Turface vs. Amorphous diatomaceous earth.

Chappy56

I've used both floor dry and Turface and highly reccomend Turface. The Floor dry I used broke down in a third the time Turface will. When you buy Turface I've founf the "MVP" version is the coursest and is what is most suitable for Bonsai. Some landscapers use the MVP as well. The one here charges me $8 for 50 lbs.

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wabashene

Hello,

It sounds like you may have been reading the updates to Harry Harrington's article at bonsai4me.com which has been prompted by a plethora of emails from all over the world to the site asking for further information. I helped HH with some of the background work on the update.

The NAPA oil absober was a tip from a USA correspondent and it seems to be the same animal as the calcined Moler Clay cat litter available in Europe.

The Safety Data Sheet on Turface states that it is expanded and calcined Illite - a silica clay mined in Illinois originally and I think they are the same thing to all intents and purposes.

Basically you can use calcined diatomaceous earth cat litter/oil absorber as a straight swop for Turface as I don't feel it will make any material difference.

Your mix sounds rather like mine and I would say it is a good starting point.

I use all sorts of combinations including some trees in 100% high fired Moler Clay cat litter and my soil bin has become a mish mosh of organic and mainly inorganic as evidenced by the pic of a larch below.

When I re-pot, I add a bit more bark or whatever to the top of the bin and mix lightly depending on the tree. I tend to add a bit more bark for deciduous and a bit more cat litter for my coniferous. i.e. pine and juniper.

The trees in 100% cat litter need slightly more water even in the relatively balmy UK climate. You get an easy indication of when the surface is dry with the European cat litter as its goes light terracotta/pink - but of course it may still be wet underneath so you need to check the pot weight to see if it really is dry. (see pic 2)

You also need to up your fertilizer by 30% I'd say in totally inorganic. I cover this by using slow release pellets at the rate of 1 per 6 x 6 inch (15 x 15cm) of pot surface area and a monthly watering with a GP fertilizer solution at its recommended dosage.

Hope this helps.

TimR

P.S.

The joke in Southern UK is that because our Northern friends are notoriously thrifty they are always looking for a cheaper way to do things.

Fine by me
:-)

Attached Images

	soil for conifers.jpg (50.7 KB, 55 views)
	cat liter cup.jpg (14.2 KB, 53 views)

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Marie1uk

And I have also read that the lager down South is so weak that you can water your trees with it.

I've been really impesssed with LECA (Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregate) - it is still rock hard after a season's growth.

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mgc

Oildri.....! Really!?

Who woulda thunk it.
And here all along I've been using antlers ... (kidding!)

Thanks for the tip!!