On 17 Feb 2005 at 2:49, Tex John wrote:

Assuming the list is back up...and that I have a set of Japanese soil
screens...

I hate to ask this, but...I lost my main client and I just got my wife
working so bonsai soil is low on the money list...how bad REALLY is a nice
big bag of oil dry from Northern Tools? Silted through some window screening
of course...

Put a small handful in a pan of water. Bring it to a hard boil
for a while, then let it cool and sit overnight. If it's still
not mush the next morning, it's OK. Oil-Dri has the reputation
of being a bit inconsistent, but it's made by the same folks
that make Turface or one of the other baked clay conditioners.

Otherwise, look in our archives. I listed names and websites of
all the major soil conditioner mfgs about 3 weeks ago; you
probably can find a supplier of one of them in your area.


On top of that, what is the cheapest bark mulch or organic component?

I've begun relying exclusively on a locally mixed potting soil --
decomposed bark, oak leaves, peat, small pea gravel -- that I
get for $3.75 for 20 pounds at my local, home-town nursery. You
should be able to find something similar if you have a good
locally-owned nursery in your area.

Dad got me half a dozen big starter pots at Dallas Bonsai at Thanksgiving
but my oldest boy has dumped most of my sifted builder's sand out behind the
garage and, well, in Houston, some of those buds are a-swelling'


Builder's sand is too fine, anyway.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Nature
encourages no looseness, pardons no errors. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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