Planning for spring

[remist17]

Hello to all
I spent my Christmas reading a bunch of posts to try and get ready for this coming spring. I have had some issues in the past few years with wet soil and dead trees. I see there are so many different opinions on what good soil is, what the best way to grow out trees, watering, feeding and the list goes on. I was hoping some people would chime in and let me know if my set up is ok for my area and trees?
I have posted several issues I have had and discussions have taken place. this post is to put all the items in one and see if I am heading in the correct direction. I know I’m missing some stuff and perhaps some people may not like my soil. I would appreciate the support and pointing a beginner in the right direction.

Trees:
Elms, Japanese maples, hornbeam, misc other deciduous trees and some junipers.

Pots:
10" khord bulb pots. I drilled extra holes in the bottom and side for additional drainage.

Soil:
4 parts turface MVP, 2 parts Dry stall (pumice), 1 part pine bark fines

Bench:
I added a cover to block most of the hard noon to 4 sun as I was getting some bad leave burn.

Fertilizer:
every other week. I use miracle grow 20-20-20 liquid. I also put slow release down every 4 months along with the liquid. I recently purchased some fish emulsion and some additional liquid fertilizer.

Sun:
Plants get a filter sun through the sun shade. 50 % sun shade. Sun is from 10am to sun down. Some plants on the front outer most area can get direct sun from 10 to sundown. I will be putting the junipers, crepe myrtle and privets here.

With this limited explanation, do I have the foundation correct?

 

[lordy]

I think you have a very good basis for some favorable growing conditions. Now all you need is some warm temps, plenty of sunlight, a few chopsticks in the soil, and the bonsai gods smiling down on you! Keep the pics on a regular schedule and you will be able to track your progress.

 

[Eric Group]

Hello to all
I spent my Christmas reading a bunch of posts to try and get ready for this coming spring. I have had some issues in the past few years with wet soil and dead trees. I see there are so many different opinions on what good soil is, what the best way to grow out trees, watering, feeding and the list goes on. I was hoping some people would chime in and let me know if my set up is ok for my area and trees?
I have posted several issues I have had and discussions have taken place. this post is to put all the items in one and see if I am heading in the correct direction. I know I’m missing some stuff and perhaps some people may not like my soil. I would appreciate the support and pointing a beginner in the right direction.

Trees:
Elms, Japanese maples, hornbeam, misc other deciduous trees and some junipers.

Pots:
10" khord bulb pots. I drilled extra holes in the bottom and side for additional drainage.

Soil:
4 parts turface MVP, 2 parts Dry stall (pumice), 1 part pine bark fines

Bench:
I added a cover to block most of the hard noon to 4 sun as I was getting some bad leave burn.

Fertilizer:
every other week. I use miracle grow 20-20-20 liquid. I also put slow release down every 4 months along with the liquid. I recently purchased some fish emulsion and some additional liquid fertilizer.

Sun:
Plants get a filter sun through the sun shade. 50 % sun shade. Sun is from 10am to sun down. Some plants on the front outer most area can get direct sun from 10 to sundown. I will be putting the junipers, crepe myrtle and privets here.

With this limited explanation, do I have the foundation correct?

On your soil mix,I think most people recommend something more like a 1-1-1 of one part pumice or lava rock (something inorganic but that absorbs a good amount of water and holds it well), maybe one part turface and then one part of the COMPOSTED pine bark fines/ double sifted compost of some sort. I put caps on the COMPOSTED, because it is easy to find the pine bark fines that are not well composted and while they look like a good ingredient, they can leach nutrients from your soil and you really want something composted to avoid that. If you just have those pine bark fines that have not been composted thoroughly, toss them in a compost heap with something like some old leaves and a little kitchen waste then keep them wet and turn frequently for a couple months to let them rot down before you use them. If you sift that mix out well to get rid of as much tiny "dirt" particles as you can, you should be able to use that with success. Some other good ingredients to consider are filter sands- you can find them in the sizes you want which is larger than your regular say play box sand, but not as big as pebbles... It is completely inorganic, doesn't really absorb any water, aides in drainage and doesn't break down... Many people use that instead of turface or like a half and half of the two as that one part of your 1-1-1 mix... Some people like to mix a little peat into the pine bark for the organic piece of the mix as well...

It really isn't rocket science and your trees aren't just going to flip out and run off because you made a mix that was different from what someone else did! Trees want to grow, they grow in all types of soil... The mixes you read about are just ways people have grown trees in the past with great results! You can go buy some Miracle grow potting soil if your trees are in development and you will probably have the best results imaginable using that- IF you adjust your watering accordingly. The bonsai soil becomes more important once you start potting big mature trees down to smaller and smaller pots because the large amount of growth with the small space for roots necessitates a compact root ball full of fine feeder roots. If you are just growing your trees out for the next few years and aren't even ready to start dropping them into bonsai pots right away- which appears to be your place right now for looking at your pics- you might do well to put some trees int he ground and- or up pot them with some good old fashioned nursery soil. Once you are ready to start refining shapes and potting them down to smaller trays, you can worry more about getting that rootball compacted and they is when you worry about "bonsai soil" more. Just a bit of advice from someone who had issues like what you described in the past myself.

 

[Dav4]

As long as you fertilize regularly, using fresh, uncomposted wood chips is fine. Years ago, when I used them as part of my mix, I used them fresh and never encountered any nutritional deficiency or growth problems.

 

[JudyB]

Sounds like a good plan, and you seem to have done some homework. The only thing that I can add is to really look at your plants daily, and catch any fungal or insect infestation early. With as many as you have in a small area, it will spread quickly. Does your area have good air flow? That can be helpful as well.
Keep us updated remist.

 

[Eric Group]

As long as you fertilize regularly, using fresh, uncomposted wood chips is fine. Years ago, when I used them as part of my mix, I used them fresh and never encountered any nutritional deficiency or growth problems.

Don't you think they absorb water better when composted too though? Also, I just think that composted material looks better... That is not a big deal obviously, just a personal preference...

I am sure it works fine with the fresh stuff- like I said in the first post, it isn't like the trees are gonna just shrivel up and die because one soil component is a little different or in a different quantity than what was used by someone else... I was just posting what works for me and what I have seen other people mention that works well for them. Also, why not go ahead and compost the pine bark a bit if you have time to (which he does as it is a couple months before Spring breaks..)? It certainly won't HURT the mix, and if there is a chance the fresh chips could leach some nutrients, compared to composted material which is breaking down and slowly releasing nutrients (NPK, AND the commonly overlooked "micronutrients") I would prefer the compost... Again, just my opinion... Of course you should qualify my statements with the fact that I am a huge proponent of compost both for my potted plants and my vegetable garden and I am constantly running piles of it in 2-3 different stages of development at any one time, so I have an unlimited supply on hand and I am probably a little more partial to using it than most people! LOL

 

[remist17]

Thank you all for your comments. The area the plants are in has a nice breeze most of the time which hurt me last year with direct sun and breeze. I hope the addition of the cloth ill be better shape. I look at the trees everyday and will keep an eye open for bugs. Soil is a conversation I learned not to touch on this site ambit normally ends up with people arguing. The mix I have works last part of the year and several people have gone totally inorganic.
I plan on keeping up with fertilizer but can anyone reconend anything better than miracle grow? I was thinking about Dyna products.

 

[JudyB]

I was thinking about Dyna products.

This is what I use in combination with Green Dream. Occasionally I'll add a bit of humic acid....

 

[Jaberwky17]

Thank you!

On your soil mix,I think most people recommend something more like a 1-1-1 of one part pumice or lava rock (something inorganic but that absorbs a good amount of water and holds it well), maybe one part turface and then one part of the COMPOSTED pine bark fines/ double sifted compost of some sort. I put caps on the COMPOSTED, because it is easy to find the pine bark fines that are not well composted and while they look like a good ingredient, they can leach nutrients from your soil and you really want something composted to avoid that. If you just have those pine bark fines that have not been composted thoroughly, toss them in a compost heap with something like some old leaves and a little kitchen waste then keep them wet and turn frequently for a couple months to let them rot down before you use them. If you sift that mix out well to get rid of as much tiny "dirt" particles as you can, you should be able to use that with success.

I was going to use a bunch of pine bark for my next batch of mix. Now I know I need to compost it first. Thanks for. The heads up.

 

[remist17]

Regarding the dyna Gro Fertilizers. What type or mix would I get for maples and elms? I see there is a bunch of them out there. they seem to all be tailored to specific type of tree. example dyna gro bloom, dyna gro foliage