Soils: Any Opinions?

RonMartin(deceased)

As I said in my post it can be used for anything but remember it is sterile. No nutrients to it. Make sure that you attend to a proper fertilizing schedule.
IMHO not the best but it will work.

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Bart Thomas(deceased)

Hi, Ron.

Thanks for your latest intelligent commentary on soil.

Too many folks make soil mix a "religious" issue: long on dogma; short on fact.

I have forwarded your post to our club newsletter editor, noting your permission.

BTW, I was looking for you at Jim Valavanis's seminar this weekend (after all, it was at a Holiday Inn!) Sorry not to have found you. I'll try to post pictures later.

I guess I now qualify as a bonsai nut! Last night, although exhausted, I looked at a Rocky Mountain Juniper I had worked on in a workshop, found that the roughed-out jins bothered me. So, at 1:30 am, I went out to the car in my pajamas, got my large root cutter, concave cutter and large household pliers, and went to work.

This morning, I mentioned it to another fellow, and he said he had done the same thing!

Had to leave a tip for the maid though. Chips all over the room!
She's lucky I didn't bring in my grinder!



Regards,

Bart

TreeBay

Bart is that Bill Valavanis, or is there a "smarter brother?"

Regards,

Matt

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TreeBay

Which grade(s) of Turface are you using? I have been looking for MVP, which I understand to be better graded, but the stuff I have found is about 20% fines, which does seem to merit sifting, at least when used as a soil component.



http://www.profileproducts.com/turface/index.html

Regards,

Matt

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RonMartin(deceased)

Been a while since I have been able to go any place except South. But things are loosening up a bit so one never knows where you might see me next.

Jay

Matt I agree the MVP is the better of the Turface products available. I find that there are at least 20% fines present and I do sift before use.

Bart, can not wait to see you at the Club meeting Tuesday, want to hear about the big weekend at Bill's, wish I could have made it!

Ron, great thread, you DID supply answers to questions, and you also provided food for thought. I try and keep my soil mix simple, but have learned that if I am using different elements in the mix I must try and keep the particle sizes similar. If not they seem to fill the gaps in each other and that ain't good.

I was at a demo where Kathy Shaner mentioned tha in her opinion people in the northeast (and probably other cold weather climates) should not use crushed granite as a soil element. She felt that our temps were too cold for this. I'm not sure I understand why, can someone help me on this

Jay

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RonMartin(deceased)

I sift everything that goes into my soil mixes. But I don't waste the fines. Mixing them together with a bit of composted peat humus makes an excellent potting soil for the wife's flowers. What she doesn't us the neighbors fight over )

Emperor Fish

Jay,

My teacher says the same thing about the Japanese growers. In Tokyo he says they use straight Akadama, but in the south where the winters are warmer they use gravel also.

If you take a handful of Akadama in one hand and a handful of crushed granite in the other, the granite certainly feels colder. I suppose the Aka just helps the root-zone stay warmer?? This could just be another one of those bonsai myths though.

Personally, I use a load of grit in my mixes for conifers, but then my primary concern is getting too much rain, rather than too much cold.

Ron - nice article. Just a quick question. Although soil is obviously necessary to anchor the tree into the ground in nature, I don't think that this really is the case in a pot. Certainly MOST of my trees are anchored in with wire, without it, for the first year or two the openess of bonsai soil would not stop my trees from falling out of their pots. However, once the roots have colonised the pots and the soil has decomposed slightly, the wire is not necessary. I leave it on though for the party trick of lifting trees by the trunks!

Regards,

Fish.

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RonMartin(deceased)

Thanks
It has been several years since I have wired trees into pots. I have found that if they are potted properly in a good soil mix it is unnecessary. (for me at least)
If I remember correctly that last time the wind blew a tree out of a pot was in 1989. But then Hurricane Hugo had something to do with that )
I live in South Carolina and we are prone to some pretty nasty thunderstorms with a lot of wind and heavy rains. But unlike others I have no problems with either soil washing out of the pots or the trees taking a swan dive.
Maybe I am just lucky.
One thing you might consider though if you do wire your trees in is to use aluminum wire to do so. Copper wire has a drawback. Free standing copper is toxic to most root systems. It won't usually kill the tree just the roots that come in direct contact with it. A minor problem but an easy one to get around.