[ see link below to see a couple of Adairs pines as well as his Zelkova that was in the Nationals]
The mycorrhiza in that root ball is serious.
That's one reason I used the bark in my mix, but also to help with water retention.
I think there's an element in the pine bark
(which breaks down faster than fir bark and why I include the fir bark to delay total bark break down
all at one time) that makes an ideal host for the fungi.
I also incorporate supplemental mycorrhizae basically anywhere roots were cut.
I saved out a bunch of the host fungi from the old roots and ground it up by hand wearing a mask,
and chop sticked that in with the new soil.
Then I follow up with waterings with K-L-N liquid rooting hormone thereafter for a month or so.
5 Years before, and back, I used the Boon mix, but I think that nursery I bought the 5 gallon buckets from
also used pine bark in their professional mix. I loved it, it did great!
(Oh I remember, it was from Bonsai Monk never a problem. I used their Master series soil
then one day they stopped selling on line. That's when I switched to that reputable nursery
where I got a bad batch)
Then one bucket was nasty with soft akadama
and the smell of cooped up mildew sprung with pungency hitting you in the face,
mouth and lungs in an instant when you opened the bucket..
The nursery refused to make it right, so I omitted it from future use, substituting the Monto clay in.
Their akadama simply smeared like little mud balls when you picked one up and gently squeezed it.
End of using akadama for me then.
Everything else remained the same I guess, except I used 2 different barks in my personal mix, but still
1:1:1:1 Lava/Pumice/Monto clay/ Bark. That is what was in the mix I last used on this tree, buying my components
strictly from Bonsaijack.com...it works.
I should have given history on this tree.
I am impressed that you remembered that I wasn't using Boon mix anymore
It's back for now for refining roots.
I went to my 1st work shop during my little vacation from work this year. It was for WP with @Adair M at Plant City Bonsai. I learned a better way to approach the foliage from underneath, now it's up to me to practice it. Though being timid about going to a class setting and work shop, and not...
www.bonsainut.com
In this thread Adair critiqued it at my 1st and only workshop about 18 months ago.
After seeing his personal collection, I decided it was time to give it a try again.
