BARK CHUNKS

Brad in GR

Chumono
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Interesting to see the mention of pine bark soil conditioner @rockm - I won't tag him, but I am currently running an experiment with the recipe of a fellow nutter from Michigan who has some soil war history. First year has been solid growth and enjoying the moisture retention of the mix, but will be curious to see if I experience the same breakdown and eventual inferior roots when I go back and repot next time, compared to my Bonsai Jack mix.

Not a direct test case for this thread as there are a few other components in the mix - have to agree, when buying material from Brent I've always noticed his soil mix and wondered if it really could be that simple! Much of my collection is in grow-out stage, so I am always up for experimenting along the way.
 

penumbra

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Pine bark accounts for at least 50% of my standard soil mix for growing in large pots (non bonsai) for over 40 years (closer to 50 years). In some cases, like many of my maples, the mix is about 70% pink bark. And I don't much care for the fine bark except for very small plants. I prefer coarse bark. I have a few maples and pines that have been in this pine bark heavy mix for several years without re-potting. I have a Japanese White Pine that has not been re-potted in over 30 years.
It has absolutely nothing to do with cost. It has everything to do with my results. Yours may vary.
 
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Pine bark accounts for at least 50% of my standard soil mix for growing in large pots (non bonsai) for over 40 years (closer to 50 years). In some cases, like many of my maples, the mix is about 70% pink bark. And I don't much care for the fine bark except for very small plants. I prefer coarse bark. I have a few maples and pines that have been in this pine bark heavy mix for several years without re-potting. I have a Japanese White Pine that has not been re-potted in over 30 years.
It has absolutely nothing to do with cost. It has everything to do with my results. Yours may vary.

Yup i use coarse bark as well, i buy 3/8th bark by the yard for my stuff im growing out

i do use smaller bark in very small quantities for some of my deciduous in bonsai pots. But im in zone 10 with almost no humidity year round i need that little buffer to ensure survival because i cant water more then twice a day, before work and after, but by small quantities i mean i toss a handful of screened bark into a whole mix, its not even enough to measure in parts.
 

August44

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I got this from Brent last night.

"... for pot growing we do use fir mini bark, chunks about 1/4 to 3/8 inches and #3 perlite which is all about 1/2 inch. Terrific aeration, but you need to water a lot."
 

Maiden69

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I got this from Brent last night.

"... for pot growing we do use fir mini bark, chunks about 1/4 to 3/8 inches and #3 perlite which is all about 1/2 inch. Terrific aeration, but you need to water a lot."
I think I have seen that statement before... minus the moss and optional vermiculite.

The formula is very simple: eight parts screened fir bark 1/4 to 3/8 inch size, eight parts screened perlite, one part peat moss, one half part vermiculite (optional).
 
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I remember Hagedorn and a guy from Iseli nursery breaking it down to: Bark promotes fast upper growth with a cheap substrate in a medium you completely replace in a few years, but once you have something past a prebonsai, that you want to develop slowly leaning towards refinement, you need a substrate that can promote fine root growth in the core that you can leave untouched over multiple repots. Bark can't be in that core or it would become anaerobic over time.
 
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