Cheap premixed bonsai soil

[Maiden69]

Just as a heads up for those that care, Bonsai Jack inorganic mix contains turface.

Just a heads up, while it is the same substrate as turface, it is not turface. The particles are between 3/16" -1/4" and have a "rounded profile, while turface is 75% or more smaller than 3/16" and flat chips. I buy their Bonsai Block and Monto Clat ("turface") for my trees in development.

 

[dbonsaiw]

Just a heads up, while it is the same substrate as turface, it is not turface. The particles are between 3/16" -1/4" and have a "rounded profile, while turface is 75% or more smaller than 3/16" and flat chips.

I believe they are the same thing (Montmorillonite), albeit with different size and shape. I don't believe they are allowed to call it "Turface" because of these differences. Otherwise, the Bonsai Jack website says that the smaller size of the Turface substrate can contribute to acidic shock and/or drainage problems.

 

[penumbra]

I buy their Bonsai Block

My favorite new substrate. It is great stuff.

 

[TN_Jim]

Do you sift the NAPA oil dry or Safety Sorb? If you do, what mesh size do you use?

Curious how @Joe Dupre' rolls as well, I do the (Napa) fine one well and proceed -have grown to prefer windy day in one direction and proper mindset

hey, I appreciate you folks. thanks

 

[Maiden69]

I believe they are the same thing (Montmorillonite), albeit with different size and shape. I don't believe they are allowed to call it "Turface" because of these differences. Otherwise, the Bonsai Jack website says that the smaller size of the Turface substrate can contribute to acidic shock and/or drainage problems.

I think he said it was the same, but that he selects the size. There’s a few people here that have bought turface and sieved it, showing the small quantity that’s actually usable for bonsai use out of a bag.

 

[Joe Dupre']

I just sift the Napa and the Safe t Sorb with the smallest mesh with a fan blowing the dust away from me. There's normally nothing big enough to bother with, so whatever stays in the smallest sieve goes in the bin.

 

[pjciii]

One of the most important component in bonsai is soil. There are so many posts and arguments related to this topic. Here is my contribution to newbies on cheap premixed that I found.
If you know of others please post them here.
I just bought another 28 gallons of Bonsai Jack universal organic bonsai soil for 200. That makes the per gallon to be 7 bucks. It is organic because it has 20% pine bark in it.
I have no affiliate with them... just want to help out anyone that have no time to sift and source soil components to mix their own.
I should have the 10% discount code if you needed.
www.bonsaijack.com
Cheers

Thanks for the suggestion on soil also

 

[namnhi]

Try NEXTORDER as the code for 10% off if you need it.

 

[Rivian]

If this was cheap then I wonder what expensive soil looks like in the U.S.
Youre paying almost 2 bucks per Litre, thats more than Akadama, at least here
And then you still have to look at the unnatural white particles, which is why I dont think it makes sense even if you have only 3 trees and the absolute cost is negligable.
But, lots of people seemed to appreciate this thread so I'm curious what I'm missing
I wanted to know what's in the mix but I didnt see an answer on amazon and the bonsai jack website is not available to me

 

[Maiden69]

If this was cheap then I wonder what expensive soil looks like in the U.S.
Youre paying almost 2 bucks per Litre, thats more than Akadama, at least here
And then you still have to look at the unnatural white particles, which is why I dont think it makes sense even if you have only 3 trees and the absolute cost is negligable.
But, lots of people seemed to appreciate this thread so I'm curious what I'm missing
I wanted to know what's in the mix but I didnt see an answer on amazon and the bonsai jack website is not available to me

It is cheaper than akadama here, the price of the 13L bag increased to around $65-75 depending where you buy it from in the US.

 

[Rivian]

It is cheaper than akadama here, the price of the 13L bag increased to around $65-75 depending where you buy it from in the US.

Oh wow.
What did the Akadama cost 2 years ago, anyone remember? Similarly bad?

 

[Maiden69]

Oh wow.
What did the Akadama cost 2 years ago, anyone remember? Similarly bad?

Around $40 - 45 from Jonas and ~$50-55 Double Red Line in Amazon.

 

[Zac]

I'll have to check it out. Easternleaf.com has pretty good prices and quality premixed soil and components to mix your own

 

[Biscuit's Trees]

Another heads up. I use Bonsai Jack soil and really like results ... now. The first round I used it for spring repots straight out of the bag. Several plants began to fade mid June to August. The others did okay but growth didn't seem as vigorous to me. I thought was just heat but decided to repot the worst just to take a close look at roots, drainage, etc. The soil toward the bottom of the pots were compacted and almost "gummy" for want of a better term.
So I repotted all those plants with the soil sifted. Even though middle of summer repots they all perked up and survived.
In the fall I repotted all those I used straight Bonsai Jack soil into the sifted version. Probably not the best time of year for repotting I've been told. However, they all had the same findings so I'm glad I did.
The next year they all were back to what seemed healthy growth to me. Repots the year after showed soil condition much better with none of the compact "gummy" quality.
Just reporting what I saw. Like I said, I still use their soil, I just sift it to get out the dust.

 

[Gr8tfuldad]

It looks like prices are up 10% and they lowered the bags by 1 gallon price per gallon is up significantly this year at Bonsai Jack.

 

[LeftHandLuke]

I use Bonsai Jack soil

What mix did you use? I believe what I ordered last year was the "organic" mix, with lots of pine bark. I was okay with the pine bark, but the size and texture of the bark was far from uniform, and I wasn't prepared for that. Picture what you find at the bottom of a bag of mulch. Everything from dust and flakes to sticks and nuggets. The fact that it showed up wet pissed me off. Any problems with trees, I'm not sure were due to that soil, at least so far. Some smaller trees started draining much slower late in the season, but I chalked that up to vigorous root growth. But I'm keeping an eye on them. Pretty sure I won't order that mix again.

 

[Carol 83]

It looks like prices are up 10% and they lowered the bags by 1 gallon price per gallon is up significantly this year at Bonsai Jack.

I knew I should have bought more last year.

 

[penumbra]

I love Bonsai Jack for price, product and service. I just placed an order a few hours ago for pine bark, fir bark and Bonsai Block. I already have the other ingredients I need.

 

[LeftHandLuke]

I love Bonsai Jack for price, product and service. I just placed an order a few hours ago for pine bark, fir bark and Bonsai Block. I already have the other ingredients I need.

Ask for extra wet and muddy!

 

[Scorpius]

It looks like prices are up 10% and they lowered the bags by 1 gallon price per gallon is up significantly this year at Bonsai Jack.

They're still in business and selling so I wouldn't complain too much. A lot of specialty businesses go under when the economy sours. I'm glad they're still around, even though prices have gone up and quantities have shrunk.