FredL

Ron, this is a very interesting subject and one that I'm happy to see has been resurrected.

I found myself pondering your initial comment about there being so many different opinions on this subject and opinions on it often being held quite passionately.

Certainly it is true that a great many different soil mixes are used successfully. Why is it that I am so attatched to mine?

At another site, I found my suggestions on soil mix attacked with great heat. Now, I never said that my mix is the only one that will work of even that it is best. I merely said that it worked very well for me and that I had learned recently that it was quite similar to the ones recommended by John Naka in "Bonsai Techniques I". With the result that J. Naka also came under the same heated attack!

So what was up?

I tend to think that soil has a sort of mystical link to some very deep parts of our psyches and the sort of substrate we want to nurture our trees with and on is somehow representative of something that goes beyond our rational reasons for the choices we make with it. I know that for me, I have an intense love of the natural world and view soil as a kind of benign living being made up of a fascinating multitude of tiny living beings, all contributing to a web of well being that supports my little trees. It is important to me that my soil mixes represent and extend this view into the small piece of natural wonder that bonsai represents to me. I, therefore, want to make my soil as close to what I view as "Natural Mother Earth" as I can. I do not sift or screen my mixtures; I merely make sure that I include sufficient gravel-like material to ensure fast drainage. The key idea is to make the mix more like dirty gravel than like dirt with gravel in it. My basic gravel component is generally small lava rock; either black or red. I like it because it is so rough. I will also include "pea gravel" because I think it makes the mix more interesting to look at close-up. I make up about 1/2 of my mixtures with this material.

For the organic comonent, I use almost anything that is of half-way reasonable size and doesn't look like it will break down into humus in a few months.

I also add a little (perhaps 1/6 to 1/10) garden loam, which I will vary depending on how the rest of the mix looks. Less if the gravel looks dusty or the mulch looks more likely to break down quickly, otherwise more. Personally, I think the issue of small particles is overblown. Humus and clay are colloids. I have not found that they accumulate at the bottom of a pot but stay pretty well disbused throughout my mixtures.

Now, when I got taken to task for misleading new commers with my idea of a proper soil mixture, it seemed to be around the issues that I had insufficient control of my soil components and that it is much wiser to use components that we have complete control over. Also, that the growth of potentially harmful organisms should be minimized.

Now, I don't mean to say that these ideas are wrong. I do mean to say they are not for me. I am first and foremost a Naturalist. I see myself trying to create a good soil ecology, not a sterile hydroponic environment. I want my trees to be little pieces of the natural world, not artificial constructs. When I see the term "living sculptures" used to describe bonsai, I see the emphasis as being on "living".

And, that goes for the soil as well.

Fred