Give me something to do!!!

[jacob.morgan78]

Doesnt matter if they are "bonsai" yet or not, potting soil is not good for trees in pots. These are not houseplants and when you put trees in pots, the game changes. This may not sound logical, but what they are growing in out in the forest will probably not work when you put it in a pot.

Soil with a lot of clay with a mix of compost is not good soil for trees in pots. Why? Because those soils retain too much moisture and will rot the roots and kill the trees. If you really have "done your homework about bonsai soil", you would realize this.

Soil mixes are a complicated topic with lots of options and opinions. A lot will depend on what you have available to you. As I said, there is lots of info on this forum but you should not expect us to do your research or regurgitate it all here for you. This is part of learning bonsai; keep reading.

wow... nevermind. Never expected anyone to throw up on me against their will or to do my research... I never said I'd learned everything already... just asking a question... settle down, I won't ask YOU any more questions or for guidance

"Doesnt matter if they are "bonsai" yet or not, potting soil is not good for trees in pots."​

This was all you had to say. Thank you for that sentence.

does he treat everyone like this?

 

[Paradox]

I hate feeling as though I am wasting my time trying to help someone who doesnt want to understand. I also hate having to repeat myself because someone cant be bothered to read the whole topic/post or they dont want to put the work in to learn. It happens here alot believe it or not so many of us have a pretty low tolerance for this sort of thing because none of us sit here just waiting to answer questions with nothing else to do.

If you look back at the post before the last one, I already stated that potting soil was not good and that the soil they are in would probably not work.

You stated "they wouldnt be bonsai yet", which implied that somehow the soil would not matter because of that.
It seemed as though you werent getting the answer you wanted and trying to justify using soil that wont work because its easy and free.

As I said, soil mixes are not a one fits all topic. There are many options for mixes but it depends on what you can get in your area (someone here may live near you and have a better idea what is available). It also depends on the species of tree we are talking about. You can probably find something inexpensive or free.

There general guidelines you should follow. Such as good draining and does not retain water for too long.

 

[GrimLore]

If it "makes you feel better" when you collect a plant keep some of the original soil on the root ball and place the specimen in a larger container filled with Dry Stall. The soil will eventually wash out and the plant will need water and nutrients on a regular schedule. I bare root almost everything but I am comfortable with the fact that trees do not need soil and how to care for them.

Grimmy

Once again, what I suggested is a "happy" medium and will help you VASTLY along the way to better understand the answers to your questions Do not be put off, I tried to meet you half way and still see you succeed.

Grimmy

 

[Dav4]

Fwiw, paradox was right on with his recommendation against potting soil. It's too heavy, which means it retains too much moisture and doesn't have enough oxygen permeating the root zone. The root will not thrive in that environment, particularly if they've been recently traumatized due to collection.

 

[berobinson82]

As you start to build your soil mix, you'll learn that our area is not the best for sourcing components. I did a search and found a Southern States nearby your home. I would call and ask them about some dry-stall which is just pumice. Make sure to wash it well and that's a fairly decent amendment. It's debated, but dry-stall and turface are probably available to you. Toss in a little sifted pine bark and you have a workable mix for collected trees. It's not ideal. But it'll perform better for you than soil.

Try and keep an open mind. Help on this forum rarely comes with a spoonful of sugar. Hell, I started a thread about it once. I'm still sticking around bc it's worth it.

Cheers,

B

 

[ghues]

The trees wouldn't be bonsai yet, just recuperating from being taken out of the ground. I wouldn't do anything to them until next year when they are healthier. I've been doing a lot of homework about bonsai soil actually. The soil does have a fair amount of clay in it but does have a nice mix of forest floor compost mixed in naturally on top.

Hi Jacob,
Welcome to the NUT house as its known in certain circles lol. So to your question in regards to saving the trees/shrubs in your yard. Do you have anywhere in the yard where you can transplant them instead of putting them into plastic pots. If so, why not dig a over-sized trench, add some productive planting medium/soil - then the tree/shrub goes into that, then cover again with some type of soil mix, water well and often and leave for two years-(not going to give you advise on "what soil" as your climate and what's available to you is way different that what I have here).....but I've collected garden plants/trees/shrubs and followed this and its worked. Try and dig as much of the entire root ball as possible. Even though it might not be the best timing it should work for you. Good luck on your bonsai addiction
Cheers Graham

 

[jacob.morgan78]

I hate feeling as though I am wasting my time trying to help someone who doesnt want to understand. I also hate having to repeat myself because someone cant be bothered to read the whole topic/post or they dont want to put the work in to learn. It happens here alot believe it or not so many of us have a pretty low tolerance for this sort of thing because none of us sit here just waiting to answer questions with nothing else to do.

If you look back at the post before the last one, I already stated that potting soil was not good and that the soil they are in would probably not work.

You stated "they wouldnt be bonsai yet", which implied that somehow the soil would not matter because of that.
It seemed as though you werent getting the answer you wanted and trying to justify using soil that wont work because its easy and free.

As I said, soil mixes are not a one fits all topic. There are many options for mixes but it depends on what you can get in your area (someone here may live near you and have a better idea what is available). It also depends on the species of tree we are talking about. You can probably find something inexpensive or free.

There general guidelines you should follow. Such as good draining and does not retain water for too long.

The only reason I said that it wasn't bonsai yet is because I thought I had phrased my question wrong or something. I'm completely okay with the fact that potting soil would not be okay.

It still astonishes me that potting soil would not be okay. I'm definitely not arguing the fact just curious. I've been gardening (traditionally for years and I just think about all the trees that I've seen in plastic pots and potting soil where the roots have grown completely out of the pot and the tree is root bound! It would seem to me that the potting soil was just fine for the tree... But like I said before, I'm not arguing the fact that potting soil is not okay trees that are deemed to be bonsai.

 

[jacob.morgan78]

Once again, what I suggested is a "happy" medium and will help you VASTLY along the way to better understand the answers to your questions Do not be put off, I tried to meet you half way and still see you succeed.

Grimmy

I had no problem at all with your post! Thanks I feel like I may have made too big of a deal over it... :-/ Must have been cranky at the time or something.

As you start to build your soil mix, you'll learn that our area is not the best for sourcing components. I did a search and found a Southern States nearby your home. I would call and ask them about some dry-stall which is just pumice. Make sure to wash it well and that's a fairly decent amendment. It's debated, but dry-stall and turface are probably available to you. Toss in a little sifted pine bark and you have a workable mix for collected trees. It's not ideal. But it'll perform better for you than soil.

Try and keep an open mind. Help on this forum rarely comes with a spoonful of sugar. Hell, I started a thread about it once. I'm still sticking around bc it's worth it.

Cheers,

B

Thanks! I will definitely consider those mediums. I'm thinking I'm going to try the NAPA oil absorbent stuff that's just diatamaceous earth... I've read good stuff about it and it's pretty affordable. I may add in some lava stone and pine bark too. But I was planning for that to be the bonsai soil mix and not the mix for the transplanted trees... I need to reevaluate my thinking! Thanks again!

Hi Jacob,
Welcome to the NUT house as its known in certain circles lol. So to your question in regards to saving the trees/shrubs in your yard. Do you have anywhere in the yard where you can transplant them instead of putting them into plastic pots. If so, why not dig a over-sized trench, add some productive planting medium/soil - then the tree/shrub goes into that, then cover again with some type of soil mix, water well and often and leave for two years-(not going to give you advise on "what soil" as your climate and what's available to you is way different that what I have here).....but I've collected garden plants/trees/shrubs and followed this and its worked. Try and dig as much of the entire root ball as possible. Even though it might not be the best timing it should work for you. Good luck on your bonsai addiction
Cheers Graham

Thanks! I like the idea of putting them in the ground somewhere else. I'll definitely think about that... just not sure where I would put them that would get good sun.

 

[coh]

The only reason I said that it wasn't bonsai yet is because I thought I had phrased my question wrong or something. I'm completely okay with the fact that potting soil would not be okay.

It still astonishes me that potting soil would not be okay. I'm definitely not arguing the fact just curious. I've been gardening (traditionally for years and I just think about all the trees that I've seen in plastic pots and potting soil where the roots have grown completely out of the pot and the tree is root bound! It would seem to me that the potting soil was just fine for the tree... But like I said before, I'm not arguing the fact that potting soil is not okay trees that are deemed to be bonsai.

It depends what you mean by "potting soil". Most nursery plants are not grown in the type of bagged "potting soil" you find in Lowes, Home Depot, the local garden center, but in a nursery mix which often contains lots of bark, perlite, etc. These types of mixes drain a lot better than standard "potting soil". See for example Brent Walston's article at http://evergreengardenworks.com/soils.htm

I sometimes incorporate "potting soil" into my container mix that I use for growing plants (even pre-bonsai) but the main components I use are nursery-type mix (often peat and bark), perlite, maybe some turface.

Chris