Jim: No need to insult the author out of ignorance. The Simon &
Schuster's Guide to Bonsai (as well as the identical The
MacDonald Encyclopedia of Bonsai) was authored by the eminent
Italian bonsai artist, Gianfranco Georgi. Gianfranco was a major
player in bonsai a couple of decades ago. He also served a few
terms on the Board of Directors of BCI. I last saw him at the
BCI convention in Orlando in 1993.
I have no idea where he is currently or how he is doing,
but please do not assume the author is ignorant of bonsai. As you
well know, it is not always the author's fault when a book is
published with bad photos, etc. Sometimes they have control, but
often they do not.
Alan Walker
http://bonsai-bci.com http://LCBSBonsai.org


-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Lewis

Regarding the soil. We bought it in nearby garden shop as
bonsai soil.
The truth is it does not look like the rest of the soil in the
pot. It
does resemble (on touch, look) the layer that was there before,
that
is the clay pieces... As I wrote elsewhere in this thread, we
draw our
information on the book "Simon & Schuster's Guide to Bonsai".
Their
ideal mixture for *repotting* is 60% humus-rich soil, 10% peat
and 30%
of coarse sand. Since we removed about an inch of the top
layer, we
thought we'd replace it by the mixture above but its
composition is
quite different. I'm getting a bit confused here...

Oh, aaargh! ONE of the problem with bonsai books is that they're
written everywhere and translated into everything, and that does
lead to confusion.

S&SGtB was written in Italy and later translated into English --
possibly by someone who has never grown (or maybe even seen) a
bonsai. Heaven only knows what the original text said, but the
translator gave you 70% humus -- which isn't a very good idea,
since humus is rotting leaves, worm casing, etc. -- ORGANIC --
stuff, which rots and gets mushier and mushier. The peat also is
organic and comes in MANY forms (most of them not suited for
bonsai soil in any great amount) and "coarse" sand varies
according to one's definition of "coarse" (of course). I have
the book, but haven't paid attention to the soil bit since I got
it well after I'd killed my share of trees for this or that
stupid reason.

So. Your tree should be planted in the soil you bought as
"bonsai soil," assuming it is at least 50 percent baked clay and
30 percent pine bark and 20 percent coarse sand (or, 70-30
clay-sand or clay-bark) with NO mushy humus.

I don't remember where you live, but there are bonsai clubs in
surprising locations. Goto www.absbonsai.org or to
www.bonsai-bci.com and find their pages that list clubs in N.
America. There's probably one near you.

Failing that, send Carl Rosner an e-mail (he answered one of your
earlier questions and have him walk you though the art of
transplanting a Fukien tea into good bonsai soil. Or, seeing as
how that garden shop handles something called bonsai soil maybe
that's an indication somewhere there knows something about
bonsai?????????????

Go also to www.internebonsaiclub.org, click on the "knowledge
base" and read some of the articles there -- especially the one
about soils.

As far as news readers go, I don't do newsgroups too often (I
read these messages via the linked e-mail list) but do a google
search for free and newsgroups and see what pops up.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Only where
people have learned to appreciate and cherish the landscape and
its living cover will they treat it with the care and respect it
should have - Paul Bigelow Sears.

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