Would anyone recommend this soil?!?!?!?!?!

kcpoole

Hi eeiko

for all of my trees I a mix prepared by Ray Nesci which has a fair amount of organics in it.

I recently purchased 2 JBP from Koreshoffs closing sale, and had to slip pot one of them and it is potted up in what looks like the gravel from my fish tank! There is verry little organics in it from my quick lookie see at the roots. I will know more when I do a repot in winter.
But it has got me thinking of whether there is some advantage in potting up in 100% inorganics as many people here recommend. I am going to see if I can find something to use that is readily available in AUS.
Seems like high fired clay in the form of Kitty litter or Oil soakup products is popular overseas so I will see what can be found here.

As for Figs, i repot mine in late summer and have done 1 so far and will be doing the rest this week.

Ken

__________________
When engineers work out how to make something Idiot proof, humanity invents a better Idiot

Advertisement

JayC

Ken,

If you find anything suitable as far as fired clay goes for Sydney siders, PLEASE post up your results. I have tested four brands of kitty litter, and "fat catcher" (the fired clay stuff for catching the fat and oils under a BBQ) with no success. None of them even got into my mix before i decided they were unsuitable. Good luck!

JayC

kcpoole

Hi Jay Sure will

I was looking thru the posts on soils for some hints and found this post
http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/f8/oil-dri-uk-17211.html

And thought to check out the link mentioned in the last post
http://www.bonsai4me.com/Basics/Basicscatlitter.htm

and saw the company mentioned "Maidenwell" so checked out their website and sent them a mail to see if i can get their products in sydney. I sent the mail 4 pm ish yesterday ( unday) and had a reply from them last night! Great Response eh!

Apparenlty they have 2 uppliers in sydney so will be checking them out re pricing.

Will keep all posted with what I find.

Ken

__________________
When engineers work out how to make something Idiot proof, humanity invents a better Idiot

kcpoole

OK all

I have found a supplier in Sydney of "Maidenwell" Diatomacious Earth growing medium
http://www.maidenwelldiatomiteaustr...cts/default.htm

Available at Enfield Produce, 02 97475713, open 6 days

price is $18/ 40 litre bag.

I am going to pick some up next week So Jay I will let you know what I find out by posting here.

All i need now is to find other ingredients for a mix

Decomposed Granite
Lava rock or Pumice ( or both)
and possibly some organic material ( pine bark)

If any one in sydney know whare to source these locally can you let me know?

Ken

__________________
When engineers work out how to make something Idiot proof, humanity invents a better Idiot

JayC

Hi Ken,

Thank you so much for that, please keep us updated, i hope for all of us this stuff works

Since i had run out of the koreshoffs mix and i had nothing left to use, i decided to make my own soil a few weeks ago. I would have really liked to have included fired clay in my mix........

My mix includes:

Coarse Nepean river sand. This sand was bought at a local hardware store, and the "sand" could more accurately be called fine gravel. Once sifted to a minimum 2mm particle size, you are left with roughly 3/4 what you started with. 20 litres cost me $4.

Orchid mix. The orchid mix i chose was by "orchid care services". It came in a a few different bag sizes and i bought the largest which was 50 litres and cost me $24. Its in a long thin bag which is clear with purple and white writing (I bought it from "Hargraves nursery", roughly 10 minutes from Ray Nesci's nursery). If there were any fines in this, they are in my bonsai pots because i thought the amount was insignificant. Most of my trees are in grow pots at the moment, so none of the particles were too large for this purpose although i did pull out a few of the larger chunks for trees in bonsai pots.

Zeolite. I'm sure you know where to get this I estimate the bag is about 35 litres? for some reason it is given in weight, not volume (I'm assuming that is because it is used mainly for the petrochemical industry and not gardening). This bag cost me $15.

I mixed them in the ratios i have (e.g. i mixed half a bag of each ingredient, then added whatever i felt was more important for the tree.....i.e. my maples will get more organic, my junipers got more zeolite and my melaleucas got a bit more sand).

I'm still in early days of testing and have only done a few repots as of yet. With this mix, i end up with about 100 litres for $43........I'm very happy with any soil that costs less than a dollar a litre........more money to spend on trees, pots, tools, etc.

I will also be interested if there is a local source of pumice, lava or decomposed granite.......

JayC

kcpoole

OK you win :-)
Where did you find zeolite!
I have tried Bunnings, and such to no avail I have looked at nurseries as there are not many near me.

What local hardware had "Course River Sand" all the ones i tried have stuff that looks like normal river sand.

I got me some "Maidenwell Diatomite" today so will experiment with it. It is quite soft and breakable, and seems to hold heps of moisture

If anyone in Aus knows of suppliers of any of the following, can you let me know

Crushed Lava Rock
Crushed Pumice
Decomposed Granite

Thanks

Ken

__________________
When engineers work out how to make something Idiot proof, humanity invents a better Idiot

ShohinFan

Hi Ken,
Try a garden pond supply store, I purchased zeolite from one to clear a green pond once.

Mark

__________________
Plant hardiness zone - Australia 4, USA 10
"The clever cat eats the cheese, then waits at the mouse hole with baited breath".

PatArizona

JC said..."...'sand' could more accurately be called fine gravel...".

That works for me.

And more, from John Naka's Bonsai Techniques II...

Sand…Large…passes through ¼” screen, but not through 1/8”
Medium…passes through 1/8” screen, but not through 1/16”
Small…passes through 1/16” screen, or through 1/40”

So, according to our friend John, sand granules sould be as large as 1/4"...in 1973. Sounds like gravel to me.

However, it was pretty widely accepted, at the time, that sand could be as large as 1/4".

Pat

__________________
BONSAI isn't about surviving in a storm, rather, how to dance in the rain.
THE ONLY WAY: Always remember, and don't ever forget, that whatever you read here is not cast in concrete... the intent of any advice is to help. In no way should you feel that I’m saying that my way is the only way…heaven forbid! I've seen far too much of the "my way or the highway" attitude in bonsai as well as in other areas of life.

soltan

KC
I understand your excitment about zeolite I tried for some time to find a source.
I finally was advised by a bonsai friend that Bonsai Enviroment use it in thier potting mix.
They don't display it for sale but if asked they should sell you a bag if they can spare it.

At my last visit to Ray Nesci I noticed he had two different company brands of zeolite for sale.

Before this I was looking at buying striaght from the supplier at
http://www.cmzeolites.com.au/index.html
They will sell it for about $8 a bag

They are a very helpful company and sent out a sample of the grade size I was considering. The contact I talked with recomended the finer grade but I was keen on the larger grade. I felt I would get less fines in this.(I forget the exzact sizes )
I think the larger size was 2.4mm to 5mm. I think this size is the most versitile for a range of uses.
The bag I bought from Bonsai enviroment was great. I still have most of the Bag from Ray Nesci. I think the bag from Ray was the finer grade?

There also seems to be two different soughts of zeolite.
I bought a bag of zeolite as a oil spill soaker and it was white and softer like the stuff in kitty litter. I still used it but I think the brown hard zeolite is better.
I discussed this with the contact at Castle Mountain Zeolites and he explained that this white zeolite was a number of million years younger than thiers.
I have not been able to buy the diatomite yet but this same contact stated that Diatomite is very similar to this white zeolite.

I also found a kitty litter that seems to work well in bonsai soil(First season with this as well) Our local woolies always has a few bags.
I will post a pic of it if you need it.
It is called Chandlers Kitty litter it is made with Attapulgite clay.
It states a good use for the used waste is to dig it into the garden to increase water retention.
It is too hard to squash with you fingers but your nail can split it. Doest not break down in water. It seems to have held together quite well this season But I have not repotted any trees growing in it yet?

I too would like suppliers of Crushed Lava Rock
Crushed Pumice
Decomposed Granite

__________________
GROW DAMIT!
BRETT AUSTRALIA ZONE 8-9?