I've been using Al's (gritty) mix with pines, junipers, yews, and myriad other conifers for well over 20 years now, and though I do do a lot of experimenting with soils, have yet to find anything that works better. ;-) I'm not self-promoting, just saying that I experiment with soils a LOT, and have yet to improve on the basic gritty mic mix. It holds LOTS of air, virtually NO perched water, ample volumes of water, is structurally very sound & durable, and it's adjustable for water retention to suit plants individually. Those are all the most desirable qualities you can have in a soil. I wouldn't use wood chips other than conifer bark as a primary fraction of a container soil for several reasons. A pH spike during the composting process is inevitable. Wood chips break down much faster than conifer bark, so when using them, N immobilization should be expected. Also. because they break down so much faster, they generate a LOT of heat during the composting process, often raising sol temps an additional 10-15* higher than similar soils with bark as their primary fraction. Of course, N immobilization with the gritty mix is insignificant and heat build-up due to composting is never a problem because of how slowly the bark decomposes AND the excellent gas exchange of the highly aerated mix. A 50/50 mix of a peat-based soil (like ProMix) and wood chips will yield a soil with the same drainage characteristics and perched water table height as the ProMix. Only when the wood chips (which are not a good choice for container media) are a very large fraction of the soil (about 80%) can you expect drainage & aeration to improve significantly. To get a visual on this, ask yourself how much perlite you need to add to a quart of pudding to get it to drain & hold air. BTW - most commercial cactus mixes actually drain poorly & support way too much perched water to be healthy for cacti, succulents, or conifers. All of the pines, junipers, and most other conifers I've grown would instantly rebel at wet media and the presence of significant amounts of perched water as the mix of ProMix and wood chips would be/have. They prefer a soil that holds little or no perched water and remains damp after watering instead of wet. I have 320 lineal ft of bench space like you see in the picture below. Most of the space is much more crowded with potential bonsai than you see, and conifers make up at least half of the near 300 trees. All are in the gritty mix; and I have no trouble keeping them happy & healthy. Al

Hi Cory someone questioned me on why I waste peoples time with these silly, ,unsafe ideas that nobody else would ever use. I have had great success with these ideas so I shared them on garden web. The electric setup I used would be frowned on by an electrical inspector. That I agree with. A shop vacuum should be used to suck out extra water or aerate roots. The bucket could be fitted with a light box and ceramic fixture and be grounded. The big box already had the wire junctions secured properly. The question, is any one using any of my ideas or am I wasting space and time that helps no one. You can buy a reflective 8 ft by 4 foot at 6.5 feet tall Mylar grow tent for under $200. I just happen to be under employed with a lot of scraps to use up and my box was FREE. I will continue to use my grow box and grow bucket ( after electrical safety fixes. They are FREE and very effective. I will use the vacuum system when needed for medical plant services. Its Free. Thanks for the compliment on my trees. steve

Actually I tried this. Last year I had a decent stand of alfalfa--more as a cover crop and not specifically for fertilizer. The problem with this is that the rabbits chewed the alfalfa down to the ground at the end of the season. Even if I had harvested sooner, it wouldn't have been enough to make a difference. You need pretty good acreage to have enough to make it worthwhile. (I'm on a 0.2 acre lot) Honestly, I've had better luck harvesting my native grasses. (Little bluestem and side oats grama) During spring cleanup I end up with quite a bit of native grass 'hay' from my prairie garden and native plantings. I use my lawn mower to incorporate it into the lawn. This doesn't replace my normal fertilizer routine, but it breaks down quicker than composting.

I would LOVE to know the answer to this. I agree with flora_UK. Nonetheless I recommend you check with a university website? If you do find out let us know..... I recently learned, though many on this site know by now that kousa dogwood berries, while not delicious are in fact edible. I felt happy to know that I accidentally bought an ornamental but got something I could eat.