BONSAI SOIL vs POTTING MIX: Does it make a difference?

The results of my 18 month experiment to determine what difference, if any, a good quality bonsai mix makes in comparison to a commercial potting mix. For trees I'm just growing on, I usually use a commercial cactus potting soil, mixed with about one third perlite, while for my more developed bonsai I use my own bonsai soil recipe. I wanted to find out if it made any difference, so I planted two cloned trident maple cuttings in two pots with each of the mixes. I also give my recipe for bonsai soil, which contains akadama, pumice, lava rock and composted pine bark. If you have a different recipe that works for you, congratulations! Despite my experimenting, I continue to believe that a lot of soil types will work for bonsai, and the most important elements are particle size and how much water it retains in your particular environment. Don't @ me.

Music: On Shore - Sergey Cheremisinov

[littlebonsaicorner]

One of the most dedicated and informative videos on bonsai I've ever watched. Congrats on your nice maples and thank you!

[Sayef_Li]

Many places in South Asia grow bonsai in simple garden soil with rice husk and sand and they can make amazing bonsais.

[CristianAyala]

Awesome video! This video answered all my questions. I believe this video should be a 1 million viewed video due to comparison and information. Other videos sound persuasive and deviate from the objective. Keep up the great work!

[dracus]

Great unbiased video. I cant afford expensive bonsai soil. So i mix my store bought potting mix with some perlite and small pebbles. Seems to work for me. And during raininh season its a good time for my cheap soil to clean and drain from the natural rain water that comes down

[greenmachinesweden]

Great video as usual. I think the higher levels of fertilizer in the potting mix is responsible for all the difference you noticed. I grow most of my trees in big pots with quite heavy organic soils the first few years. When I put them in shallow bonsai pots I add more inorganic substrates, but are still using more organics than most people. Works good for me in my climate and care. The biggest benefit is that I don't have to water that often.🙂👍

[AlexBraunton]

A really great, informative video. Thank you for the experiment and results. I'm the same to be honest, if it's young and growing on then I used a compost and perlite mix which works fine.

[jet]

I like your video style! I learned quite a bit 😊

[raton_garden]

So effective information. Good share 🎉❤🎉❤

[katyb]

This was really interesting, thank you!

[DeciduousSnurb]

I'll show this video to anyone who doesn't understand bonsai and why you would basically use what looks to be "gravel" as soil for a tree. Which for me, is everyone in my family 😆
I don't usually bareroot and cut the roots of my temperate trees during the growing season where I live, maybe you have success with it in Australia. Sometimes when it's my only option I will do it and I loosely cover my newly potted tree with a white plastic bag in some shade. It seems to help them recover.
I've been planning a root over rock as well and with a Trident, I hear they make great ror.

[treeaddict]

Great info in this video-thank you. Sub

[animron]

You can't draw conclusions based on just two small and young examples! We would need dozens of examples and a multi-year period: at least three years. 18 months is not enough to make any definitive conclusion.