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[IBC] Bonsai Soil Materials
I've watched the threads on bonsai soils with interest as I have just
given a talk on materials for growing bonsai to my local club. Please take the following thoughts with the required "grain of salt" as I've only been doing bonsai for about 5 years. First, the only consistent I've found in discussions of bonsai soil is that it must be free draining. If it isn't, take it out and start over. Second, the whole subject of soil is so complex with interrelated factors that there doesn't seem to be any reasonable possibility that a "cook-book" statement of what is bonsai soil is possible. You'll have to look over the possibilities and make your best guess as to what soil will work for you and your condition. Sorry about that but that appears to be the facts of bonsai life. Guess, try, correct seems to be the only way you can find out. The result of this is that your mistakes will not survive. Try to keep is simple and keep records. Third, since you are experimenting, work with cheap materials. I'm still in my "kill a weed" phase so I dig a lot of landscape material which I think will have good potential. If I guess wrong, the failure goes out with the yard trimmings. The successes will eventually go into bonsai pots and MAY eventually become something interesting. Now, bonsai soil materials. I keep screened (mostly) material separate and then mix for the specific plant. As a result, I have multiple buckets and cans in my potting shed. Here's what I have and why: Perlite - It's white, ugly and floats. It's also very cheap and holds moisture while being fast draining. I use it as part of mixes for newly collected plants and those still needing much development. In these cases, the material works very well. I don't think I'll ever use it in a bonsai pot but I can't do without it for collected material which will be totally bare-rooted when potted into training pots for style development. I get it at my local big-box store, Home Depot, although possibly obtainable from your nursery supplier in small quantities. Vermiculite - Pretty much the same as perlite except not so ugly and white and doesn't seem to float. Usable for smaller collected material and perhaps for very small bonsai and companion plants. Some of these smaller pots may actually have vermiculite as a component if I anticipate annual re-potting. If the mix seems to break down too fast, then I discontinue it for that plant at the next re-pot. Also obtained at a big-box store or nursery. Peat moss (or Moss peat for the European contingent) - Dangerous stuff which I only use for acid- and moisture-loving plants, specifically, azaleas. It is very fine and I do not sift it but I also only use a small amount as a mix component, say 5%-10%. Again, a big-box store or nursery purchase. Now the main stuff: Baked Clay - This is the Turface, Terragreen, Mule Mix, etc. stuff. It drains very well but holds moisture as the water does soak into the individual particles. I use it as one of two main, inorganic, components. If I have a plant which likes water, then this is the main component. I get it at an auto parts store. I go in and ask for a bag of "oil-dri". Since Turface (I think, although it might be Terragreen) is made by the Oil-Dri Corporation, the stuff is usually the same as the bakes clay products everyone is recommended. There is one caveat, the stuff is also used as kitty litter. Kitty litter is NOT the same, although baked clay can be used for kitty litter. How to I tell the difference? I screen some (to remove the fines) and put it in a jar of water. After a few days, the kitty litter stuff turns to mush, suitable only for muck on slab plantings. If it hasn't turned to mush in a few weeks, then it's baked hard. I have yet to have a bag I've gotten from an auto parts store fail this test. Since it is used to soak up oil on a garage floor, the usual auto parts store doesn't want it to become mush either. If it did, then the garage people couldn't sweep it up and would not deal with that auto parts store any more. Here is one of the "grain of salt" points. I have not been doing this long enough to have a pot which has not been re-potted for 5-10 years. Some pines may have this long a re-potting schedule. Pea Gravel - The other inorganic component, screened to eliminate anything over 1/4" and fines. I use this where the plant wants dryer soil. I always want some moisture holding component, so this is usually used in conjunction with the baked clay. I get this from my local nursery. I check the bag to see that most of the gravel is less than 1/4". Shredded Bark - The organic component. This is the tough one for me. I use to get bags of "organic soil conditioner" but haven't seen this recently. What I'm now doing is to take pine bark mulch and put it through a garden shredder. Since this device seems to be hard to come by, I can not recommend any replacement. Perhaps your local big box store or nursery can order the "organic soil conditioner" for you. Good luck on this component and let me know what you've found as I'm tired of shredding bark. Either way, screen the end result. Now that you've got stuff, mix it in proportion depending on your plant's individual needs. I use Naka's book and Herb Gustafson's to get an initial mix ratio. The books which tell me to use "loam" or 'garden soil" are not a big help to me as essentially I'm using a "soil-less" mix. Good luck and have fun - jay Jay Beckenbach - Melrose, FL - Zone 8b/9a - ************************************************** ****************************** ++++Sponsored, in part, by Bob Pastorio++++ ************************************************** ****************************** -- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ -- +++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++ |
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