Hi Carl,
Thanks for taking the time to bring these points up.
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Originally Posted by Carl_Bergstrom
When you use organic fertilizer on a sterile inorganic medium (e.g. pure akadama) these develop quickly (perhaps by windborne spores - I don't know.)
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Of course, good point, these can be introduced, even by adding a small amount of the old soil to the new mix.
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Originally Posted by Carl_Bergstrom
Though I adjust component sizes according to pot size, I use exactly the same mix across species - with good results. I water everything to saturation, daily. With a good well-draining inorganic mix, this is not a problem for the dry-loving species (say, bristlecone) nor for the wet-loving (say, wisteria.) Presumably this is easier to get away with in Seattle than in Dallas, but anyway....
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I would think that Seattle would be wetter than my climate.
I use a very free draining mix and theoretically could water every hour on the hour without over wetting my soil. However, I still find that my pines (Muhgos, Spruce, and Larch excluded.) enjoy it more when I wait until they are almost completely dry before watering again. Sometimes this is twice a day in July, sometimes it is every third day. It all depends on the temperature, the wind, the cloud cover, and the growth rate of the tree.
Having a mix that does not allow you to over-water is great but it does not cover the other end of the equation which is the species that prefer to dry out between waterings, on these I do not water daily.
I have found that the amount of time it takes for a mix to dry out varies even on the same species depending on such small things as location, time of day watered, and if my neighbor watered his lawn on that day.
My mind has a hard time imagining giving my Wisteria and my pines the same amount of water on a daily basis. Although, I must admit that your results are hard to debate.
Respectfully,
Will