What Is Bonsai Soil Made Up Of

Common brands of pre mixes include clay king and aoki mix.

What is bonsai soil made up of. Composition of our mix. Diatomaceous earth aka oil sorb or oil dri is used by mechanics who spread the stuff onto the floor in case of oil spills. The ingredients for bonsai soil must be large enough to allow for air pockets to provide oxygen to the roots and to microbacteria. The common ingredients in bonsai soil are akadama pumice lava rock organic potting compost and fine gravel.

In recent times bonsai creators have also begun to fabricate rock like slabs from raw materials including concrete 57 and glass reinforced plastic. Akadama is hard baked japanese clay specifically produced for bonsai purposes and available at all online bonsai shops. Ideal bonsai soil should be ph neutral neither acidic nor basic. The material will soak up the oil and will make clean up a lot easier.

What aggregate and what organic material becomes a matter of personal choice and often considerable debate between bonsai people. In bonsai it works in the same principle it will soak up water and retain moisture but still hold onto it s coarse shape allowing roots to grow around it. A ph between 6 5 7 5 is ideal. It is intended for bonsai trees as well as conifers evergreens deciduous and other trees.

We use a media soil mixture made of equal parts of red earth yard manure and river sand. Preparing bonsai tree soil mix is not so difficult if you know the components to be added according to the plant type and growing environment. Make sure you divide the parts by volume not weight. What is bonsai soil made up of.

From left to right. Akadama bonsai soil also popular are pre mixes or ready mixes bonsai soils that include akadama as well as other ingredients including pumice lava and other volcanic particles. The best suggestion is to use materials that are available in the local area. Organic potting compost akadama pumice and lava rock.

The best bonsai soil meets the prerequisites of supporting a miniature tree which include good drainage proper aeration and retention of water. A good general bonsai mixture should be composed of about 75 per cent inert aggregate and 25 per cent organic materials. Multi tree bonsai may be created atop a fairly flat slab of rock with the soil mounded above the rock surface and the trees planted within the raised soil. The most common components for bonsai soil mixtures are akadama pumice lava rock organic potting compost and fine gravel grit.

For e g if we take one pot of red earth soil we take one pot of river sand and yard manure for the mix. Akadama is a hard baked japanese clay that is available online.