First off there is a reason that most resources concerning soil mixtures while having a good resource on soil components dont give actual mixture's. This reason is that with the wide range of different climates a soil's composure will need to be tailored to where you live to be sure it dose not stay wet too long. In other words a mixture that works great in Texas will most likely have a very bad result when used in Washington or New york. Your best bet would be to find your local Bonsai club where the members will be more than willing to tell you any tricks of the trade that specify to care in your exact geological location. That being said their is on mixture that will work great for just about any tree in any local and that is Boon manakitivipart's mixture which is comprised of equal parts Red lava rock, Akamada and Pumic. As for kitty litter being used as a soil component.... as far as I'm concerned its unheard of in the states. I know a few people in other countries using it but I think the brand used is not offered in the U.S. Your typical kitty litter if used will turn to mush and then upon drying will turn your soil and the trees roots along with it into a cement brick. A good test of taking a small handful and placing it in a glass of water will show you that within a day if not hours the litter will bloat up absorbing the water and become goo. When it comes to repotting and root pruning (assuming your tree is healthy and growing vigorously) you should remove up to 1/3 of the root mass at the most. When concerning deciduous trees in climates where there is a winter, repotting and any general heavy pruning is best done in late spring or early winter right before the tree has started to break its dormancy. This will ensure the least amount of stress is being incurred on the tree. The metal mesh on drainage holes are only meant to keep the soil from being washed out the bottom of the pot when watering. While some metal is adequate for use as drainage netting I would recommend using the plastic type sold for bonsai use as some metal ones will rust and can also release toxins into the soil killing the tree. I think that covers just about all of your questions?? -Mike

Well given that I posted this a year ago (May of 08) I should thank lathyrus_odoratus for bumping it to get it more attention ;) Since last year I have learned more about tissue analysis, particularly the 'danger' in misinterpreting it. Just because the portion of the plant tested shows a certain nutrient ratio does not mean that the entire plant uses nutrients in that ratio. While this is potentially disconcerting, as I have 'drilled down' into tissue analysis, unearthing 'esoteric' studies that look at the overall requirements of plants taking all their tissue including roots into account I find 'normal' tissue analysis pretty accurate. Al has said it previously in his fertilizer program thread, but I will say it here: It is flat out amazing how virtually every plant on earth uses nutrients in a very similar ratio. About the only nutrient that varies a bit is potassium. Some plants use more N than K, some use about the same and a few use a little more K than N. The rest of the nutrients, in most cases, stay about the same in terms of plant requirements. Calcium is the other nutrient that seems to vary a bit, but it's role seems less well understood. What this means to the average grower is that fertilization of plants need not be complicated. A product like Dyna-Gro Foliage Pro, all by itself, will grow great plants from grass to tomatos to woody perennials to alpine succulents. Some plants may do a little better with a little additional potassium and a few more with a little additional calcium, but neither are short changed enough in a complete 3:1:2 fert like FP to be a major limit on plant growth. In other words, science has taken all those silly and often stupid fertilizers on the market and put them to shame. There really is only one fertilizer needed to adequately meet the needs of almost all plants. Rejoice in the simplicity.

Out here in the northeast all the commercial growers know that a dry summer makes great tasting fruit but they probably prefer the bigger fruit that tends to come with regular rain and lots of warm sun in between. Those big fruit really fill a bushel basket in a hurry. Season before this one I let the weeds grow under my peaches hoping they'd suck up surplus water but there was so much wet cool weather the weeds made no difference. The peaches sucked until late summer when it finally dried out a bit and we had almost summer weather. This summer was very dry but as was mentioned before some of us here (myself included) suffered from a too hard frost at least a week past petal fall for peaches. Made the harvest spotty for stone fruit. Next season I'm going to try some root pruning and maybe woven landscape fabric to shed water as an attempt to make certain peaches less vegetative and higher in sugar. Plums don't seem as vulnerable to these issues and nectarines are much less vigorous than peaches- at least the ones I'm growing here. I may not be going for what fruitnut considers optimum fruit, however. I don't even want to have his high standards- I'm already spoiled enough. Yes, pome fruit grows determinately, getting most growth with the spring surge while stone fruit is indeterminate and grows throughout the growing season. Insects have an affect on this as leaf hoppers and aphids can arrest growth and tend to on Euro plums and pomes. Unfortunately this arrest of veg growth is probably not helpful to fruit quality because they are sucking the carbs like an open spigot, mining for protean.

I have grown lindera benzoin, clethra alnifolia, several different deciduous rhododendrons plus 3 evergreen rhodies, and ilex verticillata among others from liners (rooted cuttings). The ones either planted in garden spaces or that I grew on in pots for a season and then fall planted did much better than those I planted directly. If I were to do this again, I would definitely plant in pots for the first summer before planting in a non-garden spot in early fall. Particularly when grown on a slope which tends to have less even moisture courtesy of gravity, having time to grow decent sized root balls before planting in less than ideal sites will help survival rates as akamg mentioned. Once you plant them, mulch well and pay close attention to water needs (test soil moisture levels regularly and water as required) right up until the ground freezes. I would also spend some time looking at the needs of your choice of plants and the moisture levels of the site. IME Ilex verticilata and Clethra alnifolia do better as far as growth rate and blooming when they are in sun and good moisture vs. in shade and drier conditions, and a bit of reading tells me that pinxter bloom azaleas are also lovers of moisture. IME most of the plants I grew from liners grew fairly slowly for the first two seasons in the ground and then started almost doubling annually after that for several years if they were in spots with reasonable soil, even moisture and good sun for their needs. As I recall, all the ones you listed that I have grown grew at about the same rate as long as I grew them in good situations for their needs. A few I put into more shade than ideal, and so those grew slower than others. The azaleas that I planted on a steep slope have done well, but are well mulched and have shade during the hottest part of the day while still getting good light for blooming needs.