Fertilsers and the myths

[Pup]

I have just read for the maybe 6Th time an article by WilliamN. Valavanis. he is to be the headliner for the AABC in May in Brisbane.
This article was written in the 1990 no 2 edition of his magazine. On how often to fertilize.
He had at that stage been studying and growing Bonsai for 30 years.
What intrigued him was the trees when he saw them in Japan as a apposed to those in the USA. Was the health and vigor and how lush and green they were.
So as he states in his article he started to experiment, with liquid and organics.
Noting that the soil mix that Bonsai grow in is very open and free draining. Not like plants indoors or in the ground. Therefor the effects of leaching was not a problem with them as it was with Bonsai. He then started fertilising more and more till he was fertilising once a week, using it at the Manufacturers dosage. His trees started to flourish also where he lives he states they over winter better.
He uses both organic and Liquid fertiliser together. He states like all nursery people never fertilise a dry plant and always do it on the same day of the week.
I am now going to give it a try, some will get it and some wont so I can judge it. A mate of mine has and swears by it. For developing Bonsai he said it is great.
I will let you know when I notice any improvement or not.

[stymie]

I am sure that Bill's method has merit when used on developing bonsai. I personally fertilise very little on mature trees to keep the size of leaves down and the spaces between them. I even use feed formulated for tomatoes in the belief that the lower Nitrate ratio will have a similar effect. I'm sure that this will result in another interesting exchange of views.

[Bretts]

This is interesting. A guy down at Batemans Bay Bonsai is an advocate of this. He suggests that the tree will get used to the sought of nutrients that are available and changing from organic to chem ferts will cause some confusion/stress to the tree so he believes they should be mixed together.
It does make some sense when you think of how some trees produce proteoid roots that are an adaption to the type or lack of nutrients available. I guess it is possible that a tree would produce roots that compliment the type of nutrients available and switching fertilisers will confuse/stress the tree.
Here is an excerpt from his site.

When repotting in spring add a small amount of pellet fertilizer. This can either consist of Osmocote plus (mineral) or Debco Seaorganic, this is a gentle slow release that will last for nine months. The most beneficial method is liquid feeding, because it is absorbed more rapidly. My recipe is 15 mls.of Maxicrop to 15 mls. of Nitrosol, mixed in 2 litres of water. This being a blend of mineral and organics this supports the root system as well as the foliage

Reading his Bonsai lessons from all species gives the full story here.
http://www.batemansbaybonsai.com/
What mix are you thinking of using Pup?