I have got a good soil mix that I use for all of my maples 1st year grafts - 4 years old. This year I 'm growing from seed and they have done very well. When they are ready to transplant I know to pot in 4" pots, but do I use seed starting soil mix still or use the type mix I use for the larger tree's ? Thanks
How long are they going to be in this next container? If it's for 2 years then anny good potting mix with a bunch of extra perlite would do you fine. If it's for longer then that a look into what bonsai growers use would help. Conifer bark based soil will hold up a lot longer 6-8 years. Try using the search function on this forum. I know there has been a lot of good discussion on this before.
I believe I read in Vertrees 3rd Edition mentioned that you could use 50% sand and 50% peat, how do feel about that?
Hi, I use aprox 60%potting compost and 40%pea gravel ,I also use this mix for most of my bonsai. George.
I now use 100% pine bark mulch for my maples in pots after the first year. I add slow release fertilizer and a little dolemitic lime. The key is to use a mix that drains well and keeps air space for the roots. This starts as a very coarse mix that doesn't start to break down for a year or so. Sand and gravel just adds weight, fills up the holes, and does nothing for the plant, but does a number on your back. For first year seedlings, I have found that the mix should be finer for the smaller roots. I use a more traditional potting mix for the first year.
What is a potting compost? I know compost and I know peat moss and I know perlite is this a mix of the two. So what if you had seedlings in a rased bed and did not want to move them to pots for two years what mix then? The sand here is way to fine anyways, like dust.
Hi, That is why I recomend pea gravel because it gives good drainage, sand like dust is far to fine and no good whatsoever because it is no good for drainage which is the most important thing for your maples, to stop the roots getting waterlogged.potting compost is a mix of vital minerals ,soil and peat that plants need and is bought from garden centers, there is all sorts of mixes can be bought , ie peat free, ereacacious and many more. George.
Thanks George, I am filling two raised beds with something, I think the pea gravel is a good solution to the sand issue, I can not afford to buy a premixed potting soil and the word ereacacious is not in any dictionary that I have found in this town. So it looks like I am a mix of pea gravel compost and something else like peat or pine bark. My raised beds will be two feet high and three feet wide and eight feet long. I need to know how to compute this volume as well and then order something to fill it.
Hi, As whis4ey (I know that name) as stated ereacacious compost is for acid loving plants ie azaleas, rhododendrons,pieris and the like which are heath type plants. George.
