Soil Mix for bonsai

Does anyone add time release fertilizer into their soil mix to start the feeding a little faster??? just a thought i have..Thank you take care john

Hello John. Not so much time release as temperature release. The problem is you don't know when the tree is being fed or not. Much better to use organic or chemical fertilisers with a watering can, as you can rest assured that the tree is getting a regular and balanced feed.

Thank you Will,,I am just wondering if that will help... thanks take care john

I used to add some osmocote to my container mixes (for growing trees to larger size, not in bonsai pots) but have stopped doing that. I'd rather have more complete control over the amount and type of fertilizer that I'm using. As Will noted, you don't really know how much of the time release stuff is being released at any given time!

Lots of people use the fertilizer balls (organic mixtures of various types) but those are placed on top of the soil. They provide a continuous (with every watering), low level source of nutrients in between applications of liquid fertilizers.

Chris

Thankyou Coh,,that is what i ment,,fertilizer in the soil,,,also liquid when you water but not every time thanks john

moyogijohn wrote:Does anyone add time release fertilizer into their soil mix to start the feeding a little faster??? just a thought i have..Thank you take care john

Hi John.

i used both slow released fertilizer and organic/compost. Don't rely too much with slow released fertilizer.

regards,
jun

Slow release fertilizers (SRFs) have been used in countless scientific studies in horticultural research which have shown them to be very reliable. I wonder what established facts make some people arguing their release of nutrients is less predictable than those of organic fertilizer when in fact, it is the opposite situation.
SRFs do have drawbacks, but not this one !

Alain Bertrand wrote:Slow release fertilizers (SRFs) have been used in countless scientific studies in horticultural research which have shown them to be very reliable. I wonder what established facts make some people arguing their release of nutrients is less predictable than those of organic fertilizer when in fact, it is the opposite situation.
SRFs do have drawback, but not this one !

If your talking about organic feed cakes that's not what I said. A watering can is definately a more direct and acurate method of delivery

This true for " chemical " ferts where effectively all the mineral species are immediately usable by plants, how ever, unless you feed all your trees with the same concentration of fertilizer ( which probably most people would not do) or have very few trees, it is relatively cumbersome. As for organic liquid fertilizer, once you have spread them on your pots, they still need to be mineralized by microorganisms to be used by plants and the speed of this process is influenced by so many factors besides temperature that is is neither more direct or accurate than SRFs.

BTW, SRFs reliability is the very point that make them so used by horticultural professionals in spite of their far higher cost.

with these SRF balls , how do you know the fertilizer is sufficient or breaking down as it should . all my trees and the garden get the same feed at the same time using

i just cant see the point in fiddling with an uncontrolled method of bunging in balls and hoping they work

IMHO people.
If for some other folks, the SRF works well for their trees, then it works well and we can't debate with them on that matter.. and for others that consider SRF as not sufficient (me included) then it is not sufficient and doesn't work well, They can't debate on that as well... continue what works well with your/our method of feeding if it works with you.
The bottom line I think is the tree should be healthy, and a good draining soil medium is the key and lots of water to avoid overdose of the tree, if you are not sure on your feeding method. the tree will take only what it needs and the human will flush out the excess.

regards,
jun

IMO, SRF's are great for the nursery trade where large numbers of plants are being grown and it would be impractical to fertilize individual plants. I'm sure they work "well" and I wouldn't try to persuade anyone to stop using them if they were getting good results. In my case...some of the plants I was growing developed strange leaf symptoms (various mottlings/disfigurements, leaf curling, etc) and I realized that it would probably be easier to prevent/diagnose and control this if I had more control over the fertilization process.

If I was going to use SRF's again, I would not mix them into the soil but just sprinkle on top. That way, if the plant(s) developed strange symptoms I could removes the SRF and see what happened.

Chris

If for some other folks, the SRF works well for their trees, then it works well and we can't debate with them on that matter..

To be clear, I am not advocating use of SRFs. I am just pointing the fact that their reliability is a proven fact, both by scientific studies and widespread use in the general horticulture industry whose scale is several orders of magnitude more important than bonsai growing.
Now, there are, of course, other way of fertilizing trees who have also their good points and their inconveniences and anybody may choose what suit him best.
But when one evaluates a fertilizing method, it is better not to confuse correlation and causality.

" ...it is better not to confuse correlation and causality."

Good advice in all aspects of daily life!

After literally years of trying to find something the kids liked, I have finally settled on Neptunes harvest fish & seaweed blend (blue bottle) and after seeing the results I have not looked back.

Thank you all for your views on this..I do use liquid fertilizer on my trees.. i thought maybe mixing some time realese in the soil will give a little bost for the growth of the trees.... thanks to all,,take care john

Time release fertilizer is good. Just follow the instruction on the lable. It is good and save you time. I use them all the time alone with organic fertilizer cakes. I am lazy.....

Neptunes harvest fish & seaweed blend (blue bottle) and after seeing the results I have not looked back.

I like that stuff. It's got a lot of trace elements in it.

I go organic so I use Chickity Doo Doo 5-3-2.5.

I like the Fox Farm products a lot too. You can take their dry fertilizers and make strong tea with them that needs to be diluted.