Cheapest home mixed bonsai soil from box stores

[JoeH]

I do Napa or oil-Dri with mini pine bark and a bit of potting mix all from local retail and am happy with it so far.

 

[Johnathan]

I work in a smaller scale. But use aquarium gravel and reptile bark bedding. I can make about 8 quarts for $15. I know it is available in larger bags.

Aquarium Gravel? Never heard or seen that before. Be original! I LIKE IT!

 

[Nemoose]

Aquarium Gravel? Never heard or seen that before. Be original! I LIKE IT!

I works well I can buy it in small amounts very cheap lol

 

[Zach Smith]

It would help to know your general location although I assume that given your screen name you are in southern Louisiana? @Zach Smith is near Baton Rouge amd he uses lava, haydite, and bark. You might check with him to see what his sources are and this post may bring him out of the woodworks.

I don't use lava. Just Haydite (Riverlite is the current brand made around here) and pine bark.

 

[sparklemotion]

Time for an update!

An incomplete* list of (mostly) American sources** for Bonsai Suitable clay and diatomaceous earth products
*slightly more accurate than the previous one.
**that I am aware of as someone who shops in Minnesota and on the Internet.

Calcined montmorillonite/bentonite clay

• Manufacturer: Profile
  • Turface, Turface MVP
    • Sold as soil amendments for ball parks, golf courses, etc. Not super easy to find retail, but you may have a lawn supply store locally that can order in 50lb bags. Also resold on eBay/Amazon pretty commonly. It seems like it's not *super* hard to find someone who will sell you a pallet.
    • Other users: It's pretty popular with aquarium/terrarium/vivarium hobbyists.
  • Monto Clay
    • Basically Turface with a 1/4" particle size (good because the Turface-branded products are much smaller).
    • Exclusively(?) available fromBonsai Jack (reasonable pricing and quantities).
• Manufacturer: Oil-Dri
  • Oil-Dri
    • Lowes, Mills Farm and Fleet, Wal-Mart, NAPA #NFD6040
    • This is popular with hobby metalsmiths as an ingredient in "green sand" (used for casting) and forge refractory concrete.
  • Pro's Choice
    • Sold as a soil amendment for ball parks, golf courses, etc.
    • No retail source available that I know of
• Manufacturer: EP Minerals
  • Safety Absorbent, Safe-T-Sorb, ThriftySorb
    • O'Reilly Auto Parts
    • Nigel Saunders uses "Safe-T-Sorb" but calls it "Turface"
  • Axis Ceramic
    • Sold as a soil amendment for ball parks, golf courses, etc.
    • No retail source available that I know of (@milehigh_7 may be able to help)
  • Many more...

Diatomaceous Earth

• Manufacturer: EP Minerals
  • NAPA Floor Dry #8822 (calcined)
    • Available retail from NAPA stores.
  • Opti-Sorb (not calcined)
    • O'Reilly Auto Parts
  • AxisDE (calcined)
    • Coarse (90% between 4 mesh (~1/4") and 3/8") available from Tree of Life Bonsai (aka @milehigh_7)
    • No retail sources for finer grades
  • Blue Ribbon DE Cat Litter
    • No retail source that I know of.
  • Many more...
• Absorbent Products Limited
  • Can Dry
    • Given the company location, and the name/logo, I would try Canadian Tire or Home Hardware. Maybe someone north of the 49th could go on a mission?

Pumice

• Absorbent Products Limited
  • Stall Dry
    • Available from Tractor Supply Company, I've looked at Mills Fleet Farm but haven't seen it. Other livestock/horse supply stores might be able to hook you up.

And now it's come to my attention that I managed to mix up Stall Dry and Dry Stall. "Dry Stall" is pumice. "Stall Dry" is a brand name for a bunch of different products, at least some of which have additives that don't seem particularly plant friendly.

 

[substratum]

I works well I can buy it in small amounts very cheap lol

@Nemoose Re: Aquarium gravel - do you use it as a lava substitute?

 

[JoeH]

Try the oil dry stuff from Tractor Supply, it compares well with Turface, Rural King carries the same product.

 

[Wee]

I haven't been able to find Dry Stall anymore....But the hydroponics stores around here carry pumice with the name brand MotherEarth and in my opinion it's a better buy anyway.

Brian

 

[WNC Bonsai]

I have been using the Mother Earth pumice about a year. I sift it 1/8-1/4” and it really isn’t that much >1/4” so lately I just skip that. Picking up another bag tomorrow—good stuff!

 

[Michael P]

For the inorganic portion of my mix I use Safe-T-Sorb for smaller trees, and expanded shale (a.k.a. haydite) for larger trees and species that require especially good drainage.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

If you can find the Mother’s Earth pumice in the eastern US better grab it fast. I just got back from my hydroponics store with the only bag they had left. The manger called his east coast distributor to check on when his next order would arrive and they said mid-April at the earliest. Fortunatley I have two bags now so that should be enough for the next month but after that I have up to 3 yews and 2 wisteria to collect plus several confiers in big nursery pots. I may have to experiment with replacng all the pumice with hadite (Permatil) like they do at the NC Arboretum. Sometimes there are limitations living on the east coast—rare pumice, no Anderson flats.

 

[brentwood]

Aquarium gravel? I used to do salt water, would use dolomite. No color, harder than glass, based on the scratches.. interesting.
B

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Dolomite - poor choice for temperate bonsai potting media, except for specific calcium dependant species. Majority of species one could run into trouble. Especially in winter. Dolomite is virtually insoluble above 25 C temperature, above 78 F. At cold temperatures, down around 4 C or 40 F, it becomes somewhat soluble. This won't hurt most junipers, crab apples, fine for bristlecone pines, but it could be a serious problem for azaleas, blueberries, hornbeams, beech, JWP, limber pine and other trees that really want a mildly acidic soil. True that for the most commonly available garden plants dolomite would not be an issue.

I have used ''Cherry Stone'' crushed quartzite as a component. It is sold as Poultry Grit and is sourced out of New Ulm Minnesota. $8 to $12 per bag, Cheap. It is perfectly inert. The Grower grit and Layer Grit are good for a fine particle bonsai mix, around 1/8th inch, blends well with Dry Stall pumice. The Turkey Grit is more particles about 1/4 inch and is excellent for medium and larger size bonsai potting mixes. Really excellent as a nice purple-brown-gray stone top dressing for a pot. If you media is high in pumice, it can look off being that light gray, a top dressing of the dark earth tone purple cherry stone is very attractive in a show setting.

Down site of crushed granite, crushed quartzite, crushed dolomite, and most aquarium gravel. - Weight. These minerals have no interior air voids, they will get heavy. A pot that holds roughly 5 gallons of media would hold nearly 60 to 75 pounds of quartzite. I'm 64, I don't want to have to lug around pots that heavy. Not an issue for small trees, perhaps an advantage, giving the pots heft, so they don't get knocked off a bench as easy. You youngsters might enjoy throwing around 50 kg or 120 pounds of dirt, pot and tree, but I'm not up for that.

Pore space - the above are all solid minerals, no voids, or pores to absorb water, or air. Having good air voids and voids for water are important for water storage in the potting media. Media with a larger % stone will not hold water, and dry out quickly.

Aquarium gravel - issue is most branches are rounded ''river polished'' stones. This means there are no edges for the media to ''lock tight'' as it settles in the pot. If there is a large % of aquarium gravel in the pot the tree will be easily uprooted, difficult to tie down and otherwise be unstable. Otherwise no really reason against aquarium gravel. As a small % in a mix it is harmless.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Perlite - many hydroponics stores carry a coarse grade of Perlite with particles between 1/8 to 3/8ths inch. This is a good alternative for people who live far away from volcanoes. It is a good substitute for pumice. Biggest complaint is that it is light. That can be remedied by a top dressing of sphagnum moss on the surface of the pot.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Im using the 8822 this year for most of my trees. Knowing i cant be around through the day to water, im experimenting with a 1:1 mix of sifted DE and regular Miracle grow seed starter mix for water retention. The DE gives some stability and resistance to compaction and the MG - essentially a peat moss product with perlite - gives some water holding ability. The combination is cheap. The 8822 cost me $10 for a 40lb bag and the MG soil was $7 for a 20lb bag. During spring and summer, you can get broken bag specials from HD and Lowes for 1/2 off potting mixes. I like the peat moss though.

This makes a decent amount of mix... at least 10 gallons of good prebonsai mix.

I use the sifted fines for germinating seeds.