Hello, my name is Dave and I'm a turface user.

[Dav4]

Turface has been a part of my mix for more then a decade. I've used it straight, mixed with quartz, pumice, bark, sphagnum moss, lava, you name it...even akadama....I've mixed it with turface. Still, I'm always trying to better my trees AND make my life easier time wise and money wise. I've been growing a lot of pines out in colanders. The mix is Turface, pumice, and lava. I've also been growing out a lot of shimpaku cuttings...these are growing in nursery cans full of soil conditioner- basically composted bark chips. The pines are growing pretty well in the colanders...and the junipers seem to love the soil conditioner.....sooooooo.... Anyway, the soil conditioner costs me 3 bucks and change a bag and I don't have to line the inside of the colanders so the Turface doesn't fall through the holes. I potted up 5 junipers today and we'll see how they grow over the next few years. My hope is that I get exceptional top growth and see some benefits with the roots due to being in the colander. I may try a few JBP, but I haven't tried them in anything other then pure inorganic soil, so I'm a bit reluctant to move forward with them. By the way, I fertilize and water EVERYTHING the same way as a rule, regardless of pot type or substrate, except that I don't do plantone filled teabags on the junipers in the soil conditioner.

 

[lordy]

Wow, those are some pretty large holes in the pond baskets. My baskets have more of an elongated slot so I can put pretty much everything I sift that stays on top of a 1/8" screen.
I just repotted a Kingsville that was in a turface mix and the roots looked pretty nice. However, most of everything else that I have repotted that was in a similar mix just seemed to languish. Roots were more sparse and blackish even. My boxwoods always seem to impress with solid root systems. They probably would have done OK in anything I could have thrown at them. We'll see. I'm switching to pumice/akadama this year. My fingers are crossed...

 

[Nybonsai12]

Were those the shimpaku cuttings you promised to sell me one of in 25 years? Either way, I'm certainly interested to see your results.

 

[Dav4]

Were those the shimpaku cuttings you promised to sell me one of in 25 years? Either way, I'm certainly interested to see your results.

Why yes, they are...you can pre order now. PM me for payment options.

 

[Paulsur]

So how does that pine mix work out for you? Do you find any challenges with the turface being smaller than the lava and the pumice?

 

[Dav4]

So how does that pine mix work out for you? Do you find any challenges with the turface being smaller than the lava and the pumice?

Well, yes and no. I have found that in large, deep pots, the mix compacts a bit at the bottom and stays wetter then I'd like. My remedy for that is to reduce the turface to 20% and increase the pumice and lava to 40% each respectively. I also started using traditional drainage layers in my largest, deepest pots. Still, I think all my trees have done fine in the "Pine mix", which is my standard mix- 1 part turface, 1 part lava, and 1 part of either quartz, bark, or pumice- for over a decade. Like most folks, my mix has had revisions made to it over the years...I went totally inorganic about 5 years ago, lost the quartz which was replaced with pumice about 3 years ago...and am now reducing the amount of turface. If I can get my hands on something similar to turface but larger, that doesn't cost an arm and a leg and is easily sourced, I'll loose the turface in a heartbeat. Until then, it'll continue to be part of my mix, I suspect.

 

[markyscott]

Well, yes and no. I have found that in large, deep pots, the mix compacts a bit at the bottom and stays wetter then I'd like. My remedy for that is to reduce the turface to 20% and increase the pumice and lava to 40% each respectively. I also started using traditional drainage layers in my largest, deepest pots. Still, I think all my trees have done fine in the "Pine mix", which is my standard mix- 1 part turface, 1 part lava, and 1 part of either quartz, bark, or pumice- for over a decade. Like most folks, my mix has had revisions made to it over the years...I went totally inorganic about 5 years ago, lost the quartz which was replaced with pumice about 3 years ago...and am now reducing the amount of turface. If I can get my hands on something similar to turface but larger, that doesn't cost an arm and a leg and is easily sourced, I'll loose the turface in a heartbeat. Until then, it'll continue to be part of my mix, I suspect.

Sounds like you have a source for lava and pumice. For what reason do you feel that you need the turface?

Scott

 

[Dav4]

Sounds like you have a source for lava and pumice. For what reason do you feel that you need the turface?

Scott

CEC and moisture.

 

[Poink88]

We should form a club

I will just repeat, Turface when amended properly can be an awesome substrate....and yes, I am a proud Turface user.

 

[markyscott]

CEC and moisture.

K - it certainly does hold a lot of water once you get it wet. Water saturation can be quite high due to the small grain size. But, I understood you to say that you were having a problem with too much moisture, not the other way round. Perhaps I understood poorly.

Scott

 

[markyscott]

We should form a club

I will just repeat, Turface when amended properly can be an awesome substrate....and yes, I am a proud Turface user.

I used it for nearly 15 years and I'm quite aware of its properties. If it works well for you I couldn't be happier for you.

Scott

 

[jkd2572]

We should form a club

I will just repeat, Turface when amended properly can be an awesome substrate....and yes, I am a proud Turface user.

Poink,
I know your trees are super healthy, but if you used my mix they would be much better...... Every time I read that I want to bring up my lunch....

 

[Dav4]

K - it certainly does hold a lot of water once you get it wet. Water saturation can be quite high due to the small grain size. But, I understood you to say that you were having a problem with too much moisture, not the other way round. Perhaps I understood poorly.

Scott

I didn't say I was having a problem with moisture in that my trees were doing fine in the mix...absolutely no issues secondary to excess moisture in the root zone. I made changes to the ratios in the mix which will reduce the little compaction I saw and hopefully make the mix perform better.

 

[markyscott]

I didn't say I was having a problem with moisture in that my trees were doing fine in the mix...absolutely no issues secondary to excess moisture in the root zone. I made changes to the ratios in the mix which will reduce the little compaction I saw and hopefully make the mix perform better.

My mistake - hope the changes works great for you.

Scott

 

[Dav4]

I should have anticipated that people would be jumping all over the fact that I'm using a small amount of turface in my standard mix....instead of jumping all over me for planting junipers in a 100% organic mix of composted pine bark, which is what this thread is really about. Oh well. If people continue to want to talk about turface here, I'll try to answer any questions as honestly as I can.

 

[KennedyMarx]

Putting the junipers into pond baskets with the bark soil conditioner is an interesting idea. I have a pond basket with slightly smaller holes in the sides than the ones you're using, then I also have a couple exactly like yours. I can't find the one with the smaller holes in them anywhere now. Pretty sure they were discontinued. Seems like Turface wants to fall through the holes a little bit on them. How are you fertilizing those junipers? Just diluted chemical fertilizers periodically?

 

[Dav4]

Miracle grow and fish emulsion every week

 

[markyscott]

I should have anticipated that people would be jumping all over the fact that I'm using a small amount of turface in my standard mix....instead of jumping all over me for planting junipers in a 100% organic mix of composted pine bark, which is what this thread is really about. Oh well. If people continue to want to talk about turface here, I'll try to answer any questions as honestly as I can.

No jumping here. I honestly don't care what you use - if it works for you it works for you. There are thousands of nurseries all over the country selling junipers potted in 100% organics and there are lots of people who grow trees in turface. Do what up you will, but don't make up a fight where none exists. I asked a question and got an answer - thanks and enjoy.

Scott

 

[jkd2572]

I was bored today. Went to Home Depot and picked up a nana juniper to just set down and see what I could do with it. $15. Two hours of fun. Did not care if at the end of the day I ended up throwing it away. It was the healthiest juniper I have ever seen. I was really surprised that it was not planted in some combo of akadama, pumic, lava, hydite, charcoal, Turface, dry stall, but was Planted in 100% organic mix. Go figure...... I would guess it was a ten year old plant and was always in such a soil...... Good grief we overthink things sometimes. as I type this I'm looking across the room at a house plant I have had since 1996. Some sort of tropical. It's been replanted one since then. Some sort of potting soil I'm sure I bought at Home Depot ten years ago. I have to chop the guy back by 50% every year so it fits in its spot. With that being said my bonsai are in a well draining soil that allows me to water once a day when it hits 100 degrees a day in the summer.

 

[bwaynef]

I should have anticipated that people would be jumping all over the fact that I'm using a small amount of turface in my standard mix....instead of jumping all over me for planting junipers in a 100% organic mix of composted pine bark, which is what this thread is really about. Oh well. If people continue to want to talk about turface here, I'll try to answer any questions as honestly as I can.

If you wanted to discuss "planting junipers in a 100% organic mix of composted pine bark", maybe you should've titled this post a little differently.