[IBC] soil
 

Does anyone have a reference to the right soil type for specific bonsai
species?
Any help will be welcome.
Thanks.
Claudio Fierro Neudörfer, Chile (Zone 9).
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[IBC] soil
 

And what about soil pH and species. What about peat moss? Does every
specie tolerate it?

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[IBC] soil
 

Does anyone have a reference to the right soil type for specific
bonsai
species?

===========

I'm afraid there is no such thing. There are too many variables.
Almost all bonsai will grow in the standard bonsai mix described
in our FAQ or in every bonsai book ever written.

For some trees you will learn from experience that in your
environment and with your watering regime and with the light your
bonsai get, etc. that this tree needs a little more organic
material, that tree needs less. This, however, can't be put into
a book because everyone's growing conditions are different.

It ALWAYS helps if you know the native habitat of the tree you
are growing.

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

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[IBC] soil
 

And what about soil pH and species. What about peat moss? Does
every
specie tolerate it?

Different plants _prefer_ different soil pH. Virtually ALL
plants will grow in soil that has a neutral pH. The major
exceptions in the bonsai world are the Rhododendron and
Vaccinium, both of which prefer quite acid soils (and would like
a little peat in their soil), and (most) juniper which will do
best with a slightly alkaline soil. (HOWEVER, both of these
Genera will do just about as well in a neutral pH soil.)

So, discussion of pH in bonsai pots is much ado about not much
and I would not lose ANY sleep worrying over it.

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

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[IBC] soil
 

So, discussion of pH in bonsai pots is much ado about not much
and I would not lose ANY sleep worrying over it.


Particulary if you use a full-spectrum (micronutrients included)
fertilizer with chelated iron.

The pH of soil influences the solubility of ions (which is to say,
nutrients). At neutral pH, calcium and magnesium are very soluble,
and iron, aluminum, manganese and other heavy metals aren't. This is
ideal for most plants. The reason ericaceous plants can grow in
acidic soil is that they have developed mechanisms to withstand heavy
metal toxicity, and require little magnesium.

In a bonsai pot, pH isn't important; every week you are pouring
solubilized nutrients onto the soil. Chelated iron is soluble at
much higher pH than iron ions, so even that is available. This is
why we can grow bonsai in soil-less media like turface or akadama,
and why bonsai don't necessarily need mycorrhizal fungi. They are at
a all-you-can-eat buffet of nutrients.

--
Nina Shishkoff

Frederick, MD

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