Pine Bark?

weirdowl

Hello,
I've been reading in a lot of places that pine bark is a good soil ingredient. My question is, what kind of pine bark? There are lots of pine trees in my area(southeast TN), so can I just go out and peel off some of their bark and use that? I don't know the name of the species but will try to find out if need be.
Also, there sometimes is a white mold growing on the bark of these trees. I know that the white mold found in the soil of some pine bonsai trees is kept and is good for the tree. Is the mold growing on the bark of the pines around here the same thing?

Thanks for any help.

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weirdowl

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The white stuff on the bark is probably a lichen. The stuff in the soil is different. Around here we use orchid bark, which is a "Fir bark" chipped off Douglas Firs in the process of making lumber and pulp for paper.

Regards,

Matt

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pdbbonsai

I think if you are going to collect it, it would need some break down time in a compost pile to be preform well in a bonsai soil. A friend of mine uses Hemlock bark, and it looks purty in his soil. He uses a wood chipper to shred it up, then sifts. It is all a matter of taste I think.

I buy a bag of composted pine bark at the nursery, "BIO-GOLD" something or another. I sift the fines out and the big stuff and keep the stuff in the middle. Labor intensive yes, but ya get what ya need for bonsai. The pine bark is already breaking down so it is already ready for your soil mix.


Good luck

Paul

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sankastaff

weirdowl,

I live in middle Tennesee and this year I got tired of looking at all the trees in my yard so I cut all the pines down. I stripped the bark off the pines and ran it through a chipper and have a large pile of composting pine bark to use this spring .I will sift the bark putting the larger chunks into the flower beds the middle sizes will go into the bonsai soil and the fines will go into the rose beds ( i got a bag of pine nuggets from lowes and it looked the same as my home made pine nuggets)so it should work for you to.


Steve

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