AusBonsai

Bougy Fan wrote:No Mt Sylvia is sold as Kleensorb in a 35 litre bag. Works out much cheaper and should be easily available at produce stores or pet stores.

alright thanks mate, ive done a bit of research and the closest place that seems to stock it is enfield. does anyone know any closer places?

Like Pup has stated when it comes to substrates it all depends upon how much attention your prepared to put into your trees. if you can put 100% attention than you could probably literally use the glass bottles if we had that much time to up our sleeves to stare at our trees waiting for them to dry. diatomite i have found works amazingly! all my trees ive potted into it this year have grown the best they ever have. i dont have to much trouble with watering either, it seems to hold moisture very well. i find some of my trees in potting mix seem to dry in half the time that my trees in diatomite seem to (mind you the mix is pretty rubbish)

cuwire wrote:When bits show through on the surface my Kleensorb turns green very readily == dont look so good -- last 2cm now no Kleensorb.

i get this too mate on some trees, nothing to worry about ive had no illl affects. i thinks its just some kind of moss or very tiny lichen.

Hugh

kcpoole wrote:

anttal63 wrote:

Bougy Fan wrote:No Mt Sylvia is sold as Kleensorb in a 35 litre bag. Works out much cheaper and should be easily available at produce stores or pet stores.

Please check out ph level guys !!! Thats a major issue !!!

Ummm, No its not
In theory, the advertised PH is 7.5 or so, is a no go, but in practice it makes no difference. If it did then the Azaleas I have in it would not be growing as ramantly as they do.

As always, get a sample of the product and put a few cuttings or Starters in it to test for you self

ken

That may be so Ken, How ever certain people here in Melbourne tried and made comparisons years ago. Mt slyvia did not stack up to Maidenwell. Many trees suffered. I found the same and will not use it again !!!

anttal63 wrote:

kcpoole wrote:

anttal63 wrote:

Bougy Fan wrote:No Mt Sylvia is sold as Kleensorb in a 35 litre bag. Works out much cheaper and should be easily available at produce stores or pet stores.

Please check out ph level guys !!! Thats a major issue !!!

Ummm, No its not
In theory, the advertised PH is 7.5 or so, is a no go, but in practice it makes no difference. If it did then the Azaleas I have in it would not be growing as ramantly as they do.

As always, get a sample of the product and put a few cuttings or Starters in it to test for you self

ken

That may be so Ken, How ever certain people here in Melbourne tried and made comparisons years ago. Mt slyvia did not stack up to Maidenwell. Many trees suffered. I found the same and will not use it again !!!

Interesting, I wonder why the difference in performance then
I started out with Maidewell and when they closed first time I swapped to Mt Sylvia, and aside from the lighter colour, cannot pick any difference between them.

Ken

cuwire wrote:When bits show through on the surface my Kleensorb turns green very readily == dont look so good -- last 2cm now no Kleensorb.

Hey cuwire

I too have a green tinge to my 50/50 Mt Sylvia Diotiamite and bonsai soil mix. I had thought that it perhaps was due to not enough light.... but now that you've said it here i wondered if other more knowledgable members could offer a possible explanation for the discolouration. Is my mix too rich in diatomite?

confused Stew

Stewart_Toowoomba wrote:

cuwire wrote:When bits show through on the surface my Kleensorb turns green very readily == dont look so good -- last 2cm now no Kleensorb.

Hey cuwire

I too have a green tinge to my 50/50 Mt Sylvia Diotiamite and bonsai soil mix. I had thought that it perhaps was due to not enough light.... but now that you've said it here i wondered if other more knowledgable members could offer a possible explanation for the discolouration. Is my mix too rich in diatomite?

confused Stew

I get this too, but only on trees that have both organic pellet fertiliser ( Neutrog or D.L) on them, and the trees are on one particular bench that does not get much direct sun. It is under a Eucalypt tree, so gets filtered light most of the day till about 3 pm.
Mainly only appers in Mid Autumn thru to mid Spring. Rarely see it in Summer on anyhing.

All plants on my other benches and posts get a little of it or none at all.

Either way, all I do is scrape the soil surface off onto a Screen and allow to dry out thouroghly and then wash and reuse as normal.
The other thing I have tried is to Stray the surface with a vinegar / water mix.

I have Also experienced it when I used Maidenwell Diatomite, and also get it on Azaleas potted in Kanuma.
See this thread of Bretts where I show it on Several different Substrates viewtopic.php?f=19&t=5559&start=15#p64681


Certainly not Diatomite Problem only, but is manageable

Ken

hugh grant wrote:

cuwire wrote:When bits show through on the surface my Kleensorb turns green very readily == dont look so good -- last 2cm now no Kleensorb.

i get this too mate on some trees, nothing to worry about ive had no illl affects. i thinks its just some kind of moss or very tiny lichen.

Hugh

I have found the same thing, using zeolite (sold here in NZ as cat litter, too) - I think it is to do with the moisture-retention of the particles ( and mosses need moisture, so . . .)

I've had the green on Diatomite and Kanuma, hasn't done anything to my trees? A slight green tinge beats the poor growth/health from using potting soil.

yeah i figure that so long is it does not stay wet and gooey, all is good, Just scrape the top and refresh if you are worried

Ken

Thanks for the responses Gordon, Ken and Scott - my trees appear to be doing well, but the green is a little offputing.

Do member think that a 1:1 mix of diatomite and commercial bonsai mix from the big green shed is an OK medium, considering the higher ph of the Mt Sylvia Diatomite? I was at Tess' (Northside Bonsai in Bris) the other weekend and she was concerned that my mix was too rich in D and that the higher ph 7.?? may be detrimental to the trees. They would never use this ratio in their mix and have gone off Mt S for the ph reason.

I know that we sometimes harp on about medium and the likes, but a number of tree are in this mix and i'd hate to lose them for reasons of ph.....

cheers

Beautiful weather here in Toowoomba ATM. Lovely place to live in autumn....

stew

anttal63 wrote:

Bougy Fan wrote:No Mt Sylvia is sold as Kleensorb in a 35 litre bag. Works out much cheaper and should be easily available at produce stores or pet stores.

Please check out ph level guys !!! Thats a major issue !!!

After speaking at length with QV today about the Mt Slyvia Diatamite, It is proving to come up trumps down here. The prior info i had was either a different product or just incomplete information. I will give it a go this year and am sure it will be fine.

anttal63 wrote:

anttal63 wrote:

Bougy Fan wrote:No Mt Sylvia is sold as Kleensorb in a 35 litre bag. Works out much cheaper and should be easily available at produce stores or pet stores.

Please check out ph level guys !!! Thats a major issue !!!

After speaking at length with QV today about the Mt Slyvia Diatamite, It is proving to come up trumps down here. The prior info i had was either a different product or just incomplete information. I will give it a go this year and am sure it will be fine.

Hi Antonio, any endorsemnt from QV carries a lot of weight in my book. Can you tell me what product/size from Mt Silvia he is using and how long he has been using it/what ratio?

With any luck, we may be able to bury this cat litter business once and for all.

Cheers,
Mojo

anttal63 wrote:

anttal63 wrote:

Bougy Fan wrote:No Mt Sylvia is sold as Kleensorb in a 35 litre bag. Works out much cheaper and should be easily available at produce stores or pet stores.

Please check out ph level guys !!! Thats a major issue !!!

After speaking at length with QV today about the Mt Slyvia Diatamite, It is proving to come up trumps down here. The prior info i had was either a different product or just incomplete information. I will give it a go this year and am sure it will be fine.

Hey Ant. Do not forget to update on your own tests please.
Be real interested in your results as you keep detailed records and have lots of different trees to compare each other with.

Ken

No QV is not using it yet for he has plenty Maidenwell stil. He and co. have run tests as well as Grant Bowie, they are confident it is interchangable for Maidewell. Other guys are using it and are happy and yes this kind of weight goes along way. I am now satisfied...

ps will do Ken