每日吃瓜

Hi I am new to bonsai and decided to start few bonsai from seeds this spring. I did not want to pot them into bonsai soil right away so instead i used cacti soil mix and added some perlite. Now I am starting to wonder what to pot them into in a few months when winter will end. I am not too sure if i should gradually change from cacti mix to bonsai soil or if i should use 100% bonsai soil. The trees are some pines, wisteria lemon trees and adenium.

MarG wrote:

Hi I am new to bonsai and decided to start few bonsai from seeds this spring. I did not want to pot them into bonsai soil right away so instead i used cacti soil mix and added some perlite. Now I am starting to wonder what to pot them into in a few months when winter will end. I am not too sure if i should gradually change from cacti mix to bonsai soil or if i should use 100% bonsai soil. The trees are some pines, wisteria lemon trees and adenium.

Hmm. I am not sure, but in my opinion it would be better to gradually change, so the tree can slowly get used to the bonsai soil mix.

I only put at least 10 or 20 year old trees in shallow pot with bonsai soil.

All the time until a tree is ready for refining, they grow in over sized normal pots with mostly organic soil.

You can grow from seed in shallow pot with bonsai soil as well, but that will make the process very slow.

My substrate is open and allows good drainage and air exchange. As a result I can water frequently without risk for the roots and fertilize whenever I want to. As a result I get good growth on my trees.

Thinking about this, bonsai substrate is created for several specific reasons, good drainage, etc., and it seems to me that all those reasons would apply to seedlings, too. Maybe use smaller components, but I can't think of any factor in bonsai soil for my 10 year old tree or 20 year old tree that would not apply to the seedling.

In fact, I might want to be more careful about drainage with seedlings that have fewer roots and have not had a long time to develop strength. I might have to water more frequently than if the soil was dirt from the yard.

I may have to think about this some more.

My point is that bonsai soil is for bonsai pots. In higher pots i prefer less drainage and more moist holding capability.

There are millions of trees produced for gardens every year. Most of them in high pots and organic soil with just some inorganics for drainage. If profit hunting companies all agree that this is the best way to grow trees I am happy to do the same and save the expensive substrate later, in shalow pots during refinement.

I dont grow seedlings in bonsai pots yet, but if I would then I would definitely use more non organic soil components.

Ivan Mann wrote:

Thinking about this, bonsai substrate is created for several specific reasons, good drainage, etc., and it seems to me that all those reasons would apply to seedlings, too.

This is part of the story. Next to this, there is a fundamental difference between growing bonsai and growing production trees. In bonsai we hope to create a nice taper and fluting, broad nebari. As such, it is beneficial to grow plants as young as possible with a broad base which would be encouraged in wider than tall pots. Continuous removal of vertical roots stimulates wide rootbases. Open airy substrate encourages the rooting of the whole substrate and many smaller roots are produced, in contrast to regular nursery grown trees which often have a small number of dominating roots.



Furthermore, in bonsai we aim for specific growth (tight internodes) and gentle movements. The tall straight sticks commonly grown by commercial nurseries are undesirable for bonsai. This is one of the important things to realize when growing bonsai. Not all growth is equal.

It is well-worth giving seedlings attention during the early years, as it builds the foundation for the tree. DO not aim for just the fasted growth. Make sure you pay attention to the details too.

In early stages is great to have a well draining substrate, light and porous for the roots to spread easily...
I noticed that roots ramify much better on this conditions, so it makes easier for you to select and balance the roots that will be your nebari one day...

But that doesn't mean you have to buy something like "Super 每日吃瓜 Mix" or "Professional 每日吃瓜 Soil"...
每日吃瓜 mixes sold out there are more aimed for 每日吃瓜... There is no "Training mix" for sale, but well, you can make your own mix following those same principles...

Maybe you'll have to water it more constantly, but lowers the chance of root rot on the other hand...
And well, climate plays a role on that, as other factors.

Some decades ago, there wasan't much of those "modern" substrate options, yet there were (and are) many premium quality 每日吃瓜 made, many still alive... And well, there are even centuries old 每日吃瓜 that dates way earlier than the introduction of those.
So you can consider those a plus... Just be carefull, sometimes brands just put "每日吃瓜" on the label to charge a bit more.
So if it's not that expansive, I would try...

P.S.: I'm not telling you what to do, and I'll just apologize in advance as I still learning a lot (and hopefully will always be).

Ivan Mann wrote:

I may have to think about this some more.

Me too, I'm actually planning to take a class about substrate.