Which ready to use soil mix?

Marc Wiehn

Sapling
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First time I want/need to buy ready to use soil mix for repotting my Japanese maples. After reading a ton of opinions I am still a little unsure what the best mix will be for my climate and my trees. They are in development, I tend to repot every two or three years. I live in Indianapolis, so freezing and thawing is a thing for me as I overwinter them outside with mulch covering the pots and protected from wind. My question is should I go with the Akadama/Pumice/Lava in the 1/1/1 ratio, or is that too dry/porous for maples? Is the 50% Akadama with 25% each of Pumice and Lava preferable? I tend to water once a day in the summer during the evening hours after work. On exceptionally hot or windy days I also water in the morning, but that's the exception. Can those of you who use the APL mix give me your opinions please? Thanks a lot in advance!
 

Bonsai Nut

Nuttier than your average Nut
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Your dry/porous question is going to be driven to a great extent by piece size. The smaller the pieces, the less void space and the less air flow through your mix, so it will tend to stay wetter all other things equal. In the case of Japanese maples, I tend to be more concerned about providing the proper acidic soil environment... but that was when I lived in an area with extremely alkaline water. If you live with neutral or slightly acidic water it probably isn't an issue.

This is a long winded way of saying that I would typically keep your 1/1/1 mix for the aggregate, but add some fine pine bark mini-nuggets at no more than 25% of the mix. However I'm not sure if I am universal in adding a low level of organics to my maple mix.
 

DrBonsai

Mame
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Hi Marc. Since you are from Indianapolis, I thought your best bet for getting advice would be from people doing Bonsai
in your area. They would be more familiar with what works best in your climate.
First recommendation would be to get in touch with members of your local Bonsai Club:
http://www.indybonsai.org/
You are also fortunate that you have some experienced Bonsai Artists and Stores in your area:
http://www.bonsaibyfields.com/
and
https://bogansbonsai.com/
Mark Fields is currently President of the American Bonsai Society and the Bogan's
were also active in the Society also.
 

sorce

Nonsense Rascal
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What do you use currently?

Sorce
 

Marc Wiehn

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Thank you ll for your replies.
@bonsainut: Adding pine bark makes sense, I will try that out. Fortunately my water is ok, a little on the alkaline side, but nothing terrible (thank you city!). The size of my trees is between a foot and two, so def. bigger than shohin. I call it comfortable size to carry around by myself.
@DrBonsai: I used to belong to the club in Indy, know Mark Fields well. Great guy! My work just doesn't allow me to be n active member. The Bogan's are amazing, I visited their place a few years ago, what a collection of trees and containers! I helped their shelves get rid of a few of those containers...:)
@source: I have been using a mixture of Turface, Merrimac granite and compost. It works ok, but during the winter it stays too wet, especially since I keep my trees outside. I used to buy the bags and mix that myself, but because of changes in my life I can no longer do that. That's why I am looking into buying ready to use mixes. I only have a handfull of trees left, so we are not talking about massive amounts of soil mix that I would need to buy.
 

sorce

Nonsense Rascal
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: I have been using a mixture of Turface, Merrimac granite and compost

I think it's important to note that there is a difference between "staying too wet" and holding too much water, as in, between solid particles.

Your Soil is bound to do both.

DE can be too wet but it can't hold too much water.

APL (*Akadama content/time depending) is said too start off ok, can't hold too much water, but can stay too wet*.

Anyway.....

You will probably have to water twice a day regularly for a good portion of the growing season, which depending on your work schedule, may also mean a watering system.

I think folks underwater APL regularly.

Sorce
 
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