Can you help with pummice advice please?

[milehigh_7]

Contact Jonas at www.bonsaitonight.com

He gets huge quantities of soil components and can ship you a pallet. With all the collecting you do, you really should start using pumice. In bulk, it's really not all that expensive. And it's lightweight, so it makes those big collection boxes a little more manageable.

And I can attest to its effectiveness. I live on the East side of the country, so I don't collect the junipers, but I've helped those that have collected repot their trees and the roots growing in the pumice are terrific!

I know I can get it in Cali which is a 4 hour drive I might hitchhike out there and rent a u-haul back

 

[thomas22]

OC farm supply in Orange, Ca is cheapest place in So Cal for Pumice. Last year it was $8 for a 50Lb bags. If I had any plans to go to Vegas I would pick you some up.

 

[Adair M]

I know I can get it in Cali which is a 4 hour drive I might hitchhike out there and rent a u-haul back

Lol!!!

Its probably cheaper to rent round trip than one way!

 

[M. Frary]

I might hitchhike out there

True dedication.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Diatomaceous earth

Many Thanks for enlightening of ignorance.

 

[Potawatomi13]

I am going to white t everything next year just to quit the algae, and hopefully grow more roots.

Sorce[/QUOTE]

Algae materializes from thin air. Perhaps more speedily in damp rainy climate like mine but is ubiquitous most everywhere.

 

[Potawatomi13]

He gets huge quantities of soil components and can ship you a pallet. With all the collecting you do, you really should start using pumice. In bulk, it's really not all that expensive. And it's lightweight, so it makes those big collection boxes a little more manageable.

If Jonas would ship larger bags unsifted would be cheaper. However what I get from local garden/yard supply place sifts out about 60-55% usable sizes. Maybe could peddle finer part which is still as big as floordry, etc substitutes, or trade at Bonsai club for??.

 

[sorce]

Algae materializes from thin air. Perhaps more speedily in damp rainy climate like mine but is ubiquitous most everywhere

Yet we still pump the earth free of its lubricant and stick it in our cars to enjoy driving over the earthquakes!

I hope to toss the green tees for more white when it shows up!

Maybe I will store it for my own fuel!
Find a way to use it to lightly warm my winter grounds!

Sorce

 

[Potawatomi13]

How poetic.

 

[Adair M]

If Jonas would ship larger bags unsifted would be cheaper. However what I get from local garden/yard supply place sifts out about 60-55% usable sizes. Maybe could peddle finer part which is still as big as floordry, etc substitutes, or trade at Bonsai club for??.

I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to say with this post...

If anyone is interested in getting a large volume of pumice, call Jonas directly. He can arrange to have pumice shipped to you by commercial freight. I'm sure he can ship unsifted or sifted pumice.

He can also sell you a "mixed pallet", of different soil components. See his webpage:

Store.bonsaitonight.com

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

@Frozen_thunderbolt - many different media can work well, if you get the watering right. Exact mix is not as critical as as getting a mix of uniform particle size. Each component such as pumice & bark should be the same size particle. Same if you add DE, don't add DE if particle size is smaller than the pumice particle size. Uniform mix breathes better.

 

[fredman]

uniform particle size

That is THE key...right there

 

[klosi]

For trees in development (all my trees that is) I use 100% pumice. It works well. In summer you might have to water a bit more, depends on microclimate. Pumice I use are sizes 3-6mm.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

if you look at successful mixes, used by professionals and amateurs, just looking at those who have a track record of winning awards or otherwise turning out above average trees, pumice is the one component that appears in the vast majority of mixes. It is a great substrate. Personally I am not a fan of a single component mix, but even just a little something else, like bark, mixed with pumice seems to be a really good mix for in development trees.

There are some pros who don't use pumice, but these are in the minority, they get good results, or excellent results, world class in Walter Pall's case, but one needs to study how they did it. Walter Pall makes me crazy, both with how he fertilizes, and his substrates, but when you look closely at what he does, if you follow his watering pattern exactly, you can use his methods with good results. But if you don't water as heavily as he does, his high concentration fertilizer will burn your trees, so if you copy Walter Pall, you must copy all parts of his technique, watering included.