Tag Archives: Nutrients

Biochar

(Thanks to Dr. Karen O’Hanlon of Probio Carbon for answering some of my questions about biochar). Biochar is a product which has been advertised as a beneficial component of bonsai soil over recent years. So what exactly is it? Biochar is basically charcoal which has been “produced from organic waste using pyrolysis technology under temperatures […] Read more… >

How roots absorb water and nutrients

Unlike animals, plants do not have a digestive system, although the sustainable food trust makes a good argument that ‘soil is the collective stomach of all plants’ref Trees synthesise all of the substances they need to live and grow from 17 nutrients. It’s important to understand that plants don’t ‘eat food’ in the sense of […] Read more… >

Roots

The roots of your tree are *just* as important as the above-ground parts, with a lot of responsibilities which aren’t immediately obvious. I’ve summarised the main ones here but there is a lot more detail in separate posts with links provided below. So why are roots so important? Points 1 and 2 are fundamental to […] Read more… >

Biogold

Biogold is another popular bonsai fertiliser, which may or may not be cagey about its ingredients since the packaging is all in Japanese which I cannot read. Deploying google translate on their website, and searching online yielded some information: Chicken manure isn’t used directly on plants because the organic matter will ferment and generate heat, […] Read more… >

What is organic fertiliser?

The word ‘organic’ in terms of fertiliser does not mean the same thing as ‘organic’ when it comes to food. Organic food follows principles of production which in general do not permit soluble fertilisers and synthetic pesticidesref to be used during the food production. Organic fertiliser means “any substance composed of animal or vegetable matter […] Read more… >

SUPERthrive

SUPERthrive is another product claiming great results for plant health without being a fertiliser. I’m not sure why these companies find it so offensive for their products to be known as fertilisers! Fertiliser just means a product containing plant nutrients. Anyway, what is in SUPERthrive? Here is the ingredient list: So to start with – […] Read more… >

HB-101 Analysis

Recently a member of my bonsai club was talking about this product, HB-101. It is apparently wildly popular in Japan and supposed to be fantastic for bonsai. It claims to be an “all-purpose natural plant vitalizer”. Since plants synthesise their own requirements for growth from the 17 nutrients, I couldn’t really see how this would […] Read more… >