ordering bonsai soil..

[benw3790]

So I've been Buying Substrate from amazon to repot my trees this year. I've been getting a mix from wee tree. Its Boons recipe. Lava, pumice, horticultural charcoal, akadma and I think some sort of grit. Well they are completely sold out.and I'm running out of time on my repotting window. I love This soil and you get a good amount For the price and its usually at my door no later than 3 days after ordering. All I can find on amazon now is soil that is way too organic or turface based. Where cani order some good soil (similar to boons mix) for a good price?? Thanks -ben

 

[quietobserver]

Weetree shows they have some if you order direct:

http://www.weetree.com/bonsai-soil/bonsai-soil-professional-usps/

 

[Eric Group]

Mix some yourself... Buy component parts, sift them out and make your own.

 

[bonsairxmd]

I did the calculations the other night. Ordering the Boon's mix from Wee Trees directly comes to $13.17 per gallon and ordering 3.5-4 gal of each component of boon's mix separately from them and mixing it yourself is $8.17 per gallon. I checked several places online and taking into consideration shipping costs the cheapest route to make Boon's mix yourself with ordering the separate components as far as I could find was through Wee Trees. This does assume little loss of the individual components after sifting.

If anyone has found anything cheaper please let me know

(I did the calculations after a fair amount of Scotch so someone should doublecheck my math )

 

[benw3790]

Mix some yourself... Buy component parts, sift them out and make your own.

Tried that already and by no means am I lazy person but dont really have time to do It and its just too much of a hassle for me right now. Working from sun up to sun down everyday lol. I would love to make my own though. I think it might be more expensive but maybe not!

 

[benw3790]

Weetree shows they have some if you order direct:

http://www.weetree.com/bonsai-soil/bonsai-soil-professional-usps/

Thabks buddy! Dont know why I didnt try that first.

 

[Jester217300]

I think it might be more expensive but maybe not!

Definitely less expensive. If someone does the work for you they're going to charge you for it.

 

[lordy]

try facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Branded-Bonsai/718494958203964

 

[markyscott]

I did the calculations the other night. Ordering the Boon's mix from Wee Trees directly comes to $13.17 per gallon and ordering 3.5-4 gal of each component of boon's mix separately from them and mixing it yourself is $8.17 per gallon. I checked several places online and taking into consideration shipping costs the cheapest route to make Boon's mix yourself with ordering the separate components as far as I could find was through Wee Trees. This does assume little loss of the individual components after sifting.

If anyone has found anything cheaper please let me know

(I did the calculations after a fair amount of Scotch so someone should doublecheck my math )

Try ordering in bulk. It will reduce costs by about 2/3rds even including removal of fines. See post 27 for my costs.

http://www.bonsainut.com/index.php?threads/a-better-way-to-sieve.12697/page-2#post-252440

S

 

[Paradox]

Try ordering in bulk. It will reduce costs by about 2/3rds even including removal of fines. See post 27 for my costs.

http://www.bonsainut.com/index.php?threads/a-better-way-to-sieve.12697/page-2#post-252440

S

The only problem I see with this is the shipping costs can negate any savings you get by volume buying depending on how far you are from the shipper.

 

[DougB]

Have you checked with the Ashville or Charlotte clubs to see if they or a member has soil for sale?

 

[coh]

I did a cost comparison last year...compared buying a pallet of pumice from wee tree (I think 50 bags, 40 pounds each, so a ton basically) versus buying it by flat rate box. I don't have the numbers in front of me, but it was considerably cheaper (per unit) to buy the pallet, even after accounting for shipping to New York. The shipping cost was equal to or greater than the pumice cost but it still worked out to a pretty good deal.

The problem is, where to store a ton of pumice...could be great if you can get a few people to share the cost.

Chris

 

[markyscott]

I did a cost comparison last year...compared buying a pallet of pumice from wee tree (I think 50 bags, 40 pounds each, so a ton basically) versus buying it by flat rate box. I don't have the numbers in front of me, but it was considerably cheaper (per unit) to buy the pallet, even after accounting for shipping to New York. The shipping cost was equal to or greater than the pumice cost but it still worked out to a pretty good deal.

The problem is, where to store a ton of pumice...could be great if you can get a few people to share the cost.

Chris

I always split the pallet with other club members. I seem to go through a lot more pumice. I think because I have more waste when I seive - I always end up using 3 bags of pumice for every 2 bags of lava rock. I store the unused bags under my benches beneath a tarp. On the east cost, try Beam Clay for lava. You might get some cost savings from shipping, but they sell by pallet too.

http://www.beamclay.com/13 - Bonsai.pdf

Scott

 

[markyscott]

The only problem I see with this is the shipping costs can negate any savings you get by volume buying depending on how far you are from the shipper.

It's true that shipping costs go up with distance. But Houston is a long way from Oregon - I'm not sure how much more it costs to ship to New York but they'll give you an estimate. Also, as I mentioned to coh, you might try Beam Clay on the east coast. They ship pallets of lava from NJ.

http://www.beamclay.com/13 - Bonsai.pdf

They have both red and black 1/4" stone at $375 per ton plus shipping.

Scott

 

[Cypress187]

I used the cat-litter tip someone gave on the forum (baked clay), supercheap. Not all brands are good, but i used one that was tested (Called Foetsiebah, but it's from a Dutch brand TomPoes so i don't think you have it there).

 

[AboveBeyond]

I've been buying from Wee Tree. I've tried buying local components separately and its 1) pain in the butt to find all components and 2)not as good sa "boons" mix.

 

[Paradox]

Thats great, thanks. Now if they would only carry pumice, Id be set.