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27-Aug-2001
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#1 |
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bonsaiTALK Journeyman
Join Date: Aug-2001
Posts: 17
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Soil Mixes
By John on Saturday, January 1, 2000 - 02:41 am:
What do you think is a good recipe for pines and maples? |
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Soil Mixes |
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30-Aug-2001
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#2 |
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Tips:5¢ Advice:Free
 
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Re: Soil Mixes
Among bonsai, Pine really demands perfect drainage, especially in the confines of a bonsai container. They're much pickier than maples. The mix you use will depend on your climate and your watering schedule. If it tends to rain a lot in your area, you'll need a mix that drains more rapidly, for example. Be sure to sift or wash the fines out of the soil for the pines especially. Anything that will pass through a window screen is probably too small for use, and will tend to clog the soil.
Recently, many of us in the Santa Clara area have begun incorporating some akadama (Japanese Red Clay Soil) in our soil blends and the trees seem to be responding with more fibrous roots. We had been using a mixture of fine orchid bark, sharp sand and 1/8-1/16 lava or decomposed granite. Using about one-fourth soft, red akadama in maples and 1/4-1/3 parts baked akadama in your pines, juniper and other needle evergreens is an idea you might try. Talk to growers in your area who have been successful, or experiment with different percentages of the basic ingredients to see what's most successful for you
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28-Sep-2001
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#3 |
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bonsaiTALK Master Chief
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Re: Soil Mixes
Matt: Just a thought on decomposed granet, we droped decomposed granet from our soil mixes ten years ago. It seemed to reduce vigor and in general cause problems with dranage even after sifting. We lost most of our problems as soon as we droped decomposed granet out of our soil mix. This next week we will mix ten cubic yards of bonsai soil for our spring potting. The most often used container is a two gallon squat nursery container. The only organics that we put into the mix is red wood humis.
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ripsgreentree It requires an open hand to give and to recieve. |
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19-Oct-2001
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#4 |
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bonsaiTALK Craftsman
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Re: Soil Mixes
I'd like some advice on soils myself.
I used to think that normal compost with some extra sharp sand or git was enough! I went to a bonsai nursery in the week and showed some soils that they use...it seemed to me like lots of stones and no fine stuff to hold goodness? i must be wrong but thats the way i think at present..could anyone explain how such a soil can be good? it had stones and small loam pieces in i think but as i said to me it seemed different from what i thought was correct... Can anyone help!? Graeme...
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19-Oct-2001
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#5 |
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Tips:5¢ Advice:Free
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Re: Soil Mixes
You may be seeing some kind of fired clay in that mix that looks like stone to you. *Buy or borrow a little and wet it down and see how its properties change. *In Japan, trees are frequently potted in a mixture of sharp sand and akadama, which is a red clay that can be be used either fired or unfired; and azaleas are often potted in 100% kanuma, which is a yellow volcanic product related to pumice but with some very unique properties that let it wick moisture right into the core of the particle. *Roots even grow into it.
In general, as any soil becomes finer, more moisture can be held between the particles by surface tension. *So it's possible to create bonsai soils that have no organic content whatsoever. *I have seen conifers potted in soil-less mixtures, even 100% sand or 100% perlite, for that matter. *Watering and ensuring they receive trace minerals and fertilizer becomes more critical, so I wouldn't recommend going to these extremes except in special cases like a collected juniper or something where you need absolutely fantastic drainage at the expense of every other concern. Regards, Matt
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20-Oct-2001
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#6 |
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bonsaiTALK Master Chief
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Re: Soil Mixes
Graemek: Lets see if we can change your way of thinking a little bit. First lets consider your fine soil with goodies in it. In nature when a tree is in the ground the roots are ever expanding die back and grow out again nothing to contain them. Now if you put this fine soil into a confined pot the roots have to stay and servive in the little bit of soil that is in this pot. All organic material over a three year period will decompose into silt. This will further clog the roots in a small pot. Soon water will not penitrate, and if it does the soil is saturated with no oxygen for the root to breath. So now it is either too wet or too dry. Next thought is roots don't just take up nutrients they also leave material behind in the soil. If your soil is too fine with too much organic material you get bildups of these materials and in a pot the plants roots can not get away from this material. The solution is to create a soil that lets water and air into the pot. When water washes threw a soil mixture that is chunkie it moves fast enough to wash out materials that you don't want. It also washes out nutrients that you do want so it is importiant that you feed plants that are potted into a hard draning soil. The last thought for you is that as a bonsai enthuiast we are attempting to keep our trees at the peak of health and not just alive. Many years ago we had a master fron the bay aeria come to fresno to teach pine needle reduction techniques. What he ended up saying to the whole group was that our trees were not healthy enough to work on, for all of us to first learn how to keep trees in good health. It was at that time that I started working on soil mixtures to see if I could improve the health of my trees. Last soil mixtures are like paint on the wall, its all paint but many diffrent colors. The same with soil mixtures, it is all soil but a little bit diffrent for every environment and temprature range. The challeng is for you to see what the older bonsaiests are doing and addapt it to your environment to create your own success.
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ripsgreentree It requires an open hand to give and to recieve. |
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