The Bob Ross of bonsai. So many happy trees! Very informative in every video even if you are discussing basic trim methods or style ideas for your trees. Thank you for creative ideas for my own!
Hello Mr. Saunders, my name is Li and I'm a bonsai beginner I got into the art of bonsai like a year ago and I been watching your tutorials there some of the best I've seen so far please keep up the good work.....THANK YOU SO MUCH BECAUSE I'M LEARNING A LOT FROM YOU....GOD BLESS YOU AND ALL YOUR BONSAI CREATIONS....I will keep watching and thumbs up.
Mr. Saunders I would really like to thank you. I accidentally found a video of yours a couple years ago, and it started a fire in me that has turned into an obsession! Bonsai has become my life. It's taught me patience and serenity. I was a really uptight guy. Easily bored and had a bad attitude. But finding your channel, and growing as a person while growing trees has changed my life. God bless sir! Keep it up!
Very nice to hear Christopher. Bonsai can change your life, it changed mine in a very positive way. It almost becomes a lifestyle and changes the way you think about nature and yourself. All the best Christopher in your bonsai adventures!
Nigel Saunders, The Bonsai Zone thanks Nigel.. the fact that you have 76,000 subscribers, and you have responded to all my comments means a lot! Thanks again brother. Be well!
I don’t even have a tree as yet. I want to start with a tree that I choose from the wild and practice and learn on that. I have been reading and watching videos and am amazed that any living things can live on the inorganic soil that most use for Bonsai. Mr Saunders has explained some of the reason why but there is more that I need to comprehend before I choose a tree and a mixture.
Nigel so happy I found you. You are a natural at instructing. I really appreciate your work. I have been collecting and cultivating Bonsai for over 40 years, but always enjoy learning from the experts.
Thanks for the wealth of great info! I do a little sifting for my succulents, but on a smaller scale. I was worried when I saw all the dust flying! Please consider wearing a mask, with all is good but at least with the perlite. Perlite is a silicate. Long-term inhalation can cause silicosis and cancer at worst, at best make you much more vulnerable to respiratory problems. It's awkward but worth it and I wanna watch a lot more of your videos! Which are so far, awesome! I'm having a ball digging through and learning :)
Thanks Nigel, this is the best tutorial video i seen so far because you start off by explaining is about us , how often we wanted to water and what weather we in , etc and than going into the mixture ratio
You're a courageous man, Nigel. Soil mixture is a difficult subject to convey but you've done well! I use (1) non-perfumed cat sand (instead of turface), (2) pebbles, and (3) potting soil - although after seeing this video of yours I think I'll start using compost/peat instead of potting soil. Nice video!
sir at first of all I am wanted to thanking you for such kind of good videos from you, your videos are always really helpful for me and specially in this video it just clear my all doubts about the Bonsai soil your videos are always very good and always helpfull to me in gardening thank you sir thank you so very much...
I just have to tell you Nigel, you have me completely addicted to this soil mix. I use it for EVERYTHING. Bonsai, houseplants, now even non-bonsai outdoor plants - at least as a base for just about everything. If something's not sifted, I get all twitchy! (I also started using a moisture meter, but mainly just on houseplants.) I lose a lot less plants now, it's wonderful.
@@TheBonsaiZone unfortunately I cannot just up and repot as spontaneously as in the past, I dislike how long sifting takes. But, what can you do.... eh?
Him saying "Do you live in Canada" and the sound of the mourning doves flying in the background was a clear indicator for a fellow Canadian like me to use a similar type of soil
On a serious note. This video was very helpful. All the soil videos ive seen before just go on about Akadama and lava rocks, but you are the first i found to actually talk about the organic aspect of the soil😅 thanks for another informitive video and am currently bingeing your channel. Keep up the good work
hi, I'm Aamir from Pakistan I have seen some bonsai videos of yours, you are doing best of bonsai learners. i'm also your fans I think you are best bonsai docter. thanks for sharing good videos. please make a mimosa poudica bonsai video.
7:30 so true! i do always feels the "bonsai soil" is more like the grow medium that support the plants to stand and hides the roots in dark, like other style of clay pebbles, not the actual soil which can provides a lot more stuff for helping or confusing......... great content
Sure, i have made some plant from seed ie; Apple, Orange, pomegranate and olive. Once they are big, i will share visuals with you :-) Also i am hunting Acacias and Ghaf from wild life :-) Thank-you Nigel. You are a big support!
Hats off.... you arre my most watched youtube bonsai handler..... your way of presenting and explaining, demonstrating etc etc are just too perfiect.... ( u should really go for a pro documentary videos :) )..... Thanks again...
I bought into the NO ORGANIC WHATSOEVER pitch, and now I wish I had given it some more thought. I'm going to have to come up with a way to mulch my trees until I can repot them next spring. The mercury is hitting the lower 90s already where I live and its only early May. I believe I can live with a little decomposition. I'll be spending most of my time watering and fertilizing this summer, just trying to keep them all alive. Not much time to enjoy their beauty or plan any future styling unless I'm doing it under shop lights. Lesson learned the hard way, straight aggregate is not the way to go unless you live in Argentina, or Alaska. Great video Nigel. Thanks.
Eric Brown Thanks for your insight on inorganic soil, I think your idea of adding a mulch layer on top will keep the humidity at a nice level and allow you to water and fertilize less.Some people will put white plastic over the top of the soil to keep it cooler and stop surface evaporation. Check out Walter Pall's talk on inorganic soil and feeding.... czcams.com/video/Q11HMWatCxY/video.html
Nigel Saunders I have Nigel. It's a great video and very educational. I'm working on a automatic watering system at the moment set to come on just before sunup, then I'll water manually in the evenings. I sort of compounded my problem with the use of terracotta pots. I'm going to purchase some organic fertilizer to keep on the soil surface at all times and feed every ten days as Walter suggested. My next batch of soil will however contain either turface or vermiculite, possibly even pine bark. Straight aggregate is a bit too fast for me and doesn't leave me any room for an occasional miss. Lesson learned the hard way. I be able to breathe a sigh of relief once I get my sprinkler system set up. Thanks for the link.
Looking forward to the Mars planting. If I may ask, would a mix of pumice, perlite,and bark be ok? I have many things currently planted in it, guess we'll see come spring :). I've found if I spray water, then floating isn't an issue with the perlite. Thank you for sharing your craft with us. I get so happy when I'm notified of new content.
Hey Nigel! Love the videos! I’m learning everything I’ve done wrong so far :p. Question though. Once you’ve mixed up the soil how long will it last in storage and is there any care you need to give it while it waits to be planted in?
Your dry soil makes the roots really strong! I always watch the way you soil the trees, and I wonder how it is mixed? is it made from the soil only? could you guide the elements please?
Love your vids, really helpful! I have a question if you could find the time to answer, it would be fantastic : I recently bought a couple of Japanese red maple seedlings, about 15cm tall, not really sure about age - but I'm guessing around a year old. Placed in a 1.5 liter pots. But I really hate the soil, typical garden soil and not so good in general.. So my question is - can I root prune and transplant them into quality pot soil with perlite right now, or should I wait for winter when they're dormant (or even spring)? Or should I just move them to a bigger pot, altogether with that garden soil, fill the rest of the pot with quality soil/perlite and then wait for spring and root prune? Thanks in advance for your reply!
Thanks jeffer for your advice. I will stop using charcoal for my bonsai :) I am trying laterite stones now with compost and perlite and yet to see the difference.
Sorry I have had a lot of questions lately Nigel, your videos are just so good and im just starting out. In a later video you said that you now just use perlite and turface, you don't mention Pete moss or compost. Do you still use this formula or have you adjusted it?
it's REALLY hot here all year long, is it better for me to not sift my soil as much as you so it won't get dry that fast? or should I just water more frequently?
It is better to water more frequently if you can. You can place some flat stones on the surface of your pot to help stop surface evaporation, just lift them off when you are watering. Moss or sand on top of your soil will help to hold moisture in the soil also. The spaces between the particles in the soil are important to give fresh air to the roots. Roots just love to grow in these spaces!
I repotted my ficus this spring. It spent the last 2 years in regular potting soil. This year I potted it up in a some cactus mix (a great draining soil) and I add vermiculite. I'm hoping it with act like perlite and also make it so I don't have to water it as much. This plant has been grown indoors and I'm watering it every 3 days which is more often then other plants I have. If it does well after this repotting and root trim, I'm hoping to move it outdoors for the first time.
Hello Nigel, I aspire to keep bonsai succulents and am establishing a number of cuttings and new propagation in attempted sekijoju formations. Would a soil mix typical of succulents (1 part compost, 1 part sand and 2 parts grit) still work for bonsai with succulents or is it still a necessity to use bonsai specific soil? Thanks.
Dear Nigel - thank you for this recommendation. I've been buying the premium stuff, and simply cannot afford to keep that up. I just purchased your exact recommended mix and look forward to trying it out soon. Given that the first bag is 1/2 the soil, and I can get 8 cubit feet for 5 dollars, I think my Bonsai Soil costs have gone down by about 90%! Thanks again for all that you do! David :)
Let me know how it works for you David, I'm using 1/2 perlite and 1/2 turface and then if I have composted pine bark, I'll add about 10 to 20 percent to the mix.
@@TheBonsaiZone I shall indeed! Our weather is virtually the same as yours (we're just a couple hours from KW. I could not find a pine bark compost at the available stores. Do you expect an organic potting soil might do for the 10-20% organic compound?
@@DavidWilliamRose The potting soil may clog the air spaces in between the soil particles, it would be better to leave it out. We get our composted pine bark from the orchid society, they get it shipped in in large quantities. You could use ground up coconut husks instead, even peat moss, if you screen it to remove the dust and fine particles.
@@TheBonsaiZone Thanks so much for your advice and guidance! One more question I promise...Must the bag actually say "compost", or will simply something that says pine bark do? The stuff I'm finding looks drier than what you've found. My options for finding this locally are very limited. Thanks again Nigel :)
@@DavidWilliamRose I sometimes buy the bags of pine bark mulch that doesn't say composted pine bark, I leave the chips out in the rain for a few months and then use it. You might have to cut the pieces into smaller chunks, some people use an old blender to do this. It's very time consuming, but it help out the trees a bit. most of the time I make my soil without pine bark, just because I don't have any made up! What city are you near Dave?
Do you still use this soil mix today? I don't think i've seen you use compost in your mix for a long time. Do you just use turface and perlite these days?
Thanks for the video Nigel. As always it was thoroughly informative. I do have a question. I recently repotted a Fukien Tea Tree in a mixture of pumice, lava rock, calcined clay and pine park fines. Is that a good soil?
Hey Nigel, im wondering if its too risky or safe enough if i repot my bonsai trees, specifically just to change to a better soil mixture? Only concern is that i repotted them 4 months ago, in mid spring. I got some of the ingredients you mentioned and want to change the soil. No root pruning. Any advice? Thanks! Very helpful video to help me understand what my bonsai need!
Wow... this is an old video, but just what I needed. I love your videos, so informative. Love your patience! Thanks a lot! I'm trying to do my first bonsai using a baby Flanboyan tree I grew from seed. Have you done any Flanboyan tree? Should I use this same mixture? Please answer. Thanks again!
I don't have one in my collection, but there are a few CZcams videos showing them as bonsai, I hope they can answer your questions! I think the soil would work well for them.
One other thing I have been considering is using a cheap blender to break down the chunks of pine into manageble sizes. In addition, I will try and put pine needles in the blender and see if this works to add to my mix.
Hey Nigel, I love your channel you are extremely informative and your videos have aided me greatly. Im curious if you have a bald cypress or not, and also would like to know what you recommend for a soil mixture for this species. I tend to water my trees accordingly to the weather but as this species is mainly found in the swamps around the gulf of mexico and I am near Philadelphia im curious to what you would recommend. ps: the weather here during spring and summer is very humid and rains at least 0-3 times every two weeks, sometimes more.
For succulents I'm guessing more pumice and less organics to let them dry faster; or do they mostly care about the time between waterings? Or I'm completely wrong and they only require special treatment after root pruning?
Thank for for such a great resource to begin bonzai ! Im starting with my first bonzai from Wallmart FUkien Tea tree, although it came with no drainage hole ! I got a bag of Qualisorb from canada tire, its diachotasomething earth. i hear i should mix Pine bark mulch with this .any suggestions would be great thanks !
Thanks for all the advise and great detail in your video. I think I will be heading out to get these ingredients tomorrow and start using this mix. Have you changed any preference in any of the ingredients since this time?
I have just been using perlite and turface lately and it seems to work really well. You do need to watch your watering carefully on warm dry days and I fertilize every time I water with a very dilute mix. Here is my video on this..... czcams.com/video/gXIIpxUqxdY/video.html
The Bob Ross of bonsai. So many happy trees! Very informative in every video even if you are discussing basic trim methods or style ideas for your trees. Thank you for creative ideas for my own!
Thanks, it's great to have a good community of viewers. I'm sure in the coming years there will be many successes and always some failures!
Hello Mr. Saunders, my name is Li and I'm a bonsai beginner I got into the art of bonsai like a year ago and I been watching your tutorials there some of the best I've seen so far please keep up the good work.....THANK YOU SO MUCH BECAUSE I'M LEARNING A LOT FROM YOU....GOD BLESS YOU AND ALL YOUR BONSAI CREATIONS....I will keep watching and thumbs up.
Li Melendez Your very welcome and I'm glad you enjoy the videos! I am always learning also.
Have you kept up with bonsai? :)
@@TheBonsaiZone that answer alone makes you a great man. joining all the thanks for all the pointed guidance very understandable content.
Good
Best and most detailed explanation of bonsai soil I have seen so far.
Thank you.
I watch this video over and over again. This one and Bonsai Iligan. Simple and straight to the point.
Thumbs up for his hair style !
Gokú bonsáibuilder!!?
His hair is a specimen bonsai in itself. 10/10 hair style
better than African/Jamaican style
😀 absolutely. It has a personality and will of its own.
Is it a hair style? Looks like he just woke up lol (joke) looks nice Nigel thanks for the info.
oh god I was super focused on the details of soil sifting when the random chicken showed up and I lost it.
Inquisitive animals sure brightens up any day. :)
Mr. Saunders I would really like to thank you. I accidentally found a video of yours a couple years ago, and it started a fire in me that has turned into an obsession! Bonsai has become my life. It's taught me patience and serenity. I was a really uptight guy. Easily bored and had a bad attitude. But finding your channel, and growing as a person while growing trees has changed my life. God bless sir! Keep it up!
Very nice to hear Christopher. Bonsai can change your life, it changed mine in a very positive way. It almost becomes a lifestyle and changes the way you think about nature and yourself. All the best Christopher in your bonsai adventures!
Nigel Saunders, The Bonsai Zone thanks Nigel.. the fact that you have 76,000 subscribers, and you have responded to all my comments means a lot! Thanks again brother. Be well!
I don’t even have a tree as yet. I want to start with a tree that I choose from the wild and practice and learn on that. I have been reading and watching videos and am amazed that any living things can live on the inorganic soil that most use for Bonsai. Mr Saunders has explained some of the reason why but there is more that I need to comprehend before I choose a tree and a mixture.
Nigel so happy I found you. You are a natural at instructing. I really appreciate your work. I have been collecting and cultivating Bonsai for over 40 years, but always enjoy learning from the experts.
Thank you Arthur, I wouldn't call myself an expert, I too am just a student trying to learn all I can about my trees!
Happy growing!
Best soil video. Very informative and helpful. I watched a bunch of diff vids and this was the most helpful. Thank you!!
I always enjoy your videos Nigel, they are so full of professional information and help. Thank you.
Thank you, it's nice to hear!
Even failures teach us something. Thank you for all of your hard work. you definitely have a sub here!.
This video is very well appreciated Nigel. What a gift. Thank you for sharing this.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for making this! It's my first time repotting and you make it seem a lot less scary than I thought it was going to be!
Bonsai hair style.
Canopee Addict
Good one! Most professors look this!
Capitán Obvious Loads of fine root growth on our Nigel.
Good ramification, broad canopy
Asymmetrical.
Thanks for the wealth of great info! I do a little sifting for my succulents, but on a smaller scale. I was worried when I saw all the dust flying! Please consider wearing a mask, with all is good but at least with the perlite. Perlite is a silicate. Long-term inhalation can cause silicosis and cancer at worst, at best make you much more vulnerable to respiratory problems. It's awkward but worth it and I wanna watch a lot more of your videos! Which are so far, awesome! I'm having a ball digging through and learning :)
Thanks, I do use a mask all the time now, glad you are enjoying the videos!
Thanks Nigel, I have some seedlings growing, great videos, got me excited to try bonsai. Now I know what I need to do for great soil.
Good luck and happy growing Jesse!
that's great thanks for the advice I like the way you take time to explain keep up the good work I am truly your follower
Thanks Nigel, this is the best tutorial video i seen so far
because you start off by explaining is about us , how often we wanted to water and what weather we in , etc
and than going into the mixture ratio
Thank you, it's maybe a little long, but it's an important topic also!
totally agreed ! this is an important topic
Hope you're getting money from these videos man, lots of great work here!!! I appreciate all the knowledge, you got yourself a new subscriber!
Dude, your videos are so helpful to get started in bonsai! Hope for the best and thanks a lot
Thanks Manuel, nice to hear and I hope your trees grow well!
You're a courageous man, Nigel. Soil mixture is a difficult subject to convey but you've done well! I use (1) non-perfumed cat sand (instead of turface), (2) pebbles, and (3) potting soil - although after seeing this video of yours I think I'll start using compost/peat instead of potting soil. Nice video!
sir at first of all I am wanted to thanking you for such kind of good videos from you, your videos are always really helpful for me and specially in this video it just clear my all doubts about the Bonsai soil your videos are always very good and always helpfull to me in gardening thank you sir thank you so very much...
You are very welcome Souvik!
Wonderful,thankyou Mr. Saunders.
I just have to tell you Nigel, you have me completely addicted to this soil mix. I use it for EVERYTHING. Bonsai, houseplants, now even non-bonsai outdoor plants - at least as a base for just about everything. If something's not sifted, I get all twitchy! (I also started using a moisture meter, but mainly just on houseplants.) I lose a lot less plants now, it's wonderful.
Thanks Ellejayn, good to hear!
@@TheBonsaiZone unfortunately I cannot just up and repot as spontaneously as in the past, I dislike how long sifting takes. But, what can you do....
eh?
Thank you for sharing knowledge man.
Him saying "Do you live in Canada" and the sound of the mourning doves flying in the background was a clear indicator for a fellow Canadian like me to use a similar type of soil
Thank you, you were what i was looking for. I want to do this, and never have. Sincerely Rick
Marvellous. Inorganic and Organic, watering , Sunlight , and more .
I am learning a lot from you, sir, great videos.
Thank you!
thanks Nigel, another helpful video
On a serious note. This video was very helpful. All the soil videos ive seen before just go on about Akadama and lava rocks, but you are the first i found to actually talk about the organic aspect of the soil😅 thanks for another informitive video and am currently bingeing your channel. Keep up the good work
Thank you Christian, you might want to check out the playlist tab and watch the progression of the trees in order!
This is what im looking for to find out. Soil mix bonsai it depends to your country weather and species of your bonsai. Very informative
thank you for making these videos!
Your little apple is first rate...you live in an amazing climate for bonsai!
Yet another get video Nigel thank you .
nice video to remove monotony . sir Nigel is excellent !
Thanks Nigel. Any chance of an update on your willows soon. Really interested to see how your experiment with standing pots in water turned out
Sid
Thank you sir, love your videos
hi, I'm Aamir from Pakistan I have seen some bonsai videos of yours, you are doing best of bonsai learners. i'm also your fans I think you are best bonsai docter. thanks for sharing good videos. please make a mimosa poudica bonsai video.
I'll see what I can do, thanks Aamir.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH MR. SAUNDERS. KEEP THE GOOD WORK..
Thank you Marcos!
Rất cám ơn đã chia sẻ video
7:30 so true! i do always feels the "bonsai soil" is more like the grow medium that support the plants to stand and hides the roots in dark, like other style of clay pebbles, not the actual soil which can provides a lot more stuff for helping or confusing......... great content
I always wondered why the soil in bonsai books looked like gravel. this is a real eye opener.
You are a rockstar🙏🏼 thanks for the guidance.
Your very welcome, keep in touch and let me know how your trees are doing.
Sure, i have made some plant from seed ie; Apple, Orange, pomegranate and olive. Once they are big, i will share visuals with you :-) Also i am hunting Acacias and Ghaf from wild life :-)
Thank-you Nigel. You are a big support!
Excellent,...spot on, you need to watch this...
Thank you!
This was very helpful.
I have another request......can u plz do a video on rain water usage. Like how u collect rain water etc etc
Hats off.... you arre my most watched youtube bonsai handler..... your way of presenting and explaining, demonstrating etc etc are just too perfiect.... ( u should really go for a pro documentary videos :) )..... Thanks again...
Thank you Vala, it is very enjoyable making the videos!
Great informational video! Thanks
Thank you Erica!
I bought into the NO ORGANIC WHATSOEVER pitch, and now I wish I had given it some more thought. I'm going to have to come up with a way to mulch my trees until I can repot them next spring. The mercury is hitting the lower 90s already where I live and its only early May. I believe I can live with a little decomposition. I'll be spending most of my time watering and fertilizing this summer, just trying to keep them all alive. Not much time to enjoy their beauty or plan any future styling unless I'm doing it under shop lights. Lesson learned the hard way, straight aggregate is not the way to go unless you live in Argentina, or Alaska. Great video Nigel. Thanks.
Eric Brown Thanks for your insight on inorganic soil, I think your idea of adding a mulch layer on top will keep the humidity at a nice level and allow you to water and fertilize less.Some people will put white plastic over the top of the soil to keep it cooler and stop surface evaporation. Check out Walter Pall's talk on inorganic soil and feeding....
czcams.com/video/Q11HMWatCxY/video.html
Nigel Saunders I have Nigel. It's a great video and very educational. I'm working on a automatic watering system at the moment set to come on just before sunup, then I'll water manually in the evenings. I sort of compounded my problem with the use of terracotta pots. I'm going to purchase some organic fertilizer to keep on the soil surface at all times and feed every ten days as Walter suggested. My next batch of soil will however contain either turface or vermiculite, possibly even pine bark. Straight aggregate is a bit too fast for me and doesn't leave me any room for an occasional miss. Lesson learned the hard way. I be able to breathe a sigh of relief once I get my sprinkler system set up. Thanks for the link.
Looking forward to the Mars planting. If I may ask, would a mix of pumice, perlite,and bark be ok? I have many things currently planted in it, guess we'll see come spring :). I've found if I spray water, then floating isn't an issue with the perlite. Thank you for sharing your craft with us. I get so happy when I'm notified of new content.
Thanks Nigel !
Great video 👍 this helped me a lot.
Thank you Matt!
Muito. obrigado meu. amigo
Hey Nigel! Love the videos! I’m learning everything I’ve done wrong so far :p. Question though. Once you’ve mixed up the soil how long will it last in storage and is there any care you need to give it while it waits to be planted in?
This guy is so so so pure and innocent
Your dry soil makes the roots really strong! I always watch the way you soil the trees, and I wonder how it is mixed? is it made from the soil only? could you guide the elements please?
Awesome ...thanks for sharing
Dope hair!!!! Thanks for the info on soil!
Thank you, hope it helps!
Very nice presentation 👏👍👏
WONDERFULL, THANK YOU
You are most welcome, thanks for watching!
Love your vids, really helpful!
I have a question if you could find the time to answer, it would be fantastic :
I recently bought a couple of Japanese red maple seedlings, about 15cm tall, not really sure about age - but I'm guessing around a year old. Placed in a 1.5 liter pots. But I really hate the soil, typical garden soil and not so good in general.. So my question is - can I root prune and transplant them into quality pot soil with perlite right now, or should I wait for winter when they're dormant (or even spring)? Or should I just move them to a bigger pot, altogether with that garden soil, fill the rest of the pot with quality soil/perlite and then wait for spring and root prune? Thanks in advance for your reply!
I live in NW Portland, OR. What is the percentage of optimal ingredient mix?
Thanks jeffer for your advice. I will stop using charcoal for my bonsai :) I am trying laterite stones now with compost and perlite and yet to see the difference.
So informative! Thank you!
Thank you Czl
Sorry I have had a lot of questions lately Nigel, your videos are just so good and im just starting out. In a later video you said that you now just use perlite and turface, you don't mention Pete moss or compost. Do you still use this formula or have you adjusted it?
it's REALLY hot here all year long, is it better for me to not sift my soil as much as you so it won't get dry that fast? or should I just water more frequently?
It is better to water more frequently if you can. You can place some flat stones on the surface of your pot to help stop surface evaporation, just lift them off when you are watering. Moss or sand on top of your soil will help to hold moisture in the soil also. The spaces between the particles in the soil are important to give fresh air to the roots. Roots just love to grow in these spaces!
I repotted my ficus this spring. It spent the last 2 years in regular potting soil. This year I potted it up in a some cactus mix (a great draining soil) and I add vermiculite. I'm hoping it with act like perlite and also make it so I don't have to water it as much. This plant has been grown indoors and I'm watering it every 3 days which is more often then other plants I have. If it does well after this repotting and root trim, I'm hoping to move it outdoors for the first time.
Amanda Welch with bonsais and bonsai type trees we water every single day. Potting soils traps too much water and makes the roots rot
Hello Nigel, I aspire to keep bonsai succulents and am establishing a number of cuttings and new propagation in attempted sekijoju formations. Would a soil mix typical of succulents (1 part compost, 1 part sand and 2 parts grit) still work for bonsai with succulents or is it still a necessity to use bonsai specific soil?
Thanks.
Thanks for this information you're great
I should make an update ( a shorter one)!
Great Scott!
Have you found any use for the fine particles sifted? Maybe to grow plants that like wet feet?
Awesome video ❤ Now I understand 🤔👍
Thanks a lot Nigel! :)
Dear Nigel - thank you for this recommendation. I've been buying the premium stuff, and simply cannot afford to keep that up. I just purchased your exact recommended mix and look forward to trying it out soon. Given that the first bag is 1/2 the soil, and I can get 8 cubit feet for 5 dollars, I think my Bonsai Soil costs have gone down by about 90%! Thanks again for all that you do! David :)
Let me know how it works for you David, I'm using 1/2 perlite and 1/2 turface and then if I have composted pine bark, I'll add about 10 to 20 percent to the mix.
@@TheBonsaiZone I shall indeed! Our weather is virtually the same as yours (we're just a couple hours from KW. I could not find a pine bark compost at the available stores. Do you expect an organic potting soil might do for the 10-20% organic compound?
@@DavidWilliamRose The potting soil may clog the air spaces in between the soil particles, it would be better to leave it out. We get our composted pine bark from the orchid society, they get it shipped in in large quantities. You could use ground up coconut husks instead, even peat moss, if you screen it to remove the dust and fine particles.
@@TheBonsaiZone Thanks so much for your advice and guidance! One more question I promise...Must the bag actually say "compost", or will simply something that says pine bark do? The stuff I'm finding looks drier than what you've found. My options for finding this locally are very limited. Thanks again Nigel :)
@@DavidWilliamRose I sometimes buy the bags of pine bark mulch that doesn't say composted pine bark, I leave the chips out in the rain for a few months and then use it. You might have to cut the pieces into smaller chunks, some people use an old blender to do this. It's very time consuming, but it help out the trees a bit. most of the time I make my soil without pine bark, just because I don't have any made up!
What city are you near Dave?
Do you still use this soil mix today? I don't think i've seen you use compost in your mix for a long time. Do you just use turface and perlite these days?
Well done!
Greetings
Kennet
awesome look u have almost a mad bonsai scientist Nigel
Thanks, maybe I let my hair grow a little too long!
Very good information. Now I understand what Bonsai soil is.
Hey Nigel, will pumice work the same as pearlite?
Thanks for the video Nigel. As always it was thoroughly informative. I do have a question. I recently repotted a Fukien Tea Tree in a mixture of pumice, lava rock, calcined clay and pine park fines. Is that a good soil?
Hey Nigel, im wondering if its too risky or safe enough if i repot my bonsai trees, specifically just to change to a better soil mixture? Only concern is that i repotted them 4 months ago, in mid spring. I got some of the ingredients you mentioned and want to change the soil. No root pruning. Any advice?
Thanks! Very helpful video to help me understand what my bonsai need!
Thankyou Nigel
Can you do a tour of all the bonsai you have.
Wow... this is an old video, but just what I needed. I love your videos, so informative. Love your patience! Thanks a lot!
I'm trying to do my first bonsai using a baby Flanboyan tree I grew from seed. Have you done any Flanboyan tree? Should I use this same mixture? Please answer. Thanks again!
I don't have one in my collection, but there are a few CZcams videos showing them as bonsai, I hope they can answer your questions! I think the soil would work well for them.
One other thing I have been considering is using a cheap blender to break down the chunks of pine into manageble sizes. In addition, I will try and put pine needles in the blender and see if this works to add to my mix.
+Nigel Saunders, The Bonsai Zone I live in a poor family but I still want to bonsai so will crushed up peat or fish rocks work?
Hey Nigel, I love your channel you are extremely informative and your videos have aided me greatly. Im curious if you have a bald cypress or not, and also would like to know what you recommend for a soil mixture for this species. I tend to water my trees accordingly to the weather but as this species is mainly found in the swamps around the gulf of mexico and I am near Philadelphia im curious to what you would recommend. ps: the weather here during spring and summer is very humid and rains at least 0-3 times every two weeks, sometimes more.
For succulents I'm guessing more pumice and less organics to let them dry faster; or do they mostly care about the time between waterings? Or I'm completely wrong and they only require special treatment after root pruning?
Thank for for such a great resource to begin bonzai ! Im starting with my first bonzai from Wallmart FUkien Tea tree, although it came with no drainage hole ! I got a bag of Qualisorb from canada tire, its diachotasomething earth. i hear i should mix Pine bark mulch with this .any suggestions would be great thanks !
Great video! What do you think about only using vermaculite and perlite? Thanks!
Thanks you so much.
thanks for the soil tips I was always confused about it. I managed to find Safe T Sorb at Staples office supplies of all places.
robo2200 I never would have guessed Staples would have Safe T Sorb!
ya weird, i did have to order it online and they ship it to the store for pickup
I just use a mix of perlite and compost. I think it works well, but I am just a beginner so I may be wrong
Thanks for all the advise and great detail in your video. I think I will be heading out to get these ingredients tomorrow and start using this mix. Have you changed any preference in any of the ingredients since this time?
I have just been using perlite and turface lately and it seems to work really well. You do need to watch your watering carefully on warm dry days and I fertilize every time I water with a very dilute mix. Here is my video on this.....
czcams.com/video/gXIIpxUqxdY/video.html
This was awesome! Safe-T-Sorb is gonna save me some money!!
It works well as long as you mix it with perlite!
How do you feel about just using sterile inorganic mix and putting a thin layer of compost as a topping?
hi nigel can i use river sand as an alternative bonsai soil?
It is very scientific. Thank for share. I'm Ferry from Indonesia
Thank you Ferry, I love the bonsai trees from Indonesia, always a pleasure to watch a video from your country!
In Indonesia we use volcanic sand with different size fine or coarse. I do believe I can use it to get porous permeability.
And can you tell me which soil we will use for tropical or sub tropical areas