A couple years back I wrote a post which became one of most viewed posts I’ve ever written. It was about Turface and similar soil ingredients like Oil-Dri and Profile, and my skepticism about their qualities as a bonsai soil ingredient, following 30 years of experience with many different soil types. The post was meant to call into question the belief that Turface is the best soil ingredient. I don’t believe it is, having witnessed its performance for years, but that doesn’t mean you can’t grow a tree in it, or that it may be one of the few options in your area due to availability issues.

In rough strokes, there have been three main evolutions in our soil usage in North America. Earliest was the potting soil/sharp sand period, decades ago. Then came the Turface era, which was definitely an improvement on the earlier mixes. Then came the volcanic mixes…