AusBonsai

Hello all, what soil are people using for there grow beds? My plants will go into the grow bed in colanders with bonsai soil, so should the grow bed have the same soil or does it not matter?
Thanks in advance.
Matt

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My grow beds are natural soil improved with compost etc.
It probably does not matter much what soil a grow bed has. When the trees are dug most of it will be removed from the roots so won't affect the potted trees after.
If you are building a raised grow bed I would consider using something that will retain some moisture a bit better than the bonsai mixes we use now. I find my raised vegetable beds dry out really quick and that's with a much finer soil than bonsai mix so I suspect you would need to water every day if raised beds have really open mix. That's not only more work and cost but will also cause problems with nutrient leaching.
When the bed is in contact with the ground there are few problems with drainage so no need to use the open mixes we need in pots.

Here on the Swan coastal plain it's basically pure sand, so I've improved mine with kaolite clay and compost. I'll keep adding to it year on year to improve the raised beds' soil quality - I imagine at a point I won't need to add any more clay.
But generally I think most people use the natural soil adding whatever it's missing out of the mix of sand, compost and clay.