Aquasoil & ferts
I understand inorganic bonsai soils and fertilization are the best option. Anyways, I am just getting started out and have all my prebonsai trees in regular potting soil and I water them daily in the summer with no issue. currently I only have ficus and umbrella trees. While I do plan to try bonsai soils eventually I am a bit hesitant as I’ve had issues with fertilizers in the past, mainly in my aquaculture.
Has anyone tried using aqua soils? for those that don’t know they are uniform grain clay based organic soils. I have one tree potted up in it now and it is growing well. An added benefit over potting soil is that it does not seem susceptible to fungus gnats. I haven’t repotted it yet, but it seems to be getting a decent amount of feeder roots.
As for ferts, I use reclaimed water from my aquariums. in my aquariums I had an issue with iron deficiency due to the high ph of my water. chelated iron is a solution but most comprehensive fertilizers do not use this type of iron. the iron they do use was binding with phosphate causing more issues. does anyone have experience with this/is the only solution distilled water or does the soil ph factor in here?