名媛直播

Hey guys iv just joined the forum and want some advice on the wild olive that i dug out as a yamadori. I have been doing bonsai for about just under a year now. I have had the tree in water for a week and now i have potted with stone at the bottom of the pot with river sand on top of that and then i added potting soil that has been mixed with some stone for drainage with some bonemeal. Could you guys give me some advice on if this is correct and what could i do to guarantee the life of this beautiful tree? I would post pics but i do not have a camera at the moment. Thanks guys. Oh and i am from Cape Town South Africa

Hi joncoh101,

Welcome to the forum...it's great to have you join us.

It is strongly suggested that one research each individual tree to learn what it's specific and unique needs are. Try googling the full name of your Olive and check out a few websites to find one that gives the most indepth information on soil, light, moisture, environmental requirements, etc.

Here is a link from the "Empire" website with info on bonsai soil. Also scroll down to the very bottom of that page to see a video on bonsai soil.
Hope this helps! :)

Leslie

Thanks very much for the advice, watching the vid now

joncoh101 wrote: I have had the tree in water for a week and now i have potted with stone at the bottom of the pot with river sand on top of that and then i added potting soil that has been mixed with some stone for drainage with some bonemeal.

If I may ask, why did you leave it in water for a week? After mine was taken out, I put in water for 2 days and also added some vitamin B complex tablets.

Depending on the size of the pot/container you put the tree in, 2cm deep drainage layer should be fine. Adding riversand to the drainage layer is unnecessary. I use the same soil mix for my bonsai's (potting soil and washed river sand). One or two of my trees is potted in soil I bought from Olive Grove n but this year I wanna try some new things.

Post some pics of your tree man.

I have been told and have seen many other experienced local bonsai growers that river sand encorages the fine root system to grow once it has been recently potted. I hope mine takes off tho. I left the tree in water to make sure it got all its water it needs, instead of the vitimin B tabs we used rennies I am working on getting one of my mates to take pics of my trees as she is studying photography at school

joncoh101 wrote: I have been told and have seen many other experienced local bonsai growers that river sand encorages the fine root system to grow once it has been recently potted.

Sorry dude, but when you said that you add the river sand on top of your drainage layer, I envisioned it falling through.

Anyway, yes, river sand does encourage fine root development. I plant ALL of my cuttings in fine river sand and they love it.

My trees gets potted in potting soil with about 3mm river stone added.

Ya i also pot trees with that mixture,however i am soon going to pot a whole lot of my trees and will try out a new soil mixture that my cousin is making. I will try get some photos of my trees asap. Cheers

I've recently started my own worm farm, so when re potting comes I wanna use my own compost. Very excited about that.