collecting
Peter K.
one specifically made for trees and shrubs, for newly collected specimens?
i'll be digging a few big guys this spring and i'm not sure if i can afford
to buy enough supplies to make the necessary amounts of bonsai soil. The
plants are getting ripped out if i don't dig them up so waiting longer isn't
an option. thanks everybody.
--
Peter Kulibert zone 4a/5b
Alan Walker
except for bonsai mixes. As long as you put those newly collected
specimens in the ground or a very large raised growing bed, your potting
mix should be fine, but for container growing, you really need a well
draining, coarse mix.
Alan Walker
http://bonsai-bci.com http://LCBSBonsai.org
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Jim Lewis
It's going to depend on what you mean by "good quality potting
soil." That dark, powdery, vermiculite-filled stuff you buy
packaged in 10- or 20-pound bags at Home Depot, Lowes, Wal-Mart,
or your typical Mom and Pop nursery is the absolute WORST thing
you could plant a tree in. (It's OK for African violets, bulbs,
and others of that ilk.)
If you have a GOOD local nursery that mixes its OWN potting soil
with gravel in it it should do for a while.
You always will be better off with bonsai soil. _I_ use screened
old soil for this kind of stuff (I know, people are shuddering,
but I solar sterilize all of it, and have not lost anything to
disease yet).
If you cannot get a good potting/bonsai soil, you should plant
the trees back into the ground.
Jim Lewis - jkl...@nettally.com - Tallahassee, FL - Only where
people have learned to appreciate and cherish the landscape and
its living cover will they treat it with the care and respect it
should have - Paul Bigelow Sears.
Jim
I have had my best success with partially composted bark which I can get
from my local nursery (they call it "Starter Mix).
Craig Cowing
Peter:
If you can find a Turface distributor (or some retailers too) you can get Turface
for about $11 a bag, which is 50 lbs. For my big guys I have in wooden boxes I
use the cedar mulch you can find at any Home Desperate or Lowe's. The red stuff is
ugly but you can find it without any color added. I use this and cut it with
Turface and grit, about 50/50. No problems so far after three years. Remember
that if you have something on the big side (I'm talking 5" or more trunks, trees
that will eventually be 2-3 ft tall) they're going to be in those boxes for several
years--you won't be repotting every year. The cedar mulch will provide plenty of
organic material.
Craig Cowing
NY
Zone 5b/6a Sunset 37
Beckenbach, Jay
right idea for collecting by us newbes, a salvage dig! Why? Permission is
easy to get, the owner is usually very willing to let you have your pick of
anything (if you are a good guest, and sometimes he'll even dig it for you
with the back-hoe), the material is dead if you don't save it and it has
usually been cared for (pruned, trimmed, etc.) for years which eases the
transition into the world of bonsai.
A few thoughts on the recovery planting:
1. put it back into the ground if you can, heal it in. This is the best of
all options for the plant but does make it a bit inconvenient for you, the
grower.
2. put it into a large growing "pot" at least. This could be a cut-down
nursery pot or a wood box or a large Mexican pot for that matter. The
important thing is room for the plant to grow and recover.
3. use a growing "soil" somewhere in between the "natural" soil and bonsai
soil, especially if you are planting in a box or oversized pot.
4. growing "soil" could include re-cycled bonsai or growing soil, ala Jim
Lewis (don't forget to sterilize it) or agricultural admixes such as perlite
or vermiculite. You can usually get these in large bags at the big box
stores for reasonable prices. I think my last bag of perlite was 4 cubic
feet and cost under $10. I've not had any luck using straight perlite or
vermiculite so add some type of organic material, mulch, decomposed pine
bark or such. If you're planting back into the ground, the natural soil
works for this.
Finally, think small too. As nice as it is to get that big plant, you will
be thankful if you also get some small thing or two for variety and
companion planting. And the small things won't take up any room when you're
dragging the big plant back home.
Jay Beckenbach - Melrose, FL - Zone 8b/9a - jbe...@ufl.edu
-----Original Message-----
From: Peter K. [mailto:pkul...@CHARTER.NET]
Sent: Thursday, March 04, 2004 8:32 PM
Subject: collecting
Is there anything wrong with using a good quality potting mix, maybe even
one specifically made for trees and shrubs, for newly collected specimens?
i'll be digging a few big guys this spring and i'm not sure if i can afford
to buy enough supplies to make the necessary amounts of bonsai soil. The
plants are getting ripped out if i don't dig them up so waiting longer isn't
an option. thanks everybody.
--
Peter Kulibert zone 4a/5b
****************************************************************************
marty haber
50 lb. bags of builder's sand (coarse).
Mix the 2 together at a 50-50 rate. Total cost, less than $15.
Marty
----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter K." <pkul...@CHARTER.NET>
To: <BON...@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
Sent: Thursday, March 04, 2004 8:32 PM
Kitsune Miko
and find a local distributor. What I got was MVP used
for golf course greens at $8.20 50# bag.
Kitsune Miko
Isom, Jeff , EM, PTL
bedding" soil. It is a mixture of topsoil, shredded bark, and course sand.
You can buy it for something like $15 for a pickup truck bed full (1/2
yard). Buy one or two bags of Turface or Scotts clay soil conditioner and
mix in there and you have a relatively cheap close proximity to Bonsai soil.
If you are planting into large grow boxes or better yet, in the ground,
there is not as much need to get rid of the fines...at least my collected
stuff didn't seem to mind.
Craig Cowing
> A local landscape supply company here sells something they call "shrub and
> bedding" soil. It is a mixture of topsoil, shredded bark, and course sand.
> You can buy it for something like $15 for a pickup truck bed full (1/2
> yard). Buy one or two bags of Turface or Scotts clay soil conditioner and
> mix in there and you have a relatively cheap close proximity to Bonsai soil.
> If you are planting into large grow boxes or better yet, in the ground,
> there is not as much need to get rid of the fines...at least my collected
> stuff didn't seem to mind.
>
Ditto. In a box there's more room, and I find I don't have to be as strict about
the contents of the soil. This kind of mixture still drains pretty well yet
retains enough moisture.
Craig Cowing
NY
Zone 5b/6a Sunset 37
********************************************************************************
Steven Wachs
bonsai soil, i recycle my mix.
When you collect trees it is the best ime to cut the tree back and root
prune. I do not leave more than will fit in a 5 gallon pot at the max
Craig Cowing
> I make my own mix of potting mix, peat moss and sand. when I change the
> bonsai soil, i recycle my mix.
> When you collect trees it is the best ime to cut the tree back and root
> prune. I do not leave more than will fit in a 5 gallon pot at the max
I generally collect only deciduous trees in the wild, which are usually much more
amenable to root-pruning. I usually leave about 10-12" diameter around the trunk,
the total diameter of which will vary depending on the size of the trunk.
Craig Cowing
NY
zone 5b/6a Sunset 37
Pat Patterson
Consider, when you read the following...I live on the edge of the Southern
Arizona High Desert...at 4550' elevation. Also, I don't do a lot of
collecting.
Since I can't get a pick more than 2" into the soil (unless it's rained for 4
days), and if I do dig a hole 18" deep and fill it with water, it takes 5-7
hours to drain, I do not grow out any trees in the ground. And, no Virginia,
at my age, I'm not going to build a raised growing bed.
However, when I do (rarely) collect, I pot up the small (less than 2" trunk)
subjects in oversized planters and use pure perlite. I've had a few of these
produce in ONE year, more roots than I could use.
You do have to watch perlite closely since it tends to hold on to too much
water.
On subjects with trunks over 2" I generally use pure pumice...with good
results.
Cactus mix has also worked for me for a first soil mix for collected subjects.
It (perlite, pumice, cactus mix) works for me!
My regular potting mix is equal parts of pumice, lava and OilDri (or other
fired clay) with 5%, plus or minus (depending on species), cactus mix.
We just finished what the forecasters are calling the last winter storm...rain,
hail and snow (at 4550'). Looking for temps in the mid 70s to low 80s next
week, here in Oracle.
Has the real spring really arrived?
Have a good day.
Pat
Dez of the Arizona High Dezert, at 4550', Oracle, AZ,
2000' above Tucson Sunset Zone 10 USDA Zone 8
aka: Pat Patterson 'riding off in all directions'
Billy M. Rhodes
writes:
> Interesting posts today! This one especially caught my eye as this is the
> right idea for collecting by us newbes, a salvage dig! Why?
Two observations on collecting in Florida and other parts of the country.
1. Florida is developing FAST and there are a lot of opportunities for
"salvage" digs, even in some urban areas.
2. Florida soil, at least on the peninsula has one thing in common. SAND
Collecting can be difficult because the roots run soo far from the plant.
Billy on the Florida Space Coast
BSF Annual Convention May 28 - 31, 2004 Radisson Hotel, Cape Canaveral,
Florida
Sponsored by The Bonsai Society of Brevard and the Treasure Coast Bonsai
Society
http://www.bonsaisocietyofbrevard.org/2004/2004.html
Steve wachs
SteveW
Long Island NY