Well through a little trial and error I found some new components and will no longer be slaving away by hand. I transitioned to a mixture of mainly Oil-Dri and a finer mixture of pine bark. It worked much better and allowed me to spend less time crushing and more time drinking coffee and staring at my trees planning their eventual style.

I still want to get some of the finer crushed lava to add for a nicer appearance and add a little color to the soil. I found some online that was about $30 including shipping for 3 gallons. Not a great price, but better than I have seen otherwise. I will check my local farm supply and see what they have to offer as well. Thanks.

Here is a great article for creating Bonsai Soil that helped me a lot. Obviously every person uses different components depending on the availability and pricing in your area. Here is what i use in my area, and mind you I live in Las vegas and have 120F days for 3 months, so I have to keep my trees under 50% shade cloth for 3 months a year and water daily, so my soil has a little more organic to help retain moisture.

1: part Turface MVP
1: Part Diatom AKA Walmart Oil Dry with no chemicals.
1: part builders rock
1: part bark chips, I get this from $5 bags of top soils for lawns. I sift it out.

All is sifted between 1/4 and 1/8 size.

www.bonsailearningcenter.com/IMAGES/PDF%20Files/Soils.pdf

This article was worth the read.

orchid bark very interesting...im going to look into that


ha didn't realize there was a second page