名媛直播

I have been reading today about soil. I have seen comments on this forum expressing that 'they don't go crazy about exact soil mixtures'. I was confused because my reading up till now has been you MUST have this, this, and this in your soil or your trees will die a horrible death. Reading the "not going crazy about soil comment" made me relax a bit but also made me more curious to what others used. I read about cat litter and how wonderful it was. It didn't make sense to me because I associate healtjy plants with soil, not what is my kitties box. How can plants/trees grow without organic soil to get nutrients from. I am just learning so I thought maybe there is a way I don't know about. I just read Graham Potters article on repotting and he is very strong in saying that the cat litter medium alone is crap. Now I understand he is in business and does push his soil, but from my biology class way back in high school - plants need soil. With Grahams 1500 plus bonsai he does have a wee bit of experience.
Would some on this forum give examples to me of what you use to put your trees in? I'm curious. My little plants are all fine for now and I don't need to report for a long time but I am looking to the future
I would also love to hear opinions on what you think of the cat litter thing.
Thanks

The cat litter thing is a substitute for a quality bonsai soil.
There is no way around the big granulated bonsai soil. As a beginner myself, believe me I tried - unsuccessfully.
You need granulated soil. This way you can control the water. This way you can keep the soil moist not wet in order to prevent root rotting. It;s about the texture of the soil...similar to cat sand. Something that keeps the humidity but doesn't keep the water.
Here in Romania it is pretty hard to get bonsai soil do to the unpopularity of this art. But I managed to find the one and only website that imports bonsai soil. Ponce, akadama, pine bark etc.
I purchased a 10 kilo bag of already mixed soil for about 15 E.
It looks like this.

Believe me you are way better of with something like this than cat litter.
The fertilizer that you give your tree and the nutrients from the air that go down in the soil when you water your tree (because you have a good drainage soil ) , substitutes the organic soil.

You need a few characteristics..
- Stay moist without drowning the plant: Good drainage
- keep nutrients a little bit, but not too long (Or else you cannot control the nutrient fluxes to the plant)
- Good aeration, for the roots to get enough oxigen

Normal soil does the opposite. It does not drain well, retains nutrients really well, and is low on oxigen.
名媛直播 are different from normal plants in the amount of growing (active) roottips: They are much denser. Which is why you also want these characteristics.

How you reach this, it not so relevant. To quote a well-known, often disputed, bonsai artist: In theory you can grow them in a bowl of glass marbles.

I use a substrate consisting of man-produced porous granules of about 5mm diameter. Part is from kitty litter. Part is from a floor-filler. Added to this some 10% ground pine bark, sifted to 2-5mm.

One of my plants has been in pure foetsieh bah kitty litter for 3 years now. Doing perfectly fine. I have also lost a series of plants because of high quality Japanese substrate falling apart in winter. Just the label does not mean anything. Your choice needs to take into account your location, climate and ability to water more or less frequent.

Anybody claiming alternatives to acadama are rubbish has never grown a plant in it. ALWAYS check whether people have tried multiple substrates or are just rejecting the idea of something else.

Plants really don't need soil.
One of the more recent articles on here was about Aqua-名媛直播 which, somewhat obviously, grow in water.

I will also add that it has to be a special type of cat litter, as described here:


Ed

Claudiu wrote: Believe me you are way better of with something like this than cat litter.

Do you have any reason, besides opinion, why this is so? :whistle:

I agree with LB, it is dependent on your climate, how often you can water, how big is your budget....etc...
Plants don?t really need soil, cat litter used by some people is based on availability and price I guess.
I use alternative - 25kg bag of zeolite costs me 7,50 euro. Just to hold moisture for a bit longer, I add just a little bit of bonsai soil in it or on it.
I give the plants nutritients by putting small granules of Kristalon fertilizer once a month on top and they are getting fed with every watering and using a solution fertilizer every weekend as well.
With this unorganic substrate there is no chance for root rot, overfertilizing and you have substrate under perfect control, and you can check easily how deep it got dry just by moving it with your fingers.
As usually I offer an example - my hornbeam collected this spring planted in mentioned substrate and recent photo of what it thinks about not really using soil for it to grow in.

Ruth wrote: I have been reading today about soil. I have seen comments on this forum expressing that 'they don't go crazy about exact soil mixtures'.

Don't go crazy about exact soil mixtures. Read more, and you'll find there are lots of bonsai enthusiasts that all have different methods, but theirs is the only, correct, perfect soil mix.

Also, you need to distinguishment. The discussed soil mixes concern -usually - established tree. The purpose of the substrate in this case makes you the one that is in full control of watering and fertilizing. Fast draining, modern substrates allow you to do just that. The water drains quickly, and so does excess fertilizer. This DOES require a strict watering and fertilizing regime.

When we are talking about mallsai, sticks in pots, cuttings, seedlings and such, bonsai substrates are often also discussed. I find that rather silly.
My not-even-pre-bonsai are in the garden - in fat, not very well draining dutch clay. They don't care. I have seedlings in all kinds of mixtures. Potting soil, kitty litter, akadama (only a few). They all are doing fine. I have them in potting soil in a large garden pot. No issue.

Only some of my deciduous trees are in Akadama. Some of them are in kitty litter. No problem.
Note: about Akadama opinions differ. Some say conifers should not be in Akadama as it breaks apart. My juniper is in (partly) akadama, wen I'm going to repot it (which is after 4 years) I will absolutely not use Akadama again.

I read about cat litter and how wonderful it was. It didn't make sense to me because I associate healtjy plants with soil, not what is my kitties box

That's a prejudice. You are thinking of the purpose of the litter, not the origin or what it is made of - just baked clay pellets. Of course you're supposed to get it clean from the bag, not from your kitty's toilet.

How can plants/trees grow without organic soil to get nutrients from

You are the one who decides for your plants how much nutrients they will get by watering/fertilizing.
Walter Pall said somewhere (I think, can't find the quote) that you can grow bonsai even in ground car tyres (not that he would do that, it's just to make a point).

Read this article (thoroughly, and notice what mr. Pall emphasize: do it all, or don't do it):


As usual, even while he knows what he is talking about, there are others with different opinions. Up to you do decide who makes the most sense.
Personally, I very much like Walter Pall's no-nonsense approach.

Thanks to all of you who responded. It is a huge topic with lots of opinions, that being said I have more reading and research to do. My plants are very young so I have time. I am paranoid about watering and if I'm doing it correctly, enough...not enough. It's all part of my learning curve. Next time I repot them I will play around a bit with some of the ideas put forth above and see how they do. Thanks again.