What soil is best for bonsai?

The key to growing bonsai flowers is to provide a suitable environment for growth, among which the choice of potting soil is crucial because it is directly related to the growth and development of bonsai plants. If the soil provided is inappropriate, it will lead to the death of the plant.

Bonsai soil

When we choose to plant bonsai plants, we must use soil with a good aggregate structure, looseness, fertility, water retention, and good drainage. It can be prepared with river sand, garden soil, pine needles, fertilizer, bark, etc., and according to the plant's requirements for the acid-base environment, the planting soil should be changed to a slightly acidic or slightly alkaline soil.

How to prepare soil for bonsai

1. Universal potting soil

For most herbaceous flowers or shrubs, such as begonias, impatiens, primroses, daffodils, cyclamen, geraniums, roses, chrysanthemums, green radish, spider plants, money trees and other plants, universal soil can be used to prepare nutrient soil.

The simplest soil configuration plan is to use peat soil, fine coconut coir, coarse coconut coir blocks and perlite, with a ratio of about 4:3:2:1. Perlite can be replaced with some rice husks or coarse sand.

2. Special plants

‍ The soils for growing some flowers are quite special and must be matched according to the conditions of the plants. For example, common aquatic plants such as lotus and water lily should use pond mud or paddy field soil. Succulents can use a 1:1 mixture of granular soil and peat soil. Cactus plants can use sandy soil. Orchids can use a mixture of sphagnum moss, orchid stone, and pine phosphorus.

Bonsai soil replacement

Before changing the soil for bonsai flowers, they must be removed from the pots. After removing them, you also need to check the growth of the roots, cut off rotten and withered roots, disinfect them, fill the new pots with new soil, and then plant the flowers in the middle of the pots. This completes the soil changing operation.