AusBonsai

Hey All,

I have just started breaking my way into bonsai and I have read alot on soils etc. I seem to see alot of positive opinions on Diatomaceous earth and at first people were saying oh yea kitty litter no problem!

But after extensive searching I cannot seem to find ANY products that are this Diat..... earth stuff... I have called pet shops, bunnings... and people just act all confused.

Does anyone know where I can get my hands on this stuff? I live southern Sydney/Bankstown/Menai/Sutherland sort of area...

I guess secondly any advice on whether I should use it as well I guess? Alot of my reading comes from all sorts of sources and it could be not suitable for the OZ climate?

Cheers,
R

Join your local bonsai club.

Thats where I get mine from, my local club does bulk orders and it takes the stress out of searching for it. Only problem is foreseeing how many bags you may need that season.

Hi

I have purchased diatomite at Enfield Produce,they have a website.

When repotting I am bare rooting my plants and placing in a mix of 1/3 zeolite and 2/3 diatomite. Some of my plants have been in this mix for 12 months are are doing well. Do believe that you need to fertalise and water more frequently.

Fiona

Thanks all for the super fast responses!

@fiona - what is zeolite is it another form of cat litter? Do they sell it at the Enfield pace as well?

Hi fiona, I got some zeolite from the Bulleen Art and Craft Nursery in Bulleen yesterday. 20kg bag for $19 approx. I was actually looking for diatomite and perlite. It is my first time with zeolite so I went easy with it. I added only 5% to 95% commercial bonsai mix. I would like to get my hands on diatomite and perlite if anyone knows where to get some in Melbourne.

No it is a form of rock,reddish in colour, Ray Nesci has it.

Before you go changing all of your potting mixes I think it's important to do as much reading as possible. Still a vast amount of ppl grow amazing bonsai in potting mix without issues.
I found this article interesting...http://ofbonsai.org/care/soil-and-potti ... l-revealed
Different stokes for different folks I guess

Sorry Fiona, that last post should have been for Rhuumz. Fiona, when using 100% of this type of media, how do you know when to water and fertilise ? Do you use it on natives ?

Isitangus wrote:Before you go changing all of your potting mixes I think it's important to do as much reading as possible. Still a vast amount of ppl grow amazing bonsai in potting mix without issues.
I found this article interesting...http://ofbonsai.org/care/soil-and-potti ... l-revealed
Different stokes for different folks I guess

Thanks for that...

Article was excellent! Not only am I new to Bonsai but to "gardening" as a whole so it only seemed "logical" to me the un-educated novice that you want to put your plant in the best possible medium so that it can suck up all the vital nutrients.

It seems so simple that it feels wrong almost!

I guess another question I could pose is this.... I started my first plant and I bought the flower power generic "Bonsai potting mix" Now so far my plant seems fine and I water it and feed it and prune etc... but I guess what prompted a more thorough search for the perfect soil was I dont like how the soil seems very unstable for the plant... I have the tree wired down for stability but if I didn't I reckon a strong wind would shift it.... also when I water I need to use a very fine mist otherwise the soil moves around and splashes out.... would the Kleensorb help with this as its a more solid product?

Sadly Ray Nesci is an hour drive for me.

lellul wrote:Sorry Fiona, that last post should have been for Rhuumz. Fiona, when using 100% of this type of media, how do you know when to water and fertilise ? Do you use it on natives ?

Hi lellul,
Come to our next YVBS club meeting on Tuesday 8th January, 7:30pm at Morrisons, Old Hereford Road, Mt Evelyn - Mel Ref 118 / B8; and you can buy a bag of 35 litres for $25. It's a workshop night on Natives with Craig Wilson - which will be a added benefit to you!
I'm using it on all my trees except on Azaleas for a number of years now with good results
Sorry reddoggy, you're talking about Scoria which is a porous rock - Diatomite is whitish or light beige depending where you get it from.
Cheers, Rudi

Thanks Rudi,

I'll take you up on that. Criag Wilson will e a bonus. He's a legend.

Cheers
lellul

Sadly Ray Nesci is an hour drive for me.[/quote]

Where abouts in Sydney are you? Even people who use alternates to potting mix wire their plants in. Give your fig a few weeks and with this weather + fertiliser and h20 it won't budge!

Sorry reddoggy, you're talking about Scoria which is a porous rock - Diatomite is whitish or light beige depending where you get it from.
Cheers, Rudi[/quote]
The question was "What is zeolite" the bag I have got is reddish in colour and I get it from Ray Nesci.

Hi Lellul

Yes I do have some of my natives in this mix, a casuarina, black wattles, sand paper fig and calistamon. My bonsai are not in full sun due to many overhanging trees. Would water at least once per day, being in the morning. Try to fertalise weekly during the growing

I believe Ken P, one of the moderators uses this mix on most of his plants. It is from reading his many posts that made me want to try it. I have found that it does not encourage as many weeds and those that do grw are very easy to remove.

Fiona

Rhuumz wrote:Hey All,

I have just started breaking my way into bonsai and I have read alot on soils etc. I seem to see alot of positive opinions on Diatomaceous earth and at first people were saying oh yea kitty litter no problem!

But after extensive searching I cannot seem to find ANY products that are this Diat..... earth stuff... I have called pet shops, bunnings... and people just act all confused.

Does anyone know where I can get my hands on this stuff? I live southern Sydney/Bankstown/Menai/Sutherland sort of area...

I guess secondly any advice on whether I should use it as well I guess? Alot of my reading comes from all sorts of sources and it could be not suitable for the OZ climate?

Cheers,
R

The only Supply in Sydney is Enfield Produce
The only place I know in Sydney for Zelolite is Ray Nesci

Check out the many thread on the site for Diatomite and i have posted several outlining my use of it.
Have been almost exclusively using Diatomite / Zeloite mix for over 6 years and have great results here

Checkout the wiki for some info and links to threads here.
https://www.ausbonsai.com.au/wiki/index. ... =Diatomite