Advice on beginner mix? Akadama?

[MaxChavez]

Hello,
As someone who hasn't been able to have a real hobby for about 20 yrs, I fell into a lot of the classic newbie trappings this fall

I have about 12 trees, all nursery stock, a bunch are from the clearance shelf.

I'm planning on a base mix of Pumice, DE, bark chips. In the beginning, I bought a few small bags of akadama, before I realized I'd have a dozen trees to pot, and that they're all gonna be in development for a while, anyways.
Finally getting to the question: would having about 5% akadama in the mix be worthwhile? Or just save it for a rainy day? I have some very fine and some medium.

species are: Japanese maple, cypress, juniper, mugo (at least I made myself a promise not to buy any new species for a while!)

Thanks!

 

[Colorado]

No, adding 5% akadama to the mix isn’t going to make a difference. You’re just wasting the pricey akadama at that point. Id recommend just save it until you acquire a tree that is more developed and ready for a bonsai pot … sounds like a good excuse to get a new tree!

 

[Tieball]

The Akadama is not necessary. Just a waste this early on. Do yourself a favor though….stick with what you have and concentrate on growth of these trees. Focus on healthy growth. Resist the temptation to keep adding more trees, tools and magic elixirs. Keep it simple right now while you learn.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Mugo and juniper for sure don't need akadama.
I use akadama as a top layer on top of my regular mix to save water and get more fine roots up high in the pot.

 

[actionflies]

I only use akadama (Boon's mix) for developed trees that are ready for bonsai containers. No need to use akadama for prebonsai trees, I want maximum growth for my prebonsai trees especially decidous and using quality organic potting soil works for me.

 

[MaxChavez]

Thanks for all your replies, kinda what I had gathered from reading around.

I guess follow up question, when repotting from the nursery soil into the new mix, try and remove 50? 75 percent? All? of the nursery soil? Or attempt the 1/2 and 1/2 side division approach?

Thanks!

 

[actionflies]

Thanks for all your replies, kinda what I had gathered from reading around.

I guess follow up question, when repotting from the nursery soil into the new mix, try and remove 50? 75 percent? All? of the nursery soil? Or attempt the 1/2 and 1/2 side division approach?

Thanks!

I have removed 70% of the soil and repotted into bonsai soil and the tree is ok. I just got a $450 tree in a nursery pot and will start repotting into bonsai soil, but will remove only 40% and in a deeper training pot to be on the safe side and repot it again following year if the tree is healthy. Bonsai is about tomorrow

 

[rockm]

Thanks for all your replies, kinda what I had gathered from reading around.

I guess follow up question, when repotting from the nursery soil into the new mix, try and remove 50? 75 percent? All? of the nursery soil? Or attempt the 1/2 and 1/2 side division approach?

Thanks!

Depends on the species you're working with. By and large deciduous trees can take bare rooting with no problem. Conifers don't appreciate it at all. I bareroot trident and Japanese maples at most every repotting and root pruning. With conifers, removing 50 percent at a time can be drastic. Also depends on the particular root mass you have. The less volume of roots, the less I remove.