Soil Advice for WV

[esean]

Any reason for ditching the DE? The other three I’d have to order online, I could probably find pine bark mulch but I’d have to go about 45 minutes to get it so I planned on just ordering some on bonsai jack pre mixed with the other two.

If you can't find it any closer, White's Mill in Athens has pine bark mulch with plenty of fines. You'll probably have to sift a bit to get the exact size you want.

 

[NBogg]

A note on DE.
Reading here on BN, folks have best experience with what is not white, rather tannish color.
The NAPA 8822 I used was white, tiny, and holds too much water leaving my soil soggy.
I used it sparingly.

What I use is white, then when watered turns to a gray/tan. It seems when it dries it turns back to the white color.

I was looking at bonsai jack and they have calcined clay or monto clay. The pH is different, but do they act different? Like monto is comparable to Turface and the calcined to Akadama? Sorry, I’m just deep deep down the soil rabbit hole and I can’t seem to climb out lol.

 

[Japonicus]

What I use is white, then when watered turns to a gray/tan. It seems when it dries it turns back to the white color.

I was looking at bonsai jack and they have calcined clay or monto clay. The pH is different, but do they act different? Like monto is comparable to Turface and the calcined to Akadama? Sorry, I’m just deep deep down the soil rabbit hole and I can’t seem to climb out lol.

Monto Clay is just 1/4" Turface.
Monto Clay is calcined clay.
Turface is strictly a trademark name. At 5.6 pH it can offset the higher pH of lava rock which is higher than 9 and pumice is 8.63 at BJ.
I use Monto Clay, in place of akadama on most of my projects. Then on more refined trees I use the standard Boon mix 1:1:1 hard akadama, lava and pumice.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

….Interesting, our pumice comes in around 7 pH and lava comes in about 6 pH. Are these the values for the products Bonsai Jack sells?

We only buy these products rarely anymore as. As they are easy to recycle and reuse.

btw: The best place we’ve found to buy sifted pumice is General Pumice. Their quality is very high and sorting is spot on.

Cheers
DSD sends

 

[Japonicus]

Are these the values for the products Bonsai Jack sells?

Yes


This is his maroon lava.
The black is 9.94

3 Gallon Black 1/4 inch Bonsai Lava Rock (12 Dry Quarts) – Bonsai Jack ©

www.bonsaijack.com

3 Gallons 1/4 inch Horticulture Pumice (12 Dry Quarts) – Bonsai Jack ©

www.bonsaijack.com

On his site you have to select a particular size of product then scroll down

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Yes
This is his maroon lava.
The black is 9.94

3 Gallon Black 1/4 inch Bonsai Lava Rock (12 Dry Quarts) – Bonsai Jack ©

www.bonsaijack.com

3 Gallons 1/4 inch Horticulture Pumice (12 Dry Quarts) – Bonsai Jack ©

www.bonsaijack.com

On his site you have to select a particular size of product then scroll down

Very Interesting!

Lava can be acidic or basic depending upon the source volcano and magic vs felsic source material. Pumice can also vary slightly.

Looks like BJ are sourcing from basic material volcanoes.

Pretty sure this shouldn’t make an awful lot of difference though, especially considering the hardness of these materials and the large volumes of water we irrigate our media with.

Cheers
DSD sends

 

[milehigh_7]

Yes

View attachment 498590
This is his maroon lava.
The black is 9.94

3 Gallon Black 1/4 inch Bonsai Lava Rock (12 Dry Quarts) – Bonsai Jack ©

www.bonsaijack.com

3 Gallons 1/4 inch Horticulture Pumice (12 Dry Quarts) – Bonsai Jack ©

www.bonsaijack.com

On his site you have to select a particular size of product then scroll down

9.22??? I would really be shocked if this was accurate and it would be near certain death for most plants. Zero minerals would be available to the plant.

 

[ralfish]

The components you are mentioning are typically used at 1:1:1 then I also add maybe about 10% De. I really like the results Ive gotten with it. This mix gets used for my trees transitioning closer to refinement stage were I really want the growth to still be active and healthy but to really slow down Consider though the trees I have that are in active early development ( gaining mass mostly) are in much more of a regular nursery mix, meaning heavily organic. I have to carefully consider how I water as there are significant differences. Winter in my area though it does get snow, the main theme is rain. Lots of it. To avoid issues with root rot in the organic mix trees, they get moved under some sort of roof where I have control of water. The refinement mix isn't an issue but you must water frequently in the warm months. Take away here is the stage of development will dictate the soil mix you use.

 

[Japonicus]

9.22??? I would really be shocked if this was accurate and it would be near certain death for most plants. Zero minerals would be available to the plant.

Contact Us – Bonsai Jack ©

www.bonsaijack.com

Jack is great at communication.
If he doesn’t answer which he usually does, he”s quick to return your call, text, or email.
Perhaps the measurement was taken from a pulverized sample.
Doesn’t matter to me, I would never pot anything in straight lava rock.
The bark comes in at 4.3 and 5.2 so to say certain death is not accurate.

 

[PowerTap]

Somewhat orthogonal to the continued discussion of soil components, don't overlook the other option of an automatic sprinkler timer to water your trees at work. It might be simpler to solve for automating a mid day watering than trying to solve the soil wars.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Pumice at General Pumice is pH 7.0 per their message to me today.

cheers
DSD sends