Inert Growing Medium

[Bretts]

Just did a bit more looking into it and Sage Horticulture was meant to be getting back to me with a contact for Maidenwell but I get the feeling they don't want to hand that over and they want me to buy from them.
Back to the Internet and a new website has popped up with contact details.
http://maidenwelldiatomite.com/
Gave them a call and was told the company had a take over but they are back in business.
Gave Enfield Produce a call and they are aware of the situation. They state it was a bankruptcy and someone else has taken over the business. They had been told of trouble before this but thought it was just a ploy to increase the price.
Enfield Produce are organising an order and are up to discussions on transport arrangements, seems that hasn't changed it was always an issue with maidenwell. Not sure if the price will stay the same but it should be available in Sydney again soon.

[Jow]

Great news... well not for the bankrupt owners but good for us!

[kcpoole]

Sewwt Brett

I have convinced Clinton to give it a trial run and was planning on the new supplier we had found to sdupply, but maybe he can do a comparitive price with The original
As soon as I get an update on when Ray will have some I will advise here

Ps I did a demo of it to our Wednesday night class last night and quite a few were getting excited to try it as well

Woot

Ken

[Kelv]

sage horticulture have a new diatomite delivery. they say maidenwell still operating.

Affirmative! I got a 0.5-2mm and a 2-7mm delivered to my door this morning! Good ol' reliable services

[Bretts]

Bugger me door delivery you guys have got it good.
Buggers never did call me back.

[Andrew Ward]

If you are looking for Maidenwell/Diatomite and you have an ABN then it is worth registering with Plantmark. They have 2-7mm size, 40litre bags for $15.25 plus GST.

Good luck!

[kcpoole]

If you are looking for Maidenwell/Diatomite and you have an ABN then it is worth registering with Plantmark. They have 2-7mm size, 40litre bags for $15.25 plus GST.

Good luck!

I do not have an ABN, but good info for those that do

Thanks
Ken

[kcpoole]

Jow asked me last week, what the retention of my diatomite mix in the roots, ie does it all fall out when you pull the tree from the pot. I do not know what Akadama is like in this context, But my mix is better than what Koreshoffs used to have.

I decide to repot a JBP that came from Koreshoffs when they Sold up, and I did a quick repost then into my mix. I remeber when I took out of the pot originally, most of the heavy Gravel just fell out of the roots, and if you shook it gently the rest come out.

When I repotted yesterday it took a good shake and light rake to clear the roots as these photos show

Ken

[kcpoole]

Pulled the tree from the pot

[kcpoole]

Cutting and trimming the root ball I rearranged some roots to improve the Nebari while out of the pot

[kcpoole]

Last lot of the tree after repotting

Any thoughts and virts welcome

Ken

[Jow]

Your results look on a par with mine that use 100% diatomite. I only use it on pines though, but i am very happy with the results. When i pot up deciduous i add 50% cheap potting mix. I found that deciduous trees in 100% diatomite were not growing as well as those in a 50:50 mix.
I am interested to see a similar set of photos showing how your deciduous trees grow in your mix because i would love a reason to use a more inorganic mix for my deciduous bonsai.

[kcpoole]

Jow asked me how Deciduous trees go in my mix as he had trouble with Maples in Diatomite. I have only 1 maple still to repot so I did it tonight for your enjoyment.

It is an Acer Palmatum Deshojo ( not grafted) grown by Ray Nesci and I have had it since last summer. It was a small starter then, and I potted up into My Diatomite mix and has performed very well. I has recently pushed roots out of the bottom of the pot so I thought, although not very pot bound I would do now so is in synch with the rest of my maples.

[kcpoole]

I also remembered I had repotted an Trident maple 3 weeks or so ago, that has completely leafed out.
This I think was in My mix previousely, and the roots had well and truly populatated the pot and were a mass of root sunder the pot that I had to cut off

I took some photos of it tonight to show that in only a couple of weeks the tree has fully leafed out during this warm sydney weather ( it is winter they reckon)

The tree is / will be a Formal upright maple of about 16" in height, and was grown from Seed in 2004. The long branches are both a sacrifice and will be removed next winter probably

Ken

[Andrew Ward]

Seems as though I acquired the last of the Maidenwell in South Australia at Plantmark. They informed me that they are not able to get more in.

I have since been in touch with Maidenwell Diatomite (warehouse located near Ipswich in Queensland). They are definitely in business and sell 40litre bags (about 15.5kg) of 2-7mm for $8 plus GST ex warehouse to clubs and other businesses. A CHEP pallet contains 52 bags and you need to organise your own freight company to collect from their depot to your depot.

The SA Club is lucky in that we have a business who allows us to use their depot (with a fork lift) for delivery of Zeolite ... and now for Maidenwell also. It means that we will be able to supply our members with Maidenwell at a significantly better price than we were previously able to supply.

Perhaps others will be able to arrange the same for their clubs.

I will be following up on freight companies tomorrow and will hopefully have more information soon.

Stay tuned!
Andrew