North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Thomas A. Beckett" <thomas@tbeckett.com>]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Alan S. wrote:
> On account of a suggestion by a  local nurseryman(based I guess on purely 
> theoretical grounds because he hasn't used it himself) this fall I used a 
> mixture of shot gravel, humus and peat moss in a 1:1:2 volume ratio 
> respectively 
[snip]
> I have no 
> observations yet to report but would be very interested to hear if anyone 
> has used this or similar material in their growing media.

This is not unlike a Bonsai potting mixture, except Bonsai soil would
probably be 50% grit/gravel.  Some Bonsai folks would eschew peat for
fine bark, too.  Anyhow, it works, but you have to stay on top of the
moisture content.  Bonsai are cultivated under very different
conditions, so the comparison is limited.

As an alternative to the gravel, some Bonsai folks use Permatill or
Profile "clay soil conditioner".  This is essentially kiln-made
artificial gravel, porous so it holds some moisture.
http://www.turface.com/landscaping/lands_2.html
http://www.permatill.com/

Thomas
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.2.4 (MingW32)

iD8DBQFDm5nWEMCfelopa1cRAvXaAJ9ODHqdAcA/N0Y3j0bkltbVjAISgQCdEROP
IMcoRRH9IK38a52MU434Mik=
=/kcZ
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----