Whenever I buy small acers, they come in either pure composted fir bark or loam and perlite. I intend to repot most of my acers ( of various ages ) next spring with : 1/3 composted fir bark 1/3 pouzzolane 1/3 clay beads Can i use this mix for all of my acers, big and small ? Most of the year, I live in a humid environment.
Hi Fabrice, If it's not indiscreet, do you buy the composted fir bark or produce it yourself? It's good stuff, I'd like to be able to get a hold of it... Without re-opening the whole potting mix discussion -- I use a coarse mix but that does contain some loam -- I will say that following Gomero's mention of it a while ago I now use some pouzzolane in my mix. The weight also helps keep pots from blowing over. However I've stopped using the clay beads (billes d'argile) because they're too big to really help drainage, and the maples didn't seem to like them very much. Also I found potting delicate roots difficult with the billes. Aside from that I don't think you want or need a different mix for large or small maples. cheers, -E
Hi Emery I produce composted fir bark myself. Thanks for your opinion, it's helpful. You get a bit confused when two professional growers tell you they use pure loam for their maples, and all the others testing their own mix successfully as well. Fabrice.
