Turns out the Internet is terrible at tone. I was genuinely just trying to add something to the discussion, not trying to stir shit up.
The reason for the selective quoting was simply to highlight the point I was addressing for context, not as some sort of gotcha or manipulative way to make you out to be the bad guy. I agreed with most of the rest of what you were saying, so saw no point in quoting it all.
TBH, I was a little taken aback by the all caps "astounding ignorance" comment, but I think we were just misunderstanding each other a bit. I'm more or less unoffendable, so it's all good. Water under the bridge ...
You do make very legit points, especially on over/underwatering. Underwatering is undoubtedly one of the big reasons beginners kills trees, as is using poorly draining soil that compounds the problem.
The mix I use is mostly inorganic for that reason. It can take being watered every day, and I prefer to, but has just enough organics in it to hold a little extra moisture if I need it to.
It's definitely not some thing I made up - it's professional bonsai soil from the local shop. It's what they use.
I don't mind having trees that need water 2-3 times a day in the summer, but I do travel for work occasionally, so I like giving a little margin of error to folks who water my trees, since none of them are bonsai people and I've learned the hard way to make it as easy as possible or come back to dying or dead trees.
Seems to work out fine - I've been using it for many years and my trees thrive in it. It does get a bit expensive though, as I do usually use it for growing out anything I deem a "serious project". Basically, if it's in a nursery pot, I usually try to get it in good soil within a year or so of getting it.
I like growing trunks, so in practice that means I have lots of nursery stock projects going on at any give time. I do occasionally look for cheaper alternatives for growing out stock, but haven't found anything I really like better yet, or that I'd trust for more than a season or two.
