d) better tools. Currently I'm
using
pine
bark, by the bag from lowes/home despot. Typically I double screen
into
2
or
3 sizes. Too much wood parts to pull out and too little yield for
the
effort
expended. blah, blah, blah.

I like to use the same mix, components, for my big herb/flower
containers
as
well. So, in terms of quantity I'm looking at less than a pickup
truck
load
of sieved organic material, all sizes combined, per year.

Generally speaking I see 3 categories of options...
1) better source material (bulk sized a la Brent/CA, bark/bark
product
with significantly better yield)
2) better sieve (read bigger)
3) mechanical sieve (hammer mill, whatever)

So... given the quantity I need what are your thoughts?

BTW... I'm currently planning a trip to a tree farm in
McMinnville(sp?),
they do containers, to see what they're using for their mix. My
current
round of calls is a search for hammer mill rental (with replaceable
screens)
with the intent of using bark mini-nuggets as source.

Help me, help me, help me

Central Tennessee, USDA zone 6a-6b, Sunset zone 33