1) The gritty mix will serve you well. Jasmine is in the same order as acanthus and butterfly bush, and in the same family as olive, and I've had all these plants in the gritty mix with very good results. If you know you'll be diligent about fertilizing, skip the CRF. If you know you won't, then include it, but I don't like a lot of CRF in my soils over winter. You'll need to add gypsum to the gritty mix instead of lime, and use a little Epsom salts in your fertilizer solution when you fertilize. Everything should be incorporated in the soil, except the soluble fertilizer and Epsom salts.

Just this weekend I was in CHI, and picked up 10 3 cu ft bags of fine fir bark at Oak Hill Gardens in Carpentersville, IL. It was $17 per bag.

You should be able to find crushed granite in your area quite easily. Go to MSN Yellow pages & enter "feed stores" and then your city. There will be a number of hits that come up. Eliminate the pet store chains and concentrate on the more rural feed stores. If that turns out a wash, enter "grain elevators", as they are also a very likely source.

2) It sounds like your plant should be cut back hard in the spring, but a pic would be very helpful.

3) I don't know the plant well enough to discuss its blooming habits, but you should find reliable info @ GOOGLE. I would wait until spring to do any serious pruning of roots or the top. First, do the repot w/o top pruning. When the plant has recovered & is sending out new growth, prune the top hard.

4) Strike success in cuttings is closely related to the trees (stored) energy levels, so weakened trees are always problematic. Leafy, semi-hardwood cuttings taken in late summer (now) would be best, but you can also do spring cuttings. IBA rooting hormone gets the nod if you want to use a rooting aid. Let me know if you need more details on the rooting.

Al

Al:

Your posts are always so consise and informative thanks much for the reply. If you don't mind I have some follow up questions and have attached a link to some images I took of the MOO. I'll leave the linkage at the end of this message.

1) I assume the reason for not wanting CRF over winter is because we don't want our dormant plant being fertilized, is this accurate?

2) I have been unsuccessful in finding Gran-i-Grit but I have access to Cherry Stopne grit. Are there any changes to the fetilizer I need to add as a result? I ask because I recall in one of the 1000+ threads on Soil Movement a discussion about Cherry Stone and pH balance or something to that degree, which I am tryin to avoid. I'm likely goign the route of CRF since having to water every day or every other day at my mothers home is already some extra work for me.

3) Hopefully the image I took give you enough information on pruning. I can't seem to find consistent data on this plant in regard to its dormancy, but the idea, if I understand right is to prune hard right when its coming out of dormancy. Is that accurate or does this apply only to trees?

4) When you say prune hard I'm not entirely sure what that means, is that like a trunk chop? Also based on the images would it be ok to just wait until spring to repot and root/top prune?

5) I've been unsuccessful in finding Pine/Fir Bark Fines anywhere close to me that I don't have to drive more than an hour out of town. The closest I could find is a local center that carries this:

http://www.rexius.com/orchid_bark/orchid.html

Will this be sufficient as long as the particle size is around 1/8" - 1/4"? I noticed you reccmomended Oak Hill which seems to specialize in orchids so I started googling orchid supply stores in the area. One other carrier had fir bark but for 25$/3 cu feet sounded on the pricey side but I was tempted to purchase some since it was the right size.

4) Would your gritty mix work well for orchids?

Al thanks again for all your help you are a blessing to the users of this forum!

Here is a link that might be useful: MOO Images

1) There are a couple of reasons I don't like to have nutrients delivered via CRFs during the winter. Even though delivery is closely tied to temperature, there is still some release with temperature change. Since you water4 very little in a cold storage situation, fertilizer can accumulate in soils. If you over-winter indoors, the plants probably don't (or let's say might not) need as much as is being released, so the unneeded fertilizer just adds to the level of TDS (total dissolved solids) and EC (electrical conductivity) in the soil, making it more difficult for the plant to absorb water under what is usually low humidity conditions. This can easily cause leaf tip/marginal necrosis.

2) No changes in fertilizer/or the gypsum additive when using cherrystone vs, granite.

3) That would be the general procedure. There are other strategies you could implement by pruning at other times, but what you mentioned would be most widely favored.

4) Pruning hard CAN include a chop, but it doesn't have to. Pruning hard varies by species & usually (but not always) is closely tied to the genetic vigor of the plant AND its vitality. IOW, you don't whack a slow growing pine to the ground & expect it to back-bud, but you CAN do it to a maple or a Pyracantha, quince, Cotoneaster ...... you get the idea. Often, it includes removing lots of branches & pruning all secondary branches back to 1-2 buds, but again - it varies.

My usual strategy is:
Tropicals: Root prune in the month before their most robust growth & leave canopy intact. Prune canopy after the tree has reestablished & is putting out lots of new growth (2-3 weeks later)
Deciduous: Root prune AND prune canopy at the same time in spring, just before buds move.
Evergreens: Root prune later than deciduous, as the trees in the landscape are leafing out, but leave canopy intact. Prune canopy after tree has reestablished & is pushing new growth.

5) If the fir bark is 1/8-1/4", it's just perfect for the gritty mix. I paid $17 for 3 cu ft bags this weekend. I'll let you decide what's appropriate for your situation.

4 II) ;o) I grow some terrestrial orchids in the gritty mix & they love it - multiplying nicely. For some others, it may be too water retentive, but I'm not an orchid grower. I'm sure some variation of it could find favor with many if they tried it, though.

A friend of mine, also a bonsai practitioner, (and I'm only telling you what HE said) once spouted loudly that, "Orchids are but baubles and beads in the horticultural world when compared with the beauty of bonsai." I don't know if I buy the whole parcel or not, but it was very clever & made me laugh at the time. The lady orchid grower he was teasing at the time couldn't quite hide that she was at least mildly offended .... in spite of the fact it was probably only offered for the laugh. Maybe not though, knowing him. ;o)

Thank you for the kind words sir/mam. I'm very glad you find help in my offerings. That knowledge is what keeps me coming back. ;o)

Al