What To Use If I Don't Have Akadama And Other Soil Fetishes.

FredL

Greggles, bonsai soil mixes vary quite a bit, just as natural soils vary, and depend greatly on what's available locally. Most trees will do fine in a wide variety of mixes, just as they do fine in a wide variety of natural soils. Unless, of course, money is no object.

There are certain priciples, but you should spend some time wandering around local garden supply stores or just your own neighborhood seeing what's available, then collect some reasonable components, mix them together and see what you get. If it is roughly the consistency of medium sized gravel with a fair amount of mulch, compost or other organic material, drains quicklywhen watered and you like how it looks, you've got it.

If there is a mistake that most of us make early on, it seems to be to make the mix too fine. I didn't realize for awhile that the "sand" often referred to in soil recipioes is actually gravel. Also, that the "sharper" the gravel, the better. Beyond that, the size of components is largely a matter of aesthetics.

I use a mix of about half small lava rock (but include pea gravel, gravel that I collect beside the roads and anything else, such as aquarium gravel, that happens to turn up), 1/3 wood or bark based mulch (right now I'm using the material that was left after the workmen fine-chipped a bunch of tree limbs, mostly oak, that were left from some trees being cut down around my house. In the past I've used hard wood mulch, small pine bark, Cypress mulch; pretty much any thing that was around the right size) and 1/6 (or a little less) loam from my vegetable garden. This is about what John Naka recommends in "Bonsai Techniques I. I also add the old mix when I repot to my new mix, adjusting the components according to how the old mix looks.

I do not bother to screen.

Now, the fact is that alot of very expert bonsaists will disagree vehemently with what I am doing. The fact that what I am doing works very well is testament to the fact that as long as your mix drains well, is reasonably fertile and retains water within the non-mineral components, it will work and probably work well.

So, my advice to you is to immediately step out and take action. Start trying things in order tp create a base of YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE! The trees want to be your partners and won't get mad at you if you make some mistakes. Just take your best shot; see how it works and make adjustments. In 2 or 3 years time, you'll know just as much as the rest of us about soils.

Fred