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Bonsai Soil Basics
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- čas přidán 18. 08. 2024
- Mastering Basic Bonsai Techniques by Jason Chan
http:/www.easternleaf.com
In this video, we go through the basic factors and essential elements for creating a bonsai soil mix. The video also shows some sample soil components that we use for our general bonsai and show trees.
Soil Mix Components: www.easternleaf...
Akadama Mix: www.easternleaf...
Eastern Leaf Organic Blend Soil Mix (Jason's General Recipe): www.easternleaf...
Soils mentioned in this video:
- Peat Moss
- Turface
- Pumice
- Akadama
- Lava
- Kamuna
Skandar San thank you 🤙
Kanuma
True hero here. Thank you.
Thank you ❤️
As someone who is just getting started with bonsai, this video perfectly explains everything I needed to know about bonsai basics. Thank you!
Agreed. I've been piecing together my knowledge for awhile now, from books and videos, but this is very clearly explained. Thanks
Outstanding thorough substrate explanation. High quality production. No sales pitch...just an outstanding review of different components and the purpose and impact of each.
I am 100% new to Bonsai (and a senior). This information you presented is rich and very well defined. I very much appreciate the in depth details of what and how to make and use the perfect blend for the Bonsai. Thank you,
Ten years now I've been trying to learn good bonsai techniques, and soil has foiled me time, and time again. All my trees were in need of repotting this year, and I just went through the process, with what I was hoping was a better soil mix. I now feel I have again, gotten this wrong and will probably loose trees. I think my soil is better this year then years past, but not ideal.
I had let my trees grow out for the past 2 years to try to overcome my bad techniques in past pruning, and because each year I repot, I loose trees.
I will admit, soil mixes can be as varied as opinions....depending on who you talk to. The basics pretty much dont change, but what and how much to use, can vary quite a bit depending on the teacher...I have yet to be entirely successful with my mixes. Great video, I am also a customer....subscribed.
It would be best to give your location if you are looking for comments, what works here in the PNW won't work in Texas.
It's a bit more well known now but for those in the UK, Tesco low dust cat litter in the purple bag is brillant. Mix it with a bit of lava or pumice and it suits the environment perfectly. It's also cheap as well and would recommend it to everyone in the UK
john hodson Tesco branded ??
Just starting out as a retired senior looking for a new hobby. thanks for the great videos
I liked this video. It was clear and straight forward and easy to hear and see.
But check this out folks - I found some Akadama in my backyard AND SO CAN YOU !!!. I dug down to the hardpan or "caliche'" layer, dug it up and then "fired" it in my home oven. The oven has a self-cleaning setting that heats up to it's max at about 650 degrees. I put in some trays of dirt from my backyard (which is basically clay dirt clods). Then let it do it's cycle which takes about 45 minutes. Then I take it out and break it down to size with hammers. It has worked just fine for me. Not expensive. No mystery. Akadama is just compacted clay soil that has been heated. Same processes that nature uses in Japan.
You should do a video on fertilizing!
Yes
Excellent! Very helpful clarification that I have not seen otherwise in various books about bonsai soil considerations. Local climate affects soil component choice--especially as I just got a Chinese elm from Eastern Leaf and I live in Sou Calif. Thanks!
I live on the east coast and my first time growing plants period but my bonsai is doing good for first time.
Good bonsai content is hard to find. Just as akadamal has all of the 3 essential soil elements so do all of Jason's videos for bonsai training: solid information, easy to understand and also fun to watch. I wish you would post more.Thank you for sharing
Thanks Vlad! Glad that the videos are helpful.
Thanks for sharing. I use basic soil from Dollar Store for my bonsai. It works in Ontario, Canada where I live. My plants are growing as expected. I am new in bonsai hobby - maybe for the last two years. I water every other day or so - depending on the plant type. Some plant even go 2-4 weeks before watering. I fertilise them as pre level of the container. I placed some outside under full sun but some inside bit away from direct sun (depending on verities). The reason I was watching this video is to understand my own need. And I learned a lot. So, I have a question, don't the plants need any soil at all? From where plant get nutrition?
Absolutely awesome video! Very informative. I only started looking into Bonsai a few days ago. So starting out at the age of 22!
thank you very much for sharing knowledge about bonsai growing media, very useful for the fertility of bonsai plants 💝🙏🙏
This video is very helpful. I just got into bonsai last month after finding a Japanese Mountain Maple or just a Japanese Maple with red tips im not sure yet but its growing in the side of my house. It's a very narrow walkway between my house and cedar hedges. So it's just growing floating roots above black garden mesh but under the pine leaves. The dirty under is so compact. I've bought all this stuff and Im going to pot it next week because its just sitting on top of the Earth. So I really dont think I can damage it because I wont cut any roots there roots are barely there. But one root I placed over a largeish rock and now the tree will have a (in several years) nambae (the japanese term for strong showing roots at the base of the truck) over a rock.
On the subject of color. I got some Kanuma and I read it has a nicer color when wet. So you can use it on the top. Im not sure if Ill do that. But maybe I will have a tiny bit more at the top instead of Akadame.
So in a 25L pot around 18 inches wide at the top. I got Akadama, Kanuma, Pumice, Black and Red Lava Rock, And some LECA clay balls. I bought all of this from etsy from this seller called Lulutheherbilina.
I also got some bigger clay balls from Mountain Nursery and I used that for several inches of the bottom. I was generous with it because the pot is so deep compared to the trees root ball. I'm sure I'll be fine.
I was looking for some coconut husk or something but Ill just use this Orchid Root Spaghnum Moss instead of Peat.
So Spahgnum Moss, Akadama, Kanuma, Pumice, Black and Red Lava Rocks, two brands of LECA Clay with one larger for a thick drainage layer for the slightly to deep of a pot. Im so excited to see what happens to this little Japanese Maple that so happy just to be growing in this little ally. But it's not a good place for it, it's not getting direct sun which is fine for it now but later it wont. The soil is so thick. Theres so many pine needles which the acidic-ness isn't so bad but that's all it is. And below that is impact dirt. I've removed the black mesh that was preventing the root from growing over the passed 2-3 weeks. I've cleared some of the pine needles and replaced with peat moss and spahgnum moss. I'm trying not to change it's environment but the roots were literally floating in air under the pine needles, but over this black mesh. And now since I've tended to it the secondary main root I placed over a rock is much happier. It's gripping very tight to the rock and growing down around it into the dirty. It's a very happy little root. So I'm going to dig up the dirt around it and then place that into the pot. Then I'll put my new mixture around it. So the tree will grow into the new mixture from the old. I think It's going to be an amazing tree.
In my experience pumice is good and cheap BUT it's also the first substrate to grow algae. Lava rock is my favourite aswell, it's also re-useable many times and it looks the best in the pot, second comes Kyodama.
Pumice pretty much is the absolute best substrate or secondary additive for growing almost anything. It isn't best in class in any one thing but is ranked high in everything which makes it a jack of all trades that is basically a master of all at the same time. The only negative if you can call it that is for bonzai for example it doesn't weigh a lot to anchor plants. Holds a good amount of water and releases it slowly while still holding a third of it's volume in air, holds onto fertilizers quite decently, doesn't shed particles that compact the mix, has soft edges being volcanic glass not rock so won't dig into roots and damage or kill them if you repot or as the roots grow and pressure builds in the mix unlike lava rock. List goes on and on. Wish I knew about it years ago, always thought it was just expensive perlite.
Thank you! I honestly have been trying to find a decent video like this!
I’d use the pumice liberally in the hidden substrate, and use more of the lava mix for the top soil for the esthetic.
I've heard pumice and akidoma are closer then most people give count to in the way they react over time and in water retention... just what I've heard and in my opinion pumice is going to be a way better cheaper choice for most novices like myself, this is one of the best videos on the topic I have seen on CZcams! Thank you, 🥃cheese🍻
Great video on Bonsai soil and Jason made it very easy to understand.
I looked up pumice in the middle of your video and there are a lot more options now. Back a couple of years I had to break up my our big chunks. I even see where you sell small bags of all these different components. Good deal.
Love this guy. Helps you understand the concept
Thank you so much for the information. I am totally new at Bonsai and that was one of 2 things I couldn't not find information on. The other thing is about fertilization and the type of fertilizers. Would you consider a video about this topic? I'm new at this and maybe is a silly question but nevertheless an honest one. Love the way you explain things. Will watch all your videos. Thank you.
Bonsai mix, particularly the rocky ones, are amazing for Lithops.
a little mistake is that akadama is not fired clay. on the other side I just use a 1cm thick layer of akadama as the top layer because it looks the best and the top always dries up the fastest and retains a bit more water that way and has a good indicator of the dryness as well as helping with moss too
Lots of good information, thanks, great video.
Thank You so much! I was stressing over oregon climate
Sr. You can sell akadama and camuna
A great intro to bonsai soils commonly used :)
very helpful. excellent video ❤😊
Thanks so much ❤️
That’s very helpful
Ever tried using eco complete? It’s an aquarium plant substrate. Its lava rock with a lot of nutrients. You can usually find a bag at petco.
Another Excellent Video.
If possible could You do videos on Chinese Maple and Olives. Pruning and Wiring.
This was really helpful, I just made do with what I could find in my backyard :') I gotta invest more thought into this so thank you!
Thanku sir...more than that I like Ur pots🥰..in Kerala not getng lava stone ..anyway good information 👍 a bonsai lover from kerala
I use pumice but I put a top coat of black lava and DE, moss REALLY loves DE and it's a darker color, I just use Pumice/Bark/Composted Manure for my Pre-Bonsai
Great Video! Thanks 🌿🌱🖤
Thank you; good info! I scanned through the 198 previous comments but did not see an answer to my question. -- which is that while your 3 basics comprise an optimum soil mix, I was surprised to see that nutrients was not included. Afterall, a plant's roots intake more than hydration. What about soil nourishment?
Great Vid, lots of tips to take 👌👌💕
Oh I should add- I'm very very glad you rate scoria (lava rock - you seem to distinguish the terms, so far as I've found - w/ little research mind you!- is they're synonymous) so highly, I do too in fact I hold it higher than akadama (though I don't hold that stuff in high esteem in any case) You mention you like the blacker pieces for their aesthetics- FWIW, the darker scoria tends-towards lower pH, it's pretty minimal but still worth note...further, the darker pieces seem more solid in general IE a random pile of scoria will see more reds in the 'weakest 10%' pile, I know this because, well, I still hand-process scoria from bags of 'Lava Rock Mulch'! It's a PITB but I hold it as #1 like you, I use it alongside perlite - which, if sufficiently coarse, is virtually the same IMO - as my main ingredient, basically I just use scoria&perlite to make the bulk of my mixture, then add diatomite and/or perlite and/or sphagnum and/or peat-sphanum and/or bark and/or coconut coir *as-needed* based on the obvious reasons (more WHC, far better CEC especially in tan sphagnum & bark), for my semi-tropical FL enviro it's perfect, summer mixes have higher% perlite/scoria, winter mixes have more diatomite/sphagnum/bark/etc :)
Again, thank you for the videos, it's really legit/genuine to do what you're doing and in recognition of you & others who do this I'm intending to do the same myself now, have decided to 'take the dive', am newer to the hobby but have been a sponge since starting (it's what my non-work-life revolves around daily lol :D ) Kudos and keep the videos coming!!! Also I hope business is well, if I were in a better spot I'd be seeking the most expensive tools on your site & adamaskwhy's site (or get them on Amazon and wire $ via Patreon if you've got it setup- my thought is that bonsai people like you absolutely should, there's a higher% of wealthy people in this hobby and I don't see it as at all unlikely for someone w/ that type of disposable income to see a good video series, offered for free, and then contribute what they consider fair (I'd do that myself if I could, can't imagine I'm that much an outlier here!) Hope '19 is a great year for you & your nursery/business!!!!
You have a great channel going on here. Eagerly waiting for more from across the pond here in Portugal. I have a chinese elm and loved the video you did on that species. Congratulations
I have those ivar shelves in my library! And awesome vid, I feel more confident making a soil mix now.
could you please make a vid about growing moss on a bonsai?
Yes!
Find moss in the wild, and it will grow and grow and grow in the shade with plenty of water.
@@Reach3DPrinters imagine my room was grown with moss on the walls
Great video
Excellent presentation!!!
I'm here because my father left behind bonsais ,they have been neglected for 8 years since his passing I need to revitalize them!!!
Sixth Company my advice? Learn to water and feed them. With water and food you’ll buy yourself 3 years to learn the rest. Keep them alive and healthy. Sorry about your father passing.
Just realised it was 8 years you have had them. So you have water and food sorted. Re-potting is going to be a priority now.
Yeah I kinda figured new growth coming in very yellow and light green, thank you for the videos and insight appreciate it all thank you
Very helpful. Thank you for the tips 😀
another awesome and informative video Jason, can I come work for you? lol. With the aggregate soils now explained, could you show us some common feeding products and intervals for conifers? If trees don't get any nourishment from the aggregate, then it would be great to know more about what to feed, and when. thanks!
Hi Josh. Thanks for the kind comments. Great idea for a new video too! I like to simplify my fertilizing. I use slow release tablets, organic if possible. If not, it's okay too. The main issue is to not over fertilize. :)
Sadly the Tesco product has been discontinued. Sanicat Pink is an alternative, though the average particle size is a bit larger (still suitable for bonsai though). For the smaller size similar to the Tesco product, go to kaizen bonsai, it is listed as Moler Clay, the smaller particle size.
Why don’t these people answer most questions in the comment section? Makes me wary of their customer service and/or if I should do business with them. Great video; poor follow up.
I used aquarium fired clay substrate, peat moss, pearlite with miracle grow infusion, and a bit of activated charcoal. Good? No good? Literally just planted my first bonsai. Hope it works out!
I used a mix of crushed rocks from.my garden and garden soil I have about 20 bonsai how is yours looking ?
Great advice. Awesome shirt!
Love the background from pots :D
Thank you
This is super awesome. Thank you for explaining how to customize them according the the climate and plant. Are there better ways of crushing lava rock than to hammer it up? We don't really have small sized lava rock in my area.
I second this question. I can only find large pieces and have to smash it. I can find smaller particle sizes online for shipping, but I've been crushing mine and its laborious.
Great quality video! Thank you so much for the information. I've been trying to find out a lot about soil mixes lately, but I find there aren't too many that go over all the details and explanations as to why. The only question I still have is on perlite. I've heard it brought up many times but still don't know much about it and was hoping you'd go over it. Right now I'm just assuming it plays a similar role to pumice.
Perlite adds aeration and some water retention, but many mixes that use perlite may depend more on other components, such as the peat, to do the water retention function.
excellent video, thanks for the info!
Good video. Several months new to Bonsai. Zone 9, ca and I am still not quite sure of the basic mixtures. I guess it is up to me to research what that would be for this area. Thanks for the video.
It will also depend on your availability, I work from home so I can water/mist my plants every few hours if needed, if you are away at work you need a substrate with more water holding and maybe sunshade for afternoon sun.
What I always suggest to the beginners in our club is that THE BEST soil mix is what works for you in your yard. I then suggest the basic club mix as it works well for most of us in the area. as they get more experience then they can start tweaking it to thier best needs. A lot of our club members don't use turface as they have bought into the myths about it. My thought it is is just a low pressure high temperature metamorphic rock -AKA - that is man made Akadama.
I live in Florida, any opinions on Vermiculite in the mix? I use 2 parts Vermiculite, 2 parts Perlite, 2 parts Peat Moss, and 1 part Tree and Shrub soil. So far it's been working well, and the trees look very healthy, tho do require daily waterings, and twice for the small pots.
We use vermiculite as well in some of our mixes. I typically use Perlite for propagating since it's so light. If you're mix is working well for you. Keep going with it. :) -Jason
Thank you for the reply and the tip, I never thought of using the perlite for propagation. :)
Wouldn't it be wet and humid enough to not require the need for vermiculite in Florida?
I have clean sand, perlite, peat moss and small pea stone. Sound like a good enough mix?
Just staring with my bonsai and this was truly helpful! Thank you! 😊
Hi Myra, glad you liked the video. More videos on the way!
nice video.... very informative...please label the types of soil... so i can start looking for them thanks a lot i like your videos.....thanks so much
EXCELENTE VIDEO GRACIAS. te sigo desde España y amo los bonsai,lo malo es que el traductor de youtube va muy mal y es erroneo ,si pudieras editar los videos en español seria lo maximo ,pedirte por favor un video sobre acer palmatum o algun caduco. un saludo y de nuevo garcias 👍🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻
Hello, I'm in San Luis Obispo, Ca so similar weather. I'm going to give the Lava and Peet Moss a try. Do you sift your Peet Moss to remove the fine particles?
You don't need to sift it out, it all retains water, just use maybe 3 lava to 2 peat, you get a feel for it once you mix it, I also add NAPA Auto 8822 oil dry, it's DE Diatomaceous Earth and acts similar to Acadama in my opine, just wash it first in sieve to remove the fines as they will clog your mix. After a year if it doesn't drain well when watering you know you need to mix more lava/pumice.
Nice explanation!
Thank you very much for this clear and educational video. In what percentage is each one used for a normal mixture? Greetings from Spain.
(or depending on whether it is for deciduous/perennial/coniferous/flower-fruit...., etc...and I live in a warm climate with little rain) 😅 THANKS!!
Question: someone who knows little about bonsai just bought me one already potted. How do I figure out which mix I have? It looks mostly like peat moss, but more like just general garden soil you could buy at Lowe’s. Are these the same? Is this a problem? My bonsai is a juniper by the way
Thank you for the well explained soil mixes ,what about vermiculite, is this suitable?
Great information thanks.
For an upcoming video, let’s agree that the Akadama and lava are the perfect mix in your 2 to 1 ratio. It’s time to repot a shimpaku and it’s currently in an organic mix of likely lots of peat and bark or you dug it out of the earth in a lot of forest mix.
Do you completely remove all the old mix? If not, how much would you leave?
Hi Mark. Thanks for watching. It’s not necessary to remove all the old soil. It’s good to preserve some around the root ball so the roots are stable and don’t dry out. You’ll want enough around the root ball to be able to pot it without it being too loose in the new soil mix. Hope this helps.
Hi
One of my sons gave me a little bonsai tree for my birthday. 2 months ago! I don't know how to care for it, but to add water when it is dry. Now some of the leaves are turning brown. I keep it inside with indirect sunlight. Does it need to be outside, direct 🌞, shade? It came without instructions. What can I do? I don't want to lose it, it was a special gift, please, please help me!😕
What kind of tree is it, also small bonsai like that usually have not been repotted since created so the soil is like a brick, if it doesn't drain quickly you need to repot and remove some of the old soil or the fine roots that feed the tree will die, do a search for bonsai online and look for a similar tree so that you know what it is, then search it's upkeep.
What do you think about clay granulate as a component for bonsai soil?
+ Eastern Leaf what about crushed up peat, or fish rocks, I'm not allowed to spend money,
I'm on a budget lol.
Cool video very helpful. Interestingly all the pumice I have ever seen naturally in Australia is grey in colour. Had never seen white pumice until this video.
Kutulue has
jason i live in south florida, can you what kind of soil i need to have for my bonsai, i just star my hobby in July 2018, because i saw you in you rube and i decided to start my bonsai tree
Do you think a soil mix with compost, sand and akadama is a good choice to use for bonsai?
I live in central Florida. North of Tampa on the coast. It’s humid but doesn’t rain everyday. What should I use. I have mine outside and I think it’s peat moss and perlight.
suggestions for sequoia bonsai? climate is hot as hell in the summer, cold as the arctic in winter -
Pumice if fantastic, great for collected yamadori too. Surprised you dont use any chipped bark in your mix, I'm in Scotland so we gets a lot of rain
I miss a little bit perlite, keramzite, standard sand grade >2mm, vermiculite. SOme of them can be extremely good for yamadori.
Hi Jason, excellent video. thanks so much for sharing. I have question about sifting the mix. I know akadama you have to sift. How about Lava, pumice, turface etc??? thank you.
Hey there! Will the soil mix be different when i'm going for development of a tree??
Greetings from Luxembourg! 😊
I use Pine Bark, Pumice and composted manure for pines, perlite breaks down pretty fast so I use it with peat to grow from seed and for the first 3-6 months, but for a tree in a pot for 3-4 years use pumice since it's a deep air pot you don't need to repot in that timeframe. Also depends on the tree, maples need a diff mix
@@steveanacorteswa3979 thank you for answering!!! 👍🏼
I just potted a couple trees in regular soil should I repot them with different more soil or leave them alone for a while and let the roots grow?
Have you used Vermiculite for moisture retention??
Yes, we use vermiculite in our general house mix. It helps with lots of things (aeration, water retention) and looks nice as well. - Jason
super appreciate this video 😍...Where to purchase is the question
suggestion : if you add a little sign on each group with the name of each soil cold be great (just write it down on the paper with a sharpie)
Trees die in 100% inorganic/aggregate in hot hot dry SoCal... unless you water it 3x per day.
I use organic mix with lots of pumice.
Great tuorial. Thank you.
I live in Illinois my zone is 5 high humidity so out of the soil what would be best for me in my environment?
We recently bought a traditional bonsai tree, the seller gave us a small tub of pellets , he did not speak English very well . He did his best trying to explain how often to use the pellets, but we didn’t catch a word lol. So how often do we need to put the pellets in?
Also at the top of the tree some of the leaves are turning brow. We water it and put it outside for 5 hours or more. Hope you can help me. Thanks
Great video Jason can or should you use a bonsai soil mix with regular house plants ?
What the difference between turface and akadama? Both are clay that been baked.
Shouldnt turface and akadama be basically the same? They are both calcinated clay. Same with pumice and lava being shock cooled molten rock? I am no expert, just asking.
Hi. Love your videos! Quick question- so techincally what youre saying is, with an optimal soil mix, it is possible to grow any species of Bonsai indoors? I have a grow light area in my living space but no access to an outside garden area.
Sergey K absolutely not. Most trees must go into a winter hibernation and should be outside majority of the time, besides tropicals (ficus etc) and even they want a south facing window. They are trees, trees that want to experience all four seasons. If you had a Juniper inside for example, it WILL die. There’s no maybe or “but what if I” about it. You’ll kill it.
I live in the tropics....can i use 30% Lava , 30 % peat moss, 30 % charcoal and 10% vermicompost...
Do you think it is good please?
How do you know if you've got the right balance? I Don't plan on working on more then one or two bonsai and I'm worried I might end up over watering it.
Is the pH of the soil important? How do we determine pH of soil mix?
Buy pH indicating paper
I am relatively new to bonsai. I have purchased a few plants and germinated a few seeds. I find it bizarre that most trees I see in stores seem to simply have peat moss/potting soil mix that hardens into an immovable mass and inhibits root growth. I am slowly repotting the trees I have out of this curious soil choice, but I am curious if other people have experienced this. Is it just because growth will be okay to adequate with regular potting soil and be significantly cheaper than good bonsai soil like discussed in the video? I am also mostly frequenting garden stores that happen to have a few bonsai, rather than bonsai specific stores, so maybe they don't know any better (or just don't care).
Cool, thank you sir
What type of soil would you recommend when growing seedlings?
beginner bonsai buyer. ask the person i bought from how he cared for them and told him i sprayed them with a food stray everyother day. he said great. but i had two of them get soft on the inside and rooted. do you have any suggestions? am i underwatering? they get sun. thank you i bought small, medium and large bonsai the trees with flowers
You should really watch Appalachian Bonsai’s video where he tests all the properties of each aggregate, and organic compound.
What do you think about pine bark fines as an organic component? It seems very common, vs peat seems a lot less common due to washing out.