Repotting Fukien Tea

Regis

Hey all!

I've got a few questions about repotting of my indoor Fukien Tea. It's now standing in it's original soil, as I got it half-year ago. It seems like mud with soft mold on it's top - definitely the time to do repotting.

So my questions are:

- should I mix the soil elements together, or make a layered soil (for example the basic soil mix on the bottom and acadama layer on the top)?

- I decided to try a pure Acadama soil -> do you think it's good idea for Carmona Microphylla or would be the Acadama + some organic element (mixed 50/50) better solution? Then what particle size of Acadama should I use?

- can I change the soil completelly, or should I leave some original one to reduce the stress for the tree?

If the local weather does matter, then we have very hot & dry parts of the year here, but also cold winters.

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Regis

Please, if you could answer one of these questions, do it
I am mainly curious about the soil replacement -> if I should replace all of it, or leave some original soil there.

BonsaiMon

Regis,

The fukien tea may require some organic matter with hot and dry summers. What mix do you use for your other trees? I think maybe something like 20% instead of the 50/50 mix you talk about using.. Putting only acadama over holes and the rest your mix throughout the remainder of the pot.
As for the repotting.. I'd wait till early summer to do this and if the soil is as broken down as you say, hosing it clear would be a good thing. Hope this helps..

__________________
peace,
tom stoute

http://bonsaiinsights.spaces.live.com/

Stompy

I recently repotted mine. It came with potting soil and I used packaged bonsai soil. Almost totally small gravel. The tree is doing great even with very little organic matter. I found that I have to water it every few days or it begins to get droopy though.

erubeck

Regis,

I too am interested in the answer to your questions. I have had a Fukien Tea for two years and have been successful in keeping it alive and thriving. I have also learned about pruning and disease control but, as yet, have no experience with repotting. As the Fukien Tea is a bit tempramental I am reluctant to just jump in and repot it without knowing a little more about it.

I suspect that a little deeper than normal pot and soil with more than 50% organic matter might be beneficial but that is only a supposition.

Let's hope someone with a lot of Fukien Tea experience can give us some hints.

__________________
Regards,

Ed

Regis

BonsaiMon,
It was a mistake not to wait till somebody answer my question and I did the repotting without advices. Thanks for your post anyway!

Rest of the story is available in this thread: http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/showthr...=&threadid=5940

Stompy, erubeck: You should definitely read it, because of plenty of very useful advices given there.