The old grower questions...
How do you have a media with water holding capacity and high aeration?
What media is best for plants I am producing?
How do I make a media that I can afford?
Perhaps there is a misconception of what the "nursery" industry really is, at least in the US. There is a huge difference between the floriculture segment and the landscape nursery segment with many sub segments as well.
Commercial floriculture growers (potted plants and bedding) use lots of organics (peat or coco) with perlite or similar. These plants rarely end up on your bonsai benches or in the landscape. Landscape nurseries use lots of organics - mostly some sort of
locally acquired aged bark. These plants are destined for the landscape with endless types of native soils. My county has over 125 different soils.
I guess the other main factors are watering preferences and the contain size, shape and material.
To generalize" tall pot= faster drainage, short pot=slower drainage.
Water every day more than once or every few days, thats up to you as well.
Take home message is there is no one magic media to fit your specific location or growing techniques. You either figure out someone else's or you make your own that works for you.
This is a quote from the Cornell article posted below, bold is my edit:
"In conclusion, we might say that the mixes are not destined to result in the elimination of soil as a growing media.
They will not make a poor grower a good grower, nor are they a panacea for all of the growers production ills."
Peat-lite (
from Cornell) was one of the main reason crops were able to be grown without "real soil" and plastic pots.
UC (
UC Davis and Riverside) developed their own mixes designed for various crops and California.