Because of the large amount of daily removing bonsai soil, I decided to do some experiments on re-use bonsai soil. Somehow it worked and here is what I found.
Can you reuse bonsai soil? Yes, bonsai soil can be reused. But when reuse bonsai soil, the soil must be quarantined for a period of time. As well as the bonsai soil that wants to be reuse must mix with a few amount of fresh soil. Especially you must burn the old soil before reuse it for bonsai.
But Is it that important, to burn old soil before reuse it for bonsai plants? What will happen to the soil after you burn the soil, and is it possible to do? this article will resolve all those questions.
Is it possible to reuse the bonsai soil?
Yes their is a possibility to reuse bonsai soil under some conditions. First of all you have to think why are you going to reuse bonsai soil.
There will be some reasonable cause to do so. It can be an economic reason and also it can be a reason like happened to me.
As you know, I have a large amount of daily removing bonsai soil and it was my very first reason to do research on how to reuse bonsai soil. As well as it helped me to save money spent on the soil every month.
There are some conditions to follow before reuse bonsai soil in your new plant. And also you can’t reuse the same soil for the same plant you removed that soil.
And you have to know what are the conditions and reasons for those. Here are them.
# Quarantine the bonsai soil before reuse it #
Old soil must be quarantined at least for a month before reuse it to a bonsai plant. Because, since the soil does not change over a long period of time, many fungi are starting to grow in that soil.
It is bad to your new plants health and some times those bacteria can harm your tree, so keep in mind to quarantine the soil.
But there are some strategies to quarantine soil and it varies with these things.
- The soil type.
- The time period it stayed in a pot.
- Moisture amount of soil.
- Fertilizer amount in the soil.
- Sunlight it daily received.
- The tree that had been planted.
There are many reasons to consider all of that. Depending on the above factors, the time it takes for you to quarantine the soil will vary.
So get known about the time period you have to quarantine the soil by following the chart. It will be easy and effective.
# Mix the old soil with some fresh & fertilized soil #
There are some special reasons to mix new soil with old soil before reuse it with a bonsai plant. When soil is used for a long time in a pot all the nutrients in the soil are almost absorbed by the tree and The soil becomes barren.
So if you planted a new plant directly in old soil there are no Nutrients to the plant, Therefore new plants can’t grow in that soil because the old soil is infertile. If you want to reuse that bonsai soil for a new plant you have to fertilize the soil.
Mixing with a brand-new or fresh soil is one and a great method to fertilize your old bonsai soil and also you have to do this after quarantine your soil. Because there will be some bacteria’s use to decay nutrients of the soil.
Also, you can’t reuse instantly after you mixed the soil, you have to keep it alone for a time period. it is very important and there are a few types of soils that you can mix with old soil before reuse it with new plants.
- Loamy soil
- Compost soil
- Sandy soil
The above three types of soil have Distinctive qualities of each other. So you have to study well what are them and how to mix those with bonsai soil that you want to reuse.
#Burn the old bonsai soil before reuse it #
.Old bonsai soil contains many types of bacteria and fungus that harm new plants. As well as many soils transmitting disease can be remain in the old soil.
So you have to burn the soil. There are few ways to burn bonsai soil before reuse it and, by burning soil absorbs some amount of carbon from ash, It mainly affects the proper health and best growth of your bonsai tree.
As I told there are few methods to burn your soil,
- Burn soil with Coconut shell charcoal.
- Burn soil with firewood.
- Wood powder burning.
- Burn soil with Straw and dried grass.
After all above stuffs you can reuse your old bonsai soil with new bonsai plants. But you have to spend some time and energy to these purpose.
How to reuse bonsai soil?
As mentioned above there are few things to do before reuse bonsai soil. But there are some special ways to do all of those things and you can learn them in this article.
Also there is an order to do these things, you have to follow these steps if you want to reuse your bonsai soil
step 1
First of all, you have to Burn the old soil that you want to reuse with new plants. I wish you know what are the reasons to burn the soil. so burn the soil by any of the following methods.
| Burn soil with Coconut shell charcoal. | Lay all the soil well on the ground, put coconut shell charcoal on it, and let it burn for about an hour. Leave it alone Leave until the fire is extinguished. Then mix the ash with soil. |
| Burn soil with firewood. | Do the same as with coconut shell charcoal, but keep in mind that don’t mix it to the soil. |
| Wood powder burning& Burn soil with Straw and dried grass. | Lay all the soil well on the ground, put coconut shell charcoal on it, and let it burn for about an hour. Leave it alone Leave until the fire is extinguished. Then mix the ash with soil. |
step 2
Mix the old soil with some new fresh soil, it is important and you can use various soil types depending on the nature of the old soil. This is important to do before reuse bonsai soil.
Also, you can mix some fertilizers with the soil and it will help your tree to grow properly and also you don’t have to bother about nutrients of the tree.
Mixing is also important and here is what you can do,
| Muddy soil | Mix some sandy soil to improve the drainage facility of the soil and also you can mix some decayed granites and gravel also. |
| Sandy soil | Here you have to mix some loamy soil and compost soil. As well as you have to keep in mind that the soil type you have to mix depends on the tree you going to plant. |
| Fertilizer mixing | Always use a fertilizer that Recommends by your bonsai nursery or follow our guidelines. |
step 3
You know that quarantine is important to destroy viruses and bacteria in the soil. But the time period you need to quarantine varies depending on the type of soil and the type of plant planted in the container and how old the soil is.
This is the last step you have to follow and this is the most important part when you are up to reuse bonsai. If you want a healthy bonsai plant with out affected by deceases and bacteria’s do this.
| Quarantine Time | ||
| It should be exposed to strong sunlight throughout this time | ||
| The soil type. | 1.Black Muddy soil | 4 weeks |
| 2.Black sandy soil | 3 weeks | |
| 3.High moisturized loamy soil | 6 weeks | |
| 4. loamy soil with granites | 3 weeks | |
| Time that soil stayed in pot. | 1. Arround 1 year | 4 weeks |
| 2. Arround 5 months | 2 weeks and 3 days | |
| 3.Arround 5 years | 8 weeks | |
| Type of bonsai tree | 1.Ficus species | Arround 7 weeks |
| 2.Pinus species | Arround 6 weeks | |
| 3.Juniper trees | Arround 6 weeks |
Is it good to reuse bonsai soil?
As you know already it is possible to reuse bonsai soil under the above conditions. If you are able to do all those not only good It also benefits your wallet. So why don’t you follow the above guidelines.
Well if you are a good bonsai lover and bonsai gardener you must have this problem.
What will happen to my tree if I reuse bonsai soil?
Nothing will happen to your bonsai tree and it remains healthy. I can recomond you to if you take care of your plant nothing will happen.
When making old bonsai soil to reuse, According to the steps, all the requirements of tree are supplied, Nutrients is the main factor and you can add some fertilizers to the soil.
As well by burning and quarantine, all the diseases are removed from the soil. So you don’t have to worry if you are up to reuse bonsai soil Use it.
There are many advantages and few disadvantages of reusing bonsai soil. But when reuse bonsai soil, mainly you have advantages. So let’s get known about them.
Advantages of re-using bonsai soil
That particular type of bonsai soil is very expensive and you have to spend a lot of money to buy bonsai soil. But if you are able to reuse bonsai soil you can save lots of money
As well as if you have many bonsai plants and a small place, Removing soil must be trouble, Reuse bonsai soil is a solution to that problem.
In some cases, new soil is not good for new bonsai plants and, some Strong fertilizers can harm the roots of your new bonsai trees. But if you are able to reuse bonsai soil, It is not a problem.
Dis-advantages of reusing bonsai soil
There are no adverse effects, to say the least, and it will depend on the tree type you plant with the bonsai soil that you reuse.
If you use to grow a big and grown bonsai plant you have to mix more amount of fertilizers to your bonsai soil before reuse bonsai soil. And there are no more disadvantages.
With which plants you can reuse bonsai soil?
You can reuse bonsai soil with any plant you want. As well as you can use this bonsai soil with succulents also.
Also, there are not specific plants that are recommended to grow with bonsai reuse bonsai soil, So when you preparing old bonsai soil to reuse, always collect more amount of soil and Put into above actions.
It is easy to do and effective than preparing small amounts every day.
So without fear, reuse bonsai soil with any type of bonsai plant and you also will be able to get great results.
Recommend to read: The best soil for Japanese black pine bonsai (Expertise mix)
