Why are bonsai soil aggregates so damn expensive and how can I save money? – Bonsai Jack © (2024)

FAQs

How do you make cheap bonsai soil? ›

I only have pre-bonsai for the moment so my trees are in a cheap soil recommend by Brent from evergreengardenswork: 8 parts perlite/8 parts pine bark/1 part sphagnum moss + osmocote.

If you can't find it or don't want to use it, look for any sort of clay made for use in potting soil. Akadama or Turface are the most commonly used products. Akadama is a clay-like mineral made out of volcanic soil mined in Japan.

Basic Bonsai Mixing Steps

Choose a medium-sized grain Akadama for your soil mix. Next, sieve the baked clay to remove the fine dust to provide proper aeration and drain excess water. Now, add your pumice that needs no sifting, and add your lava rock by sifting it to your potting mix.

Ingredients: 33% Pine Coir, 33% 1/4 Bonsai Block(calcined clay) and 33% Monto Clay(1/4 inch). Average Pine Coir Size: Dust to 3/8th. Condition: Sifted, Washed, Treated, Dried and Bagged.

While making your own potting mix is usually not as cheap as the cheapest potting soil, you can make amazing mixes that are much better for your plants for only a bit more money than the cheapest stuff at the garden center.

Bonsai Gravel Top Dressing For Soil and Humidity Trays

These Rocks serve multiple purposes. We've seen people use them to top dress their soil (e.g., different appearance), but they can also be added to humidity trays. Rather than have you bonsai tree sit on top of the humidity tray, place some rocks on the tray first.

If you have a small bonsai tree, you should avoid using Miracle-Gro. It is too acidic and may cause moisture control problems. It may not be suited for all soils, and you should always read the instructions on the container before use.

Moss will not cause root rot. That is caused by poor drainage. However, moss can make it difficult to notice poor drainage... Liverwort on the other hand may be an indicator of poor drainage (it likes soggy soil), so if you see liverwort in your pots, get rid of it and try to figure out why soil is draining poorly.

It takes time for the trees to adjust, but the creator has several trees growing in only water. Aqua Bonsai is a new Bonsai style using the technology of hydroponics (a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, in water, without soil).

Using used coffee grounds in your bonsai garden is a great way to add nutrients to the soil. However, you should not use the same amount of the ground as you would when using traditional fertilizers. You should be sure to make a mix of green and brown materials that are damp and smells earthy.

Is bonsai soil necessary? ›

Because Bonsai is planted in a relatively small quantity of soil throughout the year on which its existence depends. Through the soil in the pot, the tree must be able to obtain water, nutrients and air in order to grow for very long time. For this reason, a Bonsai must be planted in a good quality Bonsai soil.

Water the plant well one time and let it dry out for 3-7 days before watering again.

The ideal soil mix will absorb a good amount of water and release the majority of it between watering. Most bonsai are watered every 24 to 48 hours.

Excellent question! My answer is a resounding "No"! Miracle-Gro soil, fertilizer or a mixture of the two is not safe for growing bonsai.

In addition to compost, there are several other things you can add to your soil to increase the amount of organic matter (and therefore overall fertility.) Grass clippings, shredded autumn leaves, aged manure, or coffee grounds will help your garden soil increase in fertility, water retention, and improved texture.

Some people even make their own DIY soil out of materials like mulched paper and vegetable fibers. For those who prefer to keep their hands clean, commercial soil replacements can include a variety of materials, such as moss, shredded bark, mushroom compost, vermiculite, sand, coir, nut husks, and animal manure.

Soil is a material composed of five ingredients — minerals, soil organic matter, living organisms, gas, and water. Soil minerals are divided into three size classes — clay, silt, and sand (Figure 1); the percentages of particles in these size classes is called soil texture. The mineralogy of soils is diverse.

Use Mulch. Simply using mulch on garden beds can save you money. A layer of mulch helps the soil hold moisture better, so you don't have to water your plants quite as much. Organic mulches break down over time and replenish nutrients in your soil, so you'll spend less on fertilizers.

Classic Soil-Based Mix:

1 part peat moss or mature compost. 1 part garden loam or topsoil. 1 part clean builder's sand or perlite.

It can take 500 to 1,000 years for one inch of topsoil (the upper layer of soil containing the most organic matter and microorganisms) to form through the interaction of bedrock, climate, topography, and living organisms.

Should you water bonsai from top or bottom? ›

Top-watering may be easier for you if you have a large tree, or if you have many trees that you need to water quickly and effectively. Whereas, bottom-watering may be best for you if you have one tree and you like to dote over it and fret over every little leaf that may fall.

You can use white pebbles or colored pebbles placed on top of the bonsai pots. Pebbles not only create a new, clean but also help the pot plant more firmly. For each pot, we can strip 1 layer of gravel or many layers on the surface of each pot. The amount of strip gravel depends on the size of each pot.

Rocks are added to commercially grown bonsai to make them easier to ship. The rocks need to be removed, as they restrict the tree from receiving sufficient water, they bind the roots of the tree and they don't allow you to see the condition of the soil.

For outdoor Bonsai we recommend using a relatively high Nitrogen content fertilizer like NPK 10:6:6. in spring, a more balanced fertilizer like NPK 6:6:6 is more optimal for summertime, and a low Nitrogen fertilizer like NPK 3:6:6 for autumn.

Deciduous bonsai: These trees should be fertilized weekly during the growing season. Once their leaves fall, fertilization should stop as the tree has gone dormant. Conifers: These trees should also be fertilized weekly during the growing season.

You are aiming to keep the soil evening moist all of the time. It's ok if the soil dries out a little bit between waterings but do not let it dry out completely. In hot, summer weather, it's likely that you'll need to water it every day.

This can vary massively depending on the species of bonsai, size of the original pot, age and growing conditions. However, in general the younger trees will need repotting every 2 years while for older trees it is more every 3 to 5 years.

The roots should be trimmed all around so that the root ball will fit into its new container without having to fold or tuck long roots into it. Place the root ball on a shallow layer of fresh soil in the pot and proceed to add additional soil into the spaces between the roots with a chopstick.

After the repotting process, let the tree recover for a couple of weeks out of full sun and wind. Do not fertilize until new growth starts to emerge. Water only to keep the entire root/soil mass moist - not soggy. And, you're done!

If the soil surface becomes hard during hot weather simply submerge your bonsai in water, to cover the soil surface, for about ten minutes. Please do NOT allow your bonsai to stand in water. A little water in the drip tray is beneficial to increase the humidity but if a bonsai stands in water it will cause root rot.

How long can you go without watering a bonsai tree? ›

There are many factors to consider when determining the amount of water your bonsai tree requires. It's best to water your plant every two or three days, but you should never let its soil become completely dry. A good way to tell if the soil is dry is by looking at its color or feel.

Keeping a Bonsai tree alive is not a difficult task, but there are a few things you should be aware of. Bonsai trees are planted in small pots with minimal space for water and nutrient reserves. That means you need to water and fertilize your tree regularly.

You know that last bit of coffee that always seems to be left in the carafe? Don't just pour it down the drain — you can use it to fertilize your plants, both indoor and outdoor. Coffee grounds (and brewed coffee) are a source of nitrogen for plants, producing healthy green growth and strong stems.

Using Coffee Grounds as Fertilizer

To use coffee grounds as a fertilizer sprinkle them thinly onto your soil, or add them to your compost heap. Despite their color, for the purposes of composting they're a 'green', or nitrogen-rich organic material.

Adding coffee grounds directly to the soil as a fertiliser can be a good option. Coffee grounds are rich in nutrients, especially nitrogen. They also have some amount of other nutrients like potassium and phosphorous. Overall, this means that adding coffee grounds to your garden can work fairly well as a fertiliser.

Soil for bonsai has to meet three different criteria: It must allow for good water retention, drainage, and aeration. The soil must be able to hold and retain sufficient moisture yet water must be able to drain immediately from the pot.

Most bonsai beginners start by using this as its straightforward and easily available. Multipurpose compost tends to have lots of nutrients in it which means that little or no feeding is required for a few months. When the soil is fresh it holds water well.

There are different, specialised compost mixes available for bonsai. However, you can make your own mix: Two parts (by volume) peat-substitute potting compost. Two parts sharp sand or lime-free alpine grit.

Misting a Bonsai depends on the environment you keep the Bonsai. Outdoor Bonsai trees do not require any misting. Bonsai trees placed indoors benefit from a daily misting.

On average, you should water a Bonsai tree every four to seven days. You must never let a Bonsai dry out completely, as this can be fatal for your tree.

How do you tell if you're overwatering bonsai? ›

Minor over-watering is often characterised but soft black tips of the leaves. Another indication of over-watering is the trunk of the bonsai can becoming loose in the pot and it may wobble. The symptoms of lack of water (under-watering) are rapid, the leaves wilt and go dry and crispy and drop off.

5 years 9 months ago #29545. As long as the water does not regularly drain from the pot, it makes no difference.

If the bonsai tree in your possession is a pine, it can go upwards of a week without water and survive just fine, but other species of bonsai may start dying within a few days of being starved of hydration. Another big factor in how long your bonsai can survive without water is how soil drains.

The most common components for Bonsai soil mixtures are Akadama, Pumice, Lava rock, organic potting compost, and fine gravel also known as grit. From left to right; organic potting compost, Akadama, Pumice, and lava rock.

Use alternative soil mixes.

Young trees can grow well in a variety of mixes. I use 100% perlite or 100% scoria (lava rock) for most of my pre-bonsai. I've also used mixes that are 60-80% pumice with the remainder an organic-rich mulch or bark.

If you are serious about bonsai, then potting soil is not suitable. You need a substrate that drains well, and does not stay wet too long, as well as allows a lot of gas-exchange.

The answer to the question “Can a bonsai tree to be planted on regular soil?” Is a resounding no. While regular garden soil is a symbiotic relationship between a plant and its surroundings, it lacks the oxygen needed for bonsai. As a result, a bonsai needs a special substrate.

This can vary massively depending on the species of bonsai, size of the original pot, age and growing conditions. However, in general the younger trees will need repotting every 2 years while for older trees it is more every 3 to 5 years. To know when it is time to repot, the key indicator is to look at the roots.

If you have a small bonsai tree, you should avoid using Miracle-Gro. It is too acidic and may cause moisture control problems. It may not be suited for all soils, and you should always read the instructions on the container before use.

Do you need to soak bonsai seeds before planting? ›

Bonsai seeds will need to be "prepared" before sowing in the soil. Stratification is an important step! This is done by soaking the seeds in water, or placing them between layers of wet paper towel, and soaking them.

Bonsai soil is mixed specifically for container-bound trees, having increased drainage and aeration to encourage a dense network of fine roots to grow in small containers. Bonsai soil particles are also much larger than normal soil, sifted to be around 3/16 inch in size.

You may think this is a no-brainer, but the bonsai has very specific watering requirements. Approximately once a week or so (when the topsoil feels completely dry) immerse the entire bonsai plant in a bucket or basin of water. Once the air bubbles have risen to the top, the bonsai has absorbed enough water.