In other words you are not going to get the same, or even good results, with a Japanese Maple planted in a mix suitable for conifers and vice versa.
Try looking for a local source of Turface. I mostly use Turface MVP and "soil conditioner" from Lowe's which is mostly fine decomposed pine bark mulch. Turface is around $14.00/50 lb bag and the soil conditioner is less that $4.00/2 cf bag.My problem is I'm having trouble sourcing local ingredients for bonsai soil. I can't be stuck paying $14 for a tiny little back of Hoffman "bonsai soil mix".
Wise but may not be practical or cost effective. As you mentioned, there are oodles of soil mixes used by different people...some are finely customized to their plant, weather, watering style, etc. What worked for Naka may or may not to me or you.I don't know it it's ever been plager.. er posted here, but John Naka has an extensive list of soil mixes for near every tree you could imagine in his first techniques book. I hear and see a lot of differing soils both here and all over the 'net, but if I were going to trust an opinion, I'd go with the American Master before many, if any.
If you have a specific tree, I'd be happy to quote you his thoughts, if that's OK here.
Wise but may not be practical or cost effective. As you mentioned, there are oodles of soil mixes used by different people...some are finely customized to their plant, weather, watering style, etc. What worked for Naka may or may not to me or you.
Try looking for a local source of Turface. I mostly use Turface MVP and "soil conditioner" from Lowe's which is mostly fine decomposed pine bark mulch. Turface is around $14.00/50 lb bag and the soil conditioner is less that $4.00/2 cf bag.
EDIT IN: Mixed (a bag of each), makes roughly 3.5 cu ft of good bonsai soil (that's a lot) that works on 90%+ of my trees. Not bad for $18.00
I will check the bag tonight and post the info. It is decomposed bark mulch so it is naturally black. The size is perfect for me and being in TX, I need the fines so I do not even sift my mix. It all get mixed in and even on the hottest days, I can still go out on weekends and not fear my trees will totally dry out in 48 hours (some may wilt a bit though). Note that they are on bigger training pots also.Hi what's the name of the bag you get for the pine bark mulch. I always find the black or red mulch which I don't like because it has dye in it. I have been using Organic potting mix and sifting out the fines using the pine bark and some spongy organic material with 50% turface or oil dri. It takes a while to make 1 gallon of soil.
To follow on to this, I believe Walter Pall mentioned in one of his videos that most of us are not professionals that spend all day at our nurseries with apprentices to water our trees multiple times. His point was, while those of us with more time on their hands can use the most course, free-draining soil they can mix up, amateurs and those of us with busy schedules may benefit from a more organic mix that holds moisture. Of course, these conditions may not be optimal for tree development, but it may help us keep them alive in these new American summers... I expect this comment to be controversial.