Bonsai soil mix

[maroun.c]

Need to reply a few of my bonsai as they're in terrible soil. Searched soil options and seems a mix of pumice Akadama and lava is the most common.
Can't find neither akadama nor lava nor any equivalent here. What I have is the following:

-Pumice (was told I can plant in straight pumice which I already did for two trees but I feel water just goes through and wonder how fertilizer will be retained)
-perlite (not sure if it adds value with pumice )
-can get pine bark or also coco peat or peat ... but was told to avoid organics especially peat. Wonder Inna bit of bark will help a bit with water retention without causing issues )
- finally clay balls, found a large grain size which I crushed and sifted and then found a smaller grain as per pics below
La to rt
Large grain , crushed and sifted large grain and small medium grain that I can soft to get a uniform size



Here's the small grain size mix (the larger pieces are around half the size of the large grain size



Please advise what to include in the mix and what not, also what ratios to mix with. I need a well draining soil due to high humidity in summer here but also need a bit of retention as plants might not be watered daily when I'm on travel.
Thanks for any tips or suggestions.

 

[Anthony]

As usual, Maroun, you will have to test.
[ hopefully a few months before you travel ]

We can use the [ Lecca ] fired expanded clay balls with just aged compost or peat moss.
Can you get 5 mm in that batch of material you have in your images ?
Here is an example of how we use the clay balls.
It's a local ficus.
Good Day
Anthony

 

[sorce]

How long do you travel for?

In straight pumice you can leave em in water for a couple days.
I done that once with heavier soil than pumice.
But you should Probly get misters.

Pine Fines in oil dry make it dry out faster. Not all bark is going to be more retentive.

@fredman did an experiment on pumice.
Reckon it holds a lot of water.

@Craigm just commented on his soil the other day. I think he uses coir with success. Sounds like it may work for you.

Gotta find someone with a similar climate and trees....do what they do.

Lotta variables!

Sorce

 

[Adair M]

The clay balls might work. Choose the size closest to your pumice.

Try to avoid pine bark. It will rot eventually and cause root rot.

When you travel, you could place an old cotton towel on top of the pots and water well.

 

[fredman]

@fredman did an experiment on pumice.
Reckon it holds a lot of water.

Yeah pumice holds more water than we think. Even when it seems dry (white) it still holds and diffuses some water. Stick a dowel in there and see how long it lasts for you...

 

[Craigm]

I would agree with Adair that trying the clay balls in the closest size to the pumice and using
it as Pumice 3 parts to 1 part clay balls.Equal sized substrates are good

With coir you should only use a small amount so as not to retain excessive moisture.

Maybe you can try 3 parts Pumice / 2 parts large clay balls and 1 part of your smaller clay balls from sifting. The smaller balls will fill the "air gap" between bigger ball/pumice and help to retain moisture.
If you can do that it will be all inorganic and @Adair M would be stoked.hehe. Also I don't like pine barks in my mediums.
With fertilizing pumice or any other inorganic medium, that is one benefit. As you say it runs through and won't
be held by medium for long so more frequent fertizing can be done.

 

[fredman]

Try to avoid pine bark. It will rot eventually and cause root rot.

Adair I like using 1 part 1/4" composted bark just for that organic fracture in there. I'm trying to stay an organic freak . Sure it does brake down, but if changed yearly of even every two years, it doesn't brake down that much so it clogs up. I actually like the slow braking down. To me it gives a good balance, and makes me feel better...
The other two parts is pumice and scoria...

 

[Adair M]

Fredman,

If you repot that often, you're probably ok.

Bark will hold fertilizer, then begin to decompose, then it holds water, and conditions become ripe for setting up root rot.

Straight inorganic soil does not hold fertilizer. It wil wash out. So, that's why we use the organic cakes, when they're there on the surface, every time I water, a little fertilizer leaches out of the cakes into the soil. When I remove the cakes, the fertilizer is gone within a few days. It allows me to have control over the fertilizer.

 

[Anthony]

Ha ha, I like the idea Sifu,

but we found that using aged composted material works very well too.
It melts into the soil, so to speak.
Additionally, we are seeing that the Blaucorm [ pelleted fertiliser ] sits on the compost and slowly melts in.
On the inorganic surface it rapidly melts and disappears.

Next stage - aged composted soybean meal - and probably nothing else for those in Bonsai pots.
We will pretend that the trees / shrubs are refined
Thanks again.
Good Day
Anthony

 

[maroun.c]

As usual, Maroun, you will have to test.
[ hopefully a few months before you travel ]

We can use the [ Lecca ] fired expanded clay balls with just aged compost or peat moss.
Can you get 5 mm in that batch of material you have in your images ?
Here is an example of how we use the clay balls.
It's a local ficus.
Good Day
Anthony

View attachment 112941

was told a few times its best to avoid organic material? I do have peat moss, and Coco peat but both are organic I guess?
the small balls are a mix I can for sure sift them and use the 5mm ones.
Thanks.
Maroun

 

[Stickroot]

Just use cat litter, @sorce likey da litta.
Also he is a master!

 

[maroun.c]

How long do you travel for?

In straight pumice you can leave em in water for a couple days.
I done that once with heavier soil than pumice.
But you should Probly get misters.

Pine Fines in oil dry make it dry out faster. Not all bark is going to be more retentive.

@fredman did an experiment on pumice.
Reckon it holds a lot of water.

@Craigm just commented on his soil the other day. I think he uses coir with success. Sounds like it may work for you.

Gotta find someone with a similar climate and trees....do what they do.

Lotta variables!

Sorce

I travel for 4-6 days usually 2-3 times per month. But wife, watchman and kids are here to delegate the task to
Would still prefer to limit watering the bonsais to once every 2 days maybe as I also delegate to them my reef aquarium which is a full time jo on its own
I'm wondering about the water holding capacity of pumice, seems like whatever I water drains from the pot (or could be cause I'm used to previous bad soil with no drainage)
I just fertilized and felt like all the fertilizer went down the pot. not sure if it's because my trees have bad roots after all the rotting in previous soil. this is basically why I would like to try to add a different component to hold the humidity a tiny bit more.
misters or a tube based watering system with an automated solenoid might indeed be a good idea when I'm not here.
I'm in higher humidity in summer which actually might make it best to stick to straight pumice and maybe a bit of clay balls and then experiment with watering schedules.
Thanks.

 

[maroun.c]

The clay balls might work. Choose the size closest to your pumice.

Try to avoid pine bark. It will rot eventually and cause root rot.

When you travel, you could place an old cotton towel on top of the pots and water well.

Great Will chose a close size of clay balls and won't use pine bark.
I will try to automate the watering or just bribe the kids to do it when I'm away
Thanks

 

[maroun.c]

Yeah pumice holds more water than we think. Even when it seems dry (white) it still holds and diffuses some water. Stick a dowel in there and see how long it lasts for you...

Ah Great was worried about the water holding characteristics as you can't really tell if its wet or dry.

 

[maroun.c]

I would agree with Adair that trying the clay balls in the closest size to the pumice and using
it as Pumice 3 parts to 1 part clay balls.Equal sized substrates are good

With coir you should only use a small amount so as not to retain excessive moisture.

Maybe you can try 3 parts Pumice / 2 parts large clay balls and 1 part of your smaller clay balls from sifting. The smaller balls will fill the "air gap" between bigger ball/pumice and help to retain moisture.
If you can do that it will be all inorganic and @Adair M would be stoked.hehe. Also I don't like pine barks in my mediums.
With fertilizing pumice or any other inorganic medium, that is one benefit. As you say it runs through and won't
be held by medium for long so more frequent fertizing can be done.

Sorry for the basic question but is Coco peat the same as Coir? As far as I searched its noon organic but has a bit of potassium only right.
Any advantage comparing Pumice-Similar size clay-small size clay VS Pumice-Similar size clay-Coir
true I can fertilize more frequently to get some nutrients to the trees as I feared to starve them when I saw how fast fertilizer and water were going through.
Thanks.

 

[Craigm]

Sorry for the basic question but is Coco peat the same as Coir? As far as I searched its noon organic but has a bit of potassium only right.
Any advantage comparing Pumice-Similar size clay-small size clay VS Pumice-Similar size clay-Coir
true I can fertilize more frequently to get some nutrients to the trees as I feared to starve them when I saw how fast fertilizer and water were going through.
Thanks.

Coir is coconut fibers chopped finely to make Coir peat.It's organic for sure mate.

Yes please do experiment so you can find the right combination of mediums for yourself.
As Adair mentioned earlier, even or same sized particles are the way to go.

p.s- I would never miss 1 single day watering , hardly through winter either, forgetting this
or not making it your Highest priority when starting out will be not good for your trees. have fun.

 

[sorce]

limit watering the bonsais to once every 2 days

It's gonna be hard to make that happen right on...
So you'll have to check them the other day anyhow...
And that takes longer than watering!

The most mindless way to go is watering once a day.

You should be able to do that with pumice.
Maybe twice a day...but another mindless 10 minutes!

Sorce