Yesterday I started sifting soil components, Turface and sand.
For an
experiment I bought three bags of all-purpose sand at Home
Depot to see
how it sifted out. Cost me $9. I had three bags of turface
left over
from last year. After sifting all three bags of sand I came
out with a
ratio of 1:4--3/4 of the sand sifted out as too fine. The
Turface came
out to about 4:1 -- only 1/5 sifted out. The Turface, at
around $10 a
bag, proved to be a much better deal. So much for trying to
stretch
the Turface by buying "cheap" sand.

Yes, but Turface and sand don't do the same thing in your bonsai
soil. Turface granules hold water. Sand grains don't. (Both
hold a little interstitially, probably about equally.) Depending
on tree and climate, you may need both. In my wet climate, I
should use more sand that Turface, but do not because I
discovered that HD's all-purpose sand most definately isn't ALL
purpose and I have no good sources for coarse enough sand.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Our life is
frittered away by detail . . . . Simplify! Simplify. -- Henry
David Thoreau - Walden

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