DIRT

peanuts1gang · White Belt Joined: 06 May 2005 Posts: 30

well i am starting to grow an japanese greybark japanese green elm,maple, and ginko from seed. i was wondering what soil to use (i dont have bonsai soil) and mix with. would it be alright if i used potting soil?
and i heard something about mixing soil with sand or something?

Dick · Posted: Sat May 21, 2005 4:27 am Post subject: Re: DIRT

You can easily make your own general bonsai mix. Regular potting soil is too fine and dense for good bonsai growing, thiough not so bad for seed sprouting provided that when you transplant into larger containers, you don't use it as the growing medium.

For a general bonsai soil, mix equal parts of the following:

1 part of coarse builder's sand. This is availble in building supply places. You can screen it with a regular screen and get the small particles out of it and use the coarse stuff (most particlaed will be 1/8 to 1/4 inch in diameter)

1 part of a clay product such as haydite or Turface. These are available at most full line garden centers. Screen this also and remove the small particles.

1 part of compost. I use fine bark mulch. You can also buy fine bark that is marked to be used for orchids. Fine pine bark much is cheaper and much more available most anywhere in the spring. You can screen the mulch to get rid of the fine stuff and just leave the larger pieces. Again, most good garden centers will carry this as well. You can also use the compost from your own garden if you like and if you screen it. That works very well.

I know that this may sound like a lot of work, but I can assure you that the time spent is well worth the effort and your trees will be very happy too. And of course, short of mixing your own, look around for commercial bonsai soil. Many garden centers stock it in various sized packages. Even places like Home Depot and Loews stock it from time to time.