BONSAI SOIL vs POTTING MIX: Does it make a difference?

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 มี.ค. 2023
  • The results of my 18 month experiment to determine what difference, if any, a good quality bonsai mix makes in comparison to a commercial potting mix. For trees I'm just growing on, I usually use a commercial cactus potting soil, mixed with about one third perlite, while for my more developed bonsai I use my own bonsai soil recipe. I wanted to find out if it made any difference, so I planted two cloned trident maple cuttings in two pots with each of the mixes. I also give my recipe for bonsai soil, which contains akadama, pumice, lava rock and composted pine bark. If you have a different recipe that works for you, congratulations! Despite my experimenting, I continue to believe that a lot of soil types will work for bonsai, and the most important elements are particle size and how much water it retains in your particular environment. Don't @ me.
    Music: On Shore - Sergey Cheremisinov

ความคิดเห็น • 22

  • @Sayef_Li
    @Sayef_Li ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Many places in South Asia grow bonsai in simple garden soil with rice husk and sand and they can make amazing bonsais.

    • @Nolasusan1
      @Nolasusan1 6 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Rice husk is filled with vitamins for the bonsai tree. Using rice water after boiling is also great to water orchids with.

  • @littlebonsaicorner
    @littlebonsaicorner ปีที่แล้ว +1

    One of the most dedicated and informative videos on bonsai I've ever watched. Congrats on your nice maples and thank you!

    • @growingwithbonsai
      @growingwithbonsai  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      That is an extraordinarily nice comment. Thank you so much, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

  • @CristianAyala
    @CristianAyala 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Awesome video! This video answered all my questions. I believe this video should be a 1 million viewed video due to comparison and information. Other videos sound persuasive and deviate from the objective. Keep up the great work!

    • @growingwithbonsai
      @growingwithbonsai  6 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      What a nice comment! Not many bonsai videos get 1 million views, unfortunately. Glad it helped you, though - I don't like to just repeat things I've heard if I haven't tested it myself.

  • @jet687
    @jet687 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I like your video style! I learned quite a bit 😊

  • @greenmachinesweden
    @greenmachinesweden ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Great video as usual. I think the higher levels of fertilizer in the potting mix is responsible for all the difference you noticed. I grow most of my trees in big pots with quite heavy organic soils the first few years. When I put them in shallow bonsai pots I add more inorganic substrates, but are still using more organics than most people. Works good for me in my climate and care. The biggest benefit is that I don't have to water that often.🙂👍

    • @growingwithbonsai
      @growingwithbonsai  ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Right, I think the 100% inorganic mixes are great if you have a bonsai nursery with three or four watering sessions a day - for most of us humans, some organic material provides a margin of safety!

  • @katyb2793
    @katyb2793 ปีที่แล้ว

    This was really interesting, thank you!

  • @BonsaiCornwall
    @BonsaiCornwall 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Great video mate, I’ve just subbed 😊

  • @AlexBraunton
    @AlexBraunton ปีที่แล้ว +1

    A really great, informative video. Thank you for the experiment and results. I'm the same to be honest, if it's young and growing on then I used a compost and perlite mix which works fine.

  • @dracus6877
    @dracus6877 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Great unbiased video. I cant afford expensive bonsai soil. So i mix my store bought potting mix with some perlite and small pebbles. Seems to work for me. And during raininh season its a good time for my cheap soil to clean and drain from the natural rain water that comes down

    • @shuancook9005
      @shuancook9005 9 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Akadama is £32 a bag of Japanese dirt ✔️👍

  • @raton_garden
    @raton_garden 9 หลายเดือนก่อน

    So effective information. Good share 🎉❤🎉❤

  • @treeaddict
    @treeaddict 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Great info in this video-thank you. Sub

  • @DeciduousSnurb
    @DeciduousSnurb ปีที่แล้ว

    I'll show this video to anyone who doesn't understand bonsai and why you would basically use what looks to be "gravel" as soil for a tree. Which for me, is everyone in my family 😆
    I don't usually bareroot and cut the roots of my temperate trees during the growing season where I live, maybe you have success with it in Australia. Sometimes when it's my only option I will do it and I loosely cover my newly potted tree with a white plastic bag in some shade. It seems to help them recover.
    I've been planning a root over rock as well and with a Trident, I hear they make great ror.

    • @growingwithbonsai
      @growingwithbonsai  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Thanks for the comment. I agree that it's not ideal, but I had four weeks in Australia to do everything. No choice :) Fortunately tridents are basically weeds, one day I'll do a video showing how they grow in all the vacant lots where I live in Korea.

    • @DeciduousSnurb
      @DeciduousSnurb ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@growingwithbonsai Awesome, a bonsai growers dream, free tridents!

  • @91lovemusic
    @91lovemusic 6 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Compost pine bark?

  • @animron9365
    @animron9365 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

    You can't draw conclusions based on just two small and young examples! We would need dozens of examples and a multi-year period: at least three years. 18 months is not enough to make any definitive conclusion.

    • @growingwithbonsai
      @growingwithbonsai  2 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      You seem to think I owe you something. The plants are genetically identical and I found out what I wanted to know. But feel free to conduct the experiment you describe yourself.