how can this be.

I think you are both on to something about using more organic material, but many American Bonsai enthusiasts have been scared away from lots of organics because they want to water and fertilize more often and the material that can be purchased at most garden centers around here have a peat based mix with a core of solid hard pan clay from when the material was developing in the field. This garden center material can be almost impossible to water correctly in a pot because the outside dries out as the clay core rots all of the inner roots. Vance's screened sided pots or pond baskets or colanders for transitioning away from the clay core, but then peat based mix then gets transitioned away as well.

I know you are right that more organic materials can be used successfully as long as it is watered properly. I am also experimenting with the forms that my vermi-compost can take in the hopes that it will clump into larger particles that would hold lots of water and let air into the center of the pot. My sister used to have an indoors worm bin (no smell) and I swear those castings, when dried, were very similar to a soft akadama in particle size and durability. I am still experimenting until I can get my compost into a form that I feel comfortable using in large amounts.

I put leaves from raking, lots of coffee ground from the local coffee shops into my compost bin, as well as banana peels and potato peels.. This summer I collected a large piles of pigeon droppings from under an overpass near my fishing spot. I mixed that in with the compost and it steamed for a few weeks and accelerated the decomposition of the various kitchen scraps.

Cali-dama, from my limited experience, is very hard. I believe it was "low-fired" by geothermal activity in the past, but I could be wrong. I haven't tried the "putting it in a jar of water" test, but I would think it would withstand weeks submerged without breaking down. I'll have to run that test to make sure though.
 
Calidama may very well have been "fired" in the ground at some point. To my knowledge it is sold as excavated, and is not fired after it has been taken out of the ground.

The only way I've been able to destroy it so far is by stepping on it on a concrete surface.
 
I forgot to add that my maples grow in dappled shade as well, or only get sun around midday for n couple of hours as they're under trees

General practice on fertilizing is to use organic fertilizers, either normal strength or a bit more,every other week, consensus being that in most organic doesnt burn at all or does so very rarely

The tridents especially Ive experienced as very thirsty trees, palmatums are in full shade but bright 2ndary light and they're happy and practically unburnt, leaves not overly enlarged
 
I used/use it.Going to give soft akadama a try this year,but had to think about it.
My first mix in the pic below is 50/50 dyna-rok and potting soil.The zelkova's grew very nice.It is amazing how bat guano applied in liquid form with every watering will decompose organics in the soil mix though.In the second season without repotting( a mistake of mine) I noticed dry spots around the drainage holes in these shallow pots I used cause' the organic was gone.
Trees that were potted after 12 months were totally unaffected though and looked fantastic.
Perhaps in larger pots this is not much of an issue.Could of been the screens I chose to use too fromBonsai monk that are slightly raised off the bottom of the pot and provide maximum drainage.
 

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Cypress187 said:
Lol, i also use that stuff and i immediatly identified it as the cat litter clay, and the parfume is also nice :) Maybe the color could be better, but wth for that price i don't mind a pink/orange bonsai mix.
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Indeed, I mix it with "other stuff" - akadama, grit and a small diameter hydrokorrels (LECA - Lightweight expanded clay aggregate) OR I cover it with a thin layer of Shohin akadama.

DSC05339 by Jerry Norbury, on Flickr
 
crust said:
With all the promotion of mixes containing no humusy stuff I find it odd that one of the premier bonsai dudes in Europe promotes using a pretty fuzzy mix claiming having great success with it at his extensive nursery and amoungst his constituents---how can this be.
Kaizen Bonsai mix 2 for junis and decidious:
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Hi Crust, are you still using Kaizen soil mix? could you comment on your experience? this year I have reported a large japanese maple into Kaizen Bonsai mix 2 (Graham has been making changes to the mix, but don't see any difference between 2019 & 2020 mix) Although it seems to dry much quicker than my previous mix of 70% akadama and 30% kiryu, it's looking great so far.
 
Driftwood said:
Hi Crust, are you still using Kaizen soil mix? could you comment on your experience? this year I have reported a large japanese maple into Kaizen Bonsai mix 2 (Graham has been making changes to the mix, but don't see any difference between 2019 & 2020 mix) Although it seems to dry much quicker than my previous mix of 70% akadama and 30% kiryu, it's looking great so far.
Click to expand...
Very old thread. I am in the US and never have used Kaizen mixes although he surely has a great reputation and massive local experience. I would trust his mixes if you live in his area. I have little experience with imported Japanese soils. The only stuff I have ever dealt with was old slimy mud at the core of bonsai others had given me. I am not too sure if akadama works well in my environment and set-up. My trees are frozen solid for 5 months out of the year. There is something that seems deeply amiss and unsustainable about digging up soil from a little sliver of a country 6000 miles away and hauling it all the way to central US--you'd think we could have something local that would work well--what do I know. Let me know what his recommend mix is made up of when you have a chance
 
In the end, the composition is irrelevant as long as your care and local conditions are matched.

I take classes from a very experienced bonsai grower, who even did a demo at the Saitema WBC. He uses 10-30% fine organics in his mix as otherwise in summer they cannot water all their trees enough. He constantly jokes about my substrate made up of only coarse components >2mm.

His trees are healthy. Mine are healthy.
 
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