I'll need lots of bonsai soil for my tropical work in winter, today I mix up a large batch! The auction Tiger bark Ficus is moving into the plant room today under the light to get it looking good for December. #TheBonsaiZone
Repti Bark is always good stuff. Your Auction Ficus should fetch a nice sum of money for the club. Your Serissa is doing fantastic also. Mixing your soil outside is the best. All that dust and the wind takes it away for you. Another fantastic video.
I love fresh bonsai soil. I’m going to mix up the rest of mine for the winter. Then I don’t have to worry about it, and it gets the bags off my porch. I think I’ll pick up a bag of Repti bark to.👍😁 as always, thanks for the inspiration Nigel.
Always good videos nigel and verry therapeutic watching you mix Ur bonsai soill thanks from Liverpool England wish I was in your neck of the woods those stay safe 👍
The auction tree has a nice thick trunk. I really like the serissa tree. It has a beautiful canopy. Here in the tropics I have to add quite a bit of coco peat and brick chips in my soil mix for water retention. The summers can be very harsh here. Thanks for the video.
Dear Nigel, thanks for the nice video ! Seeing you misting with a manual action spray I must suggest you buy one of the pressure spray, they are a game changer ! So convenient and you can find some quite cheap. You simply pump it with compressed air once a week and then every time you need to mist your trees they release very thin and uniform water particles ! Try it you'll see the difference ! Cheers !
Well Fall chores. For bark I also use orchid seedling bark. Some of it is still a bit chunky but mostly its great. I use an outdoor misting to water all my bonsai through the warm months. Depending on the tree, such as maples, I add about 25% bark. And for the spruce and pine etc I only use 5-10%. This way all my trees get the same amount of water but their soil has varying retention levels. Yes I could use rain water but our neighborhood is on a well system and no chlorine or fluoride is ever added. :)
As always late to the show, pleased you got the soil done for the plant room. I thought I would get pumice when I go back home ( Lake Taupō) to mix into my soil . I how is your friend who has covid is doing OK? Stay safe. Thank-you for yet another wonderful post.
Hey Nigel, Drew here from lockport NY a half hour north of buffalo. Having winters similar to yours I would suggest a clear 6mil plastic to cover your greenhouses as opposed to the insulated tarps that you have been using. Sunlight travels through two 6mil thick layers of clear plastic, the greenhouse plastic and an interior layer of bubble wrap(perfect interior insulation) all winter long. The layer of clear plastic is mainly to create a distance between the snow pile up and the greenhouse walls, it also stops the wind bringing the heat way up inside. A clear roll of plastic should range between 50 and 150 dollars for the dimensions of your glass greenhouse! Long time fan of your channel, Nigel thank you so much for your hardwork and dedication!
From what I've read, bark can help keep roots warmer during winter, gives space for breathe and being slightly acidic can help balance the soil if your water is hard (alkaline).
Hi Nigel! The trees look beautiful, love the Dune reference too 😉 hope you enjoyed it. I'm very happy to see you masked up while handling the soil, the dust that came off of it is almost unreal! Thanks for sharing another great video with us, stay safe 😊🙏🌱
ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4VZQ3KA4AAA.html He commented on my contraption a few years ago! This bonsai soil trommel is a game changer when mixing up big quantities of soil.
Looks like you found the massive bag of pearlite that I mentioned a while back (last time you were using miracle grow). I always laugh at how light that bag is when its so big.
Enjoyed watching. Especially liked seeing the sleet in the opening of the video. Reminds me of northern winters. By the way, are you expecting a colder or warmer winter than usual? Here in southeast Florida USA we are expecting a warmer than normal.
we need to get you some 1/1/1 akadama/pumice/lava for your show quality trees. it really makes a difference on the quality of the root growth and refraction rate of the roots. the mediums you're using are great for developmental trees but I really think your best trees would benefit.
Hi Nigel! My household is using the same soil mix as you, and we were wondering how to tell when it's dry enough to need watering in the winter? Our bonsais are currently indoors for the winter here in New York, and it's hard to tell if they're dry.
I love your Serrisa, recently purchased one but not doing well, came out of the shipping box with some leaves being white/colorless and is dropping leaves every day it’s under grow lights with my ficus trees but hasn’t responded well, any ideas on how to proceed
Have you thought about getting a cement mixer for mixing your bulk batches Nigel? also you should think about getting some cladding on your plant room. ultraviolet radiation will kill your insulation if left exposed much longer
Not only do you talk to yourself whilst playing with putty, you think the spray bottle is talking to you 🤣. That said you're right "What's Up" I do, however, have your analytical dialog going on in my head as i prune my trees. "What would Nigal do"
I've read recently that bark isn't great to use in soils because it locks up nitrogen robbing the plant. The bark is a slow decomposer and requires a lot of nitrogen for that decomposition process. As well as during decomposition, the bark will off-gas things that can be toxic to plants. I need to look into it more though. From the few papers I read, it seems as though it's only bad if it isn't composted before being added. I'd presume that's why some people such as Peter Chan use composted pine bark in their bonsai soils. I'm currently experimenting with a small amount of coconut coir for a bit of extra water retention. It's basically inert though. And can actually be harmful if it isn't rinsed well of all the salts and then buffered with calcium/magnesium. Otherwise the coco coir essentially robs nutrients from the plants. Regardless, your trees look fantastic and are certainly healthy. So you're doing something right. I just like always improving and trying out new things to see what happens. Just because something works doesn't mean it can't be better!
PLEASE HELP!Where do you buy your big Bonsai pots? Your Schefflera tree to Bonsai inspired me to do the same or get rid of it as it has outgrown my apartment.
Do ficus grow faster in large pots or just let it grow in pot? Mine is slightly smaller than yours and not great. I’ve had mine for 15 years or so. What’s up?
I use a kitchen sifter, one that you would use for flour or whatever. Also, at a garage sale, I found this round bucket that possibly came from a deep fryer? The kitchen sifter has very small holes, so it really only gets rid of the fine dust. The deep fryer bucket has slightly bigger holes, so it "wastes" more product. They seem to do well enough. I think the main goal is to get rid as much of that fine dust as possible. I made this contraption to do' large batches of soil. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4VZQ3KA4AAA.html
No. Safe T Sorb is 100% fullers earth. Substantially cheaper than akadama and way easier to find. I’ve never seen akadama offered anywhere other than online. Safe T Sorb can be found at all Tractor Supply’s and most auto parts stores
@@user-fb3pu3qx3t Sanicat Pink lightweight low dust and non clumping cat litter made from 100% molar clay is a good substitute. Molar clay in general is a great substitute for Turface. Both of which are merely inexpensive substitutes for Acadama. Good luck
WIsh I could find anything like that safe T sorb where I live. Gotta love when you texted "what's up - what's up....!" I guess you mimic the sound of spray bottle 😂. Another thing is that you always say 50% perlite mixed with 50 % safe T sorb and well isn't that already 100% lol and then you add reptile bar for 20 %... am just kidding ya Nigel it all works fine in practice.😉
@@mherbert3646 thanks for trying to help, however I already been on the hunt for that but the proucts available where I live arent suitable and majority are also of the clumping sort.
I saw your name in Maybe Bonsai's video of a few hours ago and thought "Nigel hasn't uploaded in forever". I go to your page - and I'm unsubbed which I *know* I didn't do. Resubbed and rang the bell and looking forward to your next stream!
I first used it when Tom from Grow and Clip Bonsai for Seniors sent me a bag about 2 year ago. It worked well, so I'll keep using it. In the past I have used fine bark that is used for orchids, I think it is the same as reptile bark and it worked well also!
ok, i think i am going the Safe T Sorb route… the cost of pumice is killing my budget! i just found a 40 pound bag for $24.99. if it’s good enough for Nigel…!
Hey would you do me a huge favor and send me the link to the 40 pound bag!? I live in florida and I’m struggling trying to find a good source of soil at a reasonable price
What that is that you are having isn't really snow. it's more like what meteorologists call gropple. this is like hailstones made of snow instead of ice.
