Anthony wrote:I do have some questions on alberta pines that I going to post later today in the pine area. I hope it will cause another collision of the master minds that these last two did.
Anthony

Anthony if the Alberta thread doesn't do it just ask for suggestions that will get the vets stoked.....I have a list

Though it is hard to beat a good ole fashion soil thread

I reuse my Hyuga, it's expensive to have shipped to Oklahoma. If the tree I'm repotting is healthy, why not. I don't even wash it off, just run it through a sieve and add some new Akadama,lava rock and charcoal and repot. Repotting bonsai doesn't have to be in a sterile operating room, with gloves and a mask, I don't even wash my hands first.........

keep it green,
Harry

AKeppler wrote:

VonsGardens wrote:Tom,
Back to the issue at hand, If you had an ignore function I would use it.

Had a good afternoon cutting old needles off of Ponderosa Pines.

John

Obviously Kirby's flight jumped the trolly and veered off into a parrallel universe and we may be stuck with the evil Kirby???

When Kirby gets like this, he's had to take the train downtown by himself from being gone from home for so long.....

keep it green,
Harry

Actually Harry, you reminded me of a question I had. I forget where but I read that charcoal would only retain its quality of filtering out toxins in the soil for about 15 days, give or take after that it's just going to retain moisture. Is there any truth to that? Also my local nursery, which is more like a florist , and Home Depot by me don't stock agricultural grade charcoal. Is it a common thing for a nursery to stock? And the guy at the nursery(florist) suggested that aquarium charcoal is a would probably be a better grade of charcoal to use. And easy to get where I live.

I'm sorry I can't answer you question about the charcoal's life expectancy, I would think over time it would desolve. Since the short time I've been using it, I haven't had to repot a tree that it is part of the soil mix. As far as the quality goes, can't help you there either, but I can tell you when we repotted a big juniper, Marco broke up charcoal briquettes into smaller pieces and used those.

keep it green,
Harry

The stuff that you would use in a grill? Marco I.? I can't remember where I read that and when that happens there is a chance I just imagined it! Thanks Harry

greerhw wrote: I can tell you when we repotted a big juniper, Marco broke up charcoal briquettes into smaller pieces and used those.
Harry

OK Harry.....you need to qualify this! Was this plain ole charcoal briquettes or was this match light type briquettes. You'll have people dumping charcoal chunks in their soil that contains lighter fluid.....god help those that do then decide to do a little torching on their deadwood.




Personally I have never used charcoal as a "purifier" my trees perform exceptionally with the mix I use.

Plain ole Charcoal, but I don't have any long time experience, just one season. I'm sure there are other charcoals out there that are more convenient, that was all I had on hand at the time of repotting.

keep it green,
Harry

[quote="Tachigi
Personally I have never used charcoal as a "purifier" my trees perform exceptionally with the mix I use.[/quote]

Do they do tricks, dance or sing, I'm confused, all mine do is just set there and stay green........

keep it green,
Harry ( the smart ass)

Uses of Charcoal in Horticulture and Gardening.
Charcoal has been used for horticultural purposes for at least two thousand years, archaeological research has come up with evidence of charcoal being used as a soil ameliorator in the Amazon basin around the time of Christ.

Charcoal was widely available from horticultural sundries-men up until the late 1960's, for use mainly in bulb fibre where the pots do not have drainage holes. The charcoal was said to keep the compost 'sweet'.

Research has shown that growing mediums that have charcoal present, are able to buffer the effects of sporadic watering, by reducing the frequency of watering whilst helping to prevent 'damping off'

Charcoal also reduces the leaching of fertilise in free draining soils as the charcoal's porous carbon structure enables the nutrients to be held for slower release to the plants
.
The inclusion of charcoal in open seedbeds showed that it facilitates the uptake of nutrients. Calcium uptake almost doubles, with significant increases in potassium,magnesium and phosphorus, the pH increases slightly and there is an obvious increase in organic matter.

Charcoal has been recommended as part of the treatment for the eradication of a fungal disease, Cylindrocladium that infects Box hedges.

Charcoal has proved to be an ideal renewable substitute for perlite and vermiculite, compost additives used to increase aeration and aid drainage, but both finite resources.

Aquarium charcoal is not really charcoal at all, google it and see what it's made from.

keep it green,
Harry