Seedlings And Grow Box

TreeBay

I think you should sift the oak soil and discard anything that will pass through a window screen. Oaks won't tolerate poor drainage. The amount of crushed rock in the soil will affect its consistency and the frequency you'll need to water. But adding grit isn't necessarily going to improve your drainage. If you had a coarse mix and added fine grit, that would not improve drainage, for example.

For the soil, it really comes down to the size of the soil particles and how much water they hold, but the depth of the container makes a bigger difference than even that.

I can't really tell you if you need more or less because that comes down to how frequently you want/need to water your plants. It may call for some experimentation by mixing up some soil batches and seeing how fast they drain and how long they hold water (no bonsai required for this test!)

Plants usually do quite well in growing boxes with good drainage. Compared with bonsai pots, boxes promote good root growth, so I don't think you will have any problems if you provide a lot of drainage area.

If you intend to bare root the trees for transplanting, you would want them dormant. I am sure the Gardenworks people can make some specific suggestions for you.

Regards,

Matt

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