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Old 5-Oct-2004   #10
Will_Heath
 
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Join Date: Apr-2004
Location: Clinton Township, MI
Country: USA
USDA Zone: 6 MI
Posts: 4,227
Quote:
Originally Posted by Walter_Pall

for most conifers and rather dry loving trees:

80 % pumice or 'turface' or lava split, or akadama or similar of a mixture of all these
20 % peat


for non-conifers (broadleaved trees) and some conifers like spurce:

60 % see above
40 % peat

no compost, no other organic ingredients.


For azaleas and other ericaceous plants:

100 % kanuma or 50 % peat and 50 % pumice


http://walter-pall.de look how healthy my trees look with this simple soil regime.


This is what I was looking for. I would not hesitate to give this advice to anyone.

Now lets call this the base mix

(A) 80 % pumice or 'turface' or lava split, or akadama or similar of a mixture of all these
(B) 20 % peat


for non-conifers (broadleaved trees) and some conifers like spurce:

(A) 60 % see above
(B) 40 % peat


For a wetter climate add slightly more of (a) to the basic mix
For a drier climate or a lazier schedule add more of (b) to the basic mix
If you do not want to worry about feeding regularlly than add (c) to the basic mix


etc etc etc

It would seem that a table of some sort using a base mix such as this would go a long way in helping people who are first starting out or people who are revaluating there own mix. It is of course customizable to different needs and could contain alternative materials to use in case the listed one can not be found.

A simple approach that would solve most debates and give every one a base line to start from or to compare to.

I hope I'm starting to make sense here,

Will
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