Bonsai Jack Soil mix

[b3bowen]

Was hoping to get some peoples experience with bonsai jacks universal organic/inorganic mixes.

Secondly, using the soil components on his website are any of you building your own soil? If so, what are you including/what percentages and why?

 

[Scorpius]

I use their inorganic for all my trees and I've had great success so far with it.

 

[Carol 83]

I've used both, very happy with it.

 

[MSU JBoots]

I’ve been pleased with the organic mix so far. I like the pine bark since I don’t have as much time to water due to work and a toddler. Although he did help me water my collection today!

 

[namnhi]

NEXTORDER
That code might even give you 10% off. Live saver if you don't have time to sift and mix your own

 

[AcerAddict]

Been using their organic mix since I started bonsai a couple years ago now. I love it, and it's all I use for my bonsai and succulents. As for evaporation, I have to water my outside trees usually every other day, but during June/July/August I have to water every morning if it hasn't rained lately.

 

[Wulfskaar]

I am currently using both the bonsai jack universal soil and conifer soil. My baby trees have grown quite a bit in it, so complaints from me!

 

[FiestaRed]

Anyone got a link please? Just to see what we in the UK are missing out on.

 

[BobbyLane]

Anyone got a link please? Just to see what we in the UK are missing out on.

you can buy ready made mixes on kaizen bonsai.

 

[FiestaRed]

you can buy ready made mixes on kaizen bonsai.

I use them already but thanks for the reply. I was just asking for a link to the Bonsai Jacks stuff to see what they were putting in their mixes. Basically trying to widen my knowledge of bonsai soil mixes.

 

[Gr8tfuldad]

I have been buying their inorganic mixes and then order pine bark separate to amend when needed. Going forward I am buying everything separate and mixing myself to my needs. Great experience with them always.

 

[penumbra]

I get my pine bark and my lava from them and I really love their bonsai block. I don't use pre mix bonsai soil, I just make it up according to my needs.

 

[Maiden69]

Pretty decent soil, I use their monto clay and bonsai block for my trees in development. Yes I have to water often but I rather not deal with trying to remove organic material from the trees when I move into a pot for development. Also, since this are all hard particles I rinse and reuse most of them. I still have akadama, but it will only be used for trees that will enter refinement.

 

[b3bowen]

How do you all feel about the particle size? I have been mostly using small Akadama (up to 5 mm) which is considerably smaller than the particle size from bonsai Jack which I believe averages 1/4 (up to 3/8). Most of my trees are deciduous and are still being developed, but slowly in 12 x 11 grow boxes. I assume you guys aren’t having too much trouble with them drying out overly quickly. Several of my trees will need repotting this spring But I am not sure I can use akadama due to the cost. In 2020 I was purchasing bags from superfly bonsai for 31$ each they are now out of stock and listed at 60$. Of the 3.5 gallon bags at that time I was getting about 1 gallon of fines per bag. Just cant pay 60$ for 2.5 gallons of soil. Here’s a picture of one of my sharp pygme Japanese maples as an example of where these trees are.

 

[namnhi]

How do you all feel about the particle size? I have been mostly using small Akadama (up to 5 mm) which is considerably smaller than the particle size from bonsai Jack which I believe averages 1/4 (up to 3/8). Most of my trees are deciduous and are still being developed, but slowly in 12 x 11 grow boxes. I assume you guys aren’t having too much trouble with them drying out overly quickly. Several of my trees will need repotting this spring But I am not sure I can use akadama due to the cost. In 2020 I was purchasing bags from superfly bonsai for 31$ each they are now out of stock and listed at 60$. Of the 3.5 gallon bags at that time I was getting about 1 gallon of fines per bag. Just cant pay 60$ for 2.5 gallons of soil. Here’s a picture of one of my sharp pygme JapaneseView attachment 454086 maples as an example of where these trees are.

I think you are one of the extreme purist when it comes to soil. That maple will do just fine in Jack's organic mix.... providing you will monitor the level moisture the new mix provides. I venture to say that the tree will thrive with the same care you have been giving it.

 

[Maiden69]

In 2020 I was purchasing bags from superfly bonsai for 31$ each they are now out of stock and listed at 60$. Of the 3.5 gallon bags at that time I was getting about 1 gallon of fines per bag. Just cant pay 60$ for 2.5 gallons of soil.

I don't know what brand of akadama you were buying, but DRL akadama price was around $50 in 2020, and when sifted I barely got a n 8oz cup full of fines and I sifted to 1/16". Also, to get the more common size you do need to buy the small and medium size and sift to the size you want to use.

Second, akadama should not be used to develop a tree. It should be used when you move the tree to a bonsai pot to start refinement. Even Ryan Neil says this and he uses pure akadama on his trees. Akadama slows down the growth of the tree, so it is counter productive when developing a tree. This is a mistake I did my first year, and one that a lot of people do thinking that akadama is the "be all-end all" soil to use.

 

[AcerAddict]

How do you all feel about the particle size? I have been mostly using small Akadama (up to 5 mm) which is considerably smaller than the particle size from bonsai Jack which I believe averages 1/4 (up to 3/8). Most of my trees are deciduous and are still being developed, but slowly in 12 x 11 grow boxes. I assume you guys aren’t having too much trouble with them drying out overly quickly. Several of my trees will need repotting this spring But I am not sure I can use akadama due to the cost.

This is a Seiju Elm that I bought last December (first photo) and repotted this spring in Bonsai Jack Organic mix. The old soil was badly compacted and almost clay-like in consistency, so I had to do some major raking to free up the roots. Since I was pretty rough on it, I left it completely alone this whole year other than water and fertilizer and it has grown very well as you can see (second photo). I plan to make some style decisions this winter when the leaves are gone. As for the soil particle size, I'm perfectly fine with the Bonsai Jack mix. The pine bark fines hold enough moisture for the tree to go a couple days without watering on all but the hottest summer days, in which case I water every morning.

Anyway, while I'm certainly no expert in bonsai, I know that you want some organic material in the soil during the development stages, so I personally wouldn't go with pure akadama for your pre-bonsai trees as you grow them out. When you're ready to put the brakes on major growth, THEN you will be good switching to something like the Bonsai Jack inorganic mix.

 

[b3bowen]

I don't know what brand of akadama you were buying, but DRL akadama price was around $50 in 2020, and when sifted I barely got a n 8oz cup full of fines and I sifted to 1/16". Also, to get the more common size you do need to buy the small and medium size and sift to the size you want to use.

Second, akadama should not be used to develop a tree. It should be used when you move the tree to a bonsai pot to start refinement. Even Ryan Neil says this and he uses pure akadama on his trees. Akadama slows down the growth of the tree, so it is counter productive when developing a tree. This is a mistake I did my first year, and one that a lot of people do thinking that akadama is the "be all-end all" soil to use.

I have only purchased it from Superfly bonsai
I have tried DRL, kobayashi, and ibaraki, I didn’t see any real differences in the quality that I could tell. The 7 mm size had much fewer fines, but had more large particles than I wanted. Each brand was around 30 from what I could tell.



guess I got a good deal, but perhaps they were from the bottom of the pallet.

 

[b3bowen]

Thank you all for your replies. I will definitely try it out. The reason I have my trees in akadama mixes now, is that I wanted to have a baseline to compare as I try other things. I will say, that akadama appears to work very well to me. I have not seen that it slows down the growth of the tree. At least not in the size containers I have them in. I only use organic fertilizer twice a year. Once in the spring, then I cut back to two internodes once the trees have fully elongated. Then again in the fall. I will cut back again once the leaves fall. The tree below is a sango kaku on its own roots. The tallest of the shoots in the photo has grown 41 inches since June.

 

[Maiden69]

I think that the mayor difference you will see will be slightly longer internodes, and faster growth (depending on how you feed them as well).