Jim Lewis

Bill asked:

> I'm very new to bonsai hobby. What soil ingredients do you
use for
> Bonsia? If you could break it down for
> Confiers
> Decidious tree
> Azaeles

========
Bill, welcome to bonsai!

We have a section on soil in the FAQ on our website (address
below).

Here is a part of a piece I've done for our "Knowledge Base"
section of the website. It's not up yet, or wasn't last I
looked, but deals with soil a bit. You will note that it isn't
something hard and fast. There's no one-size-fits-all soil
recipe:
============
One bonsai soil mixture will not do for everyone or every tree.
While we all want a light, well-draining soil, my light,
well-draining soil is not likely to be exactly the same as your
light, well-draining soil. Nor is the soil you chose for a bald
cypress (Taxodium distichum) likely to be the same as that used
for a southern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana).
The soil you use for your trees will depend on:
? Your Climate,
? The trees you grow, and
? Your bonsai habits.

The basic composition of a bonsai soil consists of 1/3 coarse
sand -- grains of 1/8 to just under 1/4 inch, with the smaller
sizes preferred -- to promote drainage; 1/3 an organic component,
such as ground sphagnum moss or pine or fir bark, that retains
moisture and holds nutrients, and 1/3 of a coarse, fired clay
(many bonsaiests use a product called Turface) also to help
retain nutrients and moisture. You can start with the
1/3-1/3-1/3 mixture and play with the proportions until you find
the one that works for you and your trees.

A bonsaiist from the damp Pacific Northwest grows some of his
trees in soils that consist primarily of fir bark, sometimes with
some granite chips or coarse sand mixed in. A bonsai nurseryman
from the hotter and drier part of northern California, also uses
a more or less pure fir bark for growing many of his pre-bonsai.
His mix is:
". . . very coarse with very large air spaces. The amount of fine
material should vary according to the container size. In small
pots very fine material is to be avoided, the perfect size would
be about 1/4 inch or a little less with no fines."

The mixture you end up with likely will be the result of a few
years of trial and error, after starting with the basic
three-part mix. You can buy pre-packaged "bonsai soil," but if
you have more than two or three trees, buying dirt can become
expensive. Your best bet is to purchase the components and mix
your own. Nurseries sell pine or fir bark mulch (get the mulch,
not the landscaping 'nuggets'). The sand can be bought from a
quarry. Coarse sandblasting sand is inexpensive. The sand used
for swimming pool filters, while a bit fine, is adequate. For the
clay, use Turface or a similar fired-clay material marketed as a
soil conditioner. Some growers use a product called "Oil Dry"
sold at auto supply stores, which is essentially the same but
perhaps a bit more fine grained.

Here's what the Internet Bonsai Club FAQ has to say about the
possible components of a good soil. Most of these materials will
be available from a well-stocked nursery, but I have added
suggestions for finding the less common materials.
Organic material
Organic peat humus
Sphagnum peat moss
Composted material,
Composted horse or cow manure (farm or stables, for
do-it-yourself compost)
Water-holding material
Turface
Terragreen
Orchid bark
Pine (or fir) bark
"Oil Dry" (from auto supply stores)
Drainage material
Granite chicken grit (farm and feed stores)
Quartz grit (farm and feed stores)
Coarse sand (sand and gravel pits, quarry)
River gravel (sand and gravel pit, quarry)
Aquarium gravel (pet supplies - expensive)
Volcanic sand (sometimes hard to find and too fine)
Sand blasting sand (some builder's supply stores, or sand
blasting firm)
Crushed volcanic rock (aquarium supply)
Perlite
Vermiculite
Haydite

I began this section by noting that the soil you choose depends
on three things -- Your climate, the trees you grow, and your
bonsai habits. Let's take these, one at a time.

If you live in the desert of south Texas, you'll choose a
different soil than I use here in the humid southeast, or that
someone up in Raleigh-Durham, NC might need. The soil you choose
may be heavier, and may retain more moisture than a soil I might
use down here -- but as a desert dweller you still may have to
water twice a day in mid summer. So, the humidity, the amount of
rain you have, the summer heat (and to a lesser extent, winter
cold), and the number of cloudy versus sunny days all become
factors in your decisions about soils.
No article can make those decisions for you.

To a large extent, the trees you grow also will depend on your
climate. But you do have some latitude, here. In my case, I
prefer some of the trees that prefer damp, sometimes outright
swampy habitats. My choice of soil, therefore, often is one that
holds more water than most. Other bonsaiests from my same town
may prefer trees that grow on upland, drier sites -- beech,
hornbeam, dogwood, sand pine. They would choose a lighter, more
fast-draining soil -- one with more sand or pine bark in it than
mine might have.

Only you know your bonsai habits. Do you water religiously? Do
you check each tree and water it individually? Do you water your
trees all at once -- whether some of them really need it or not?
Do you sometimes miss a day here and there? How you work with
your trees can affect the soil you choose. If you do as I tend
to do and water en mass, every day in our hot summers, you might
consider a freely draining soil (depending on the trees). If you
are a fussy waterer, and water each tree according to its needs,
you can more closely match the soil to each tree. If you tend to
be more haphazard about your watering, or are often out of town
for a day or two, a soil that holds water might be called for.

==========

Anyway, if you were looking for THE answer to soil . . . . there
ain't one.

Jim Lewis - jklewis@nettally.com - Tallahassee, FL - Only where
people have learned to appreciate and cherish the landscape and
its living cover will they treat it with the care and respect it
should have - Paul Bigelow Sears.

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