Broken terracota as substrate?

[Crazy Diamond]

I have a lot of these scraps that I found for free

 

[Gustavo Martins]

It’s used a lot in Brazil and I believe it’s cheap.

 

[Crazy Diamond]

In the end I did the "test" with clay roof tiles that some as*hole dump in the woods So is a win win situation I get the material and take away trash from the enviroment.

Im pretty happy with it I think it will make a nice inorganic agregate to my substrate mix

 

[Crazy Diamond]

Ricardo paiva, this brazilian guy uses red brick as substrate (50 brick 30 gravel 20 organic) also and seems to work just fine he has very nice trees

 

[LAS]

If you live in an area where it freezes in the winter, terra cotta will turn to mush in a few seasons. If you're after a cheaper alternative to Akadama in temperate zones, crushed HIGH FIRED brick can work. I've used it in the past when I was making my own soil. Sifting can get rid of the mostly unusable bigger chunks and smaller particles. About a third to half a bag is the yield of premium particles...

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Oldcastle-0-5-cu-ft-Red-Gravel/3622912?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-lwn-_-ggl-_-LIA_LWN_179_Landscape-Products-_-3622912-_-local-_-0-_-0&ds_rl=1286981&gclid=Cj0KCQiA8ICOBhDmARIsAEGI6o19AtOL6KOiv0HRTtvOwjfLG3FNsMmIvoCbDcSVwYRSO2cfDoPsoDAaAiZoEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Are there dyes in that product?

 

[LAS]

id be curious how small leca balls work in bonsai soil. i have it for a few houseplants. it isnt super cheap if i remember correctly though

Here’s a trial with 100% Leca

 

[Shibui]

I guess by coco coir you mean the coco shells broken down in small pieces?

coco coir is not the shells which are hard and woody. It is shredded outer fibrous husks of the coconut which is fibrous. Coir is quite similar to natural peat in texture.

 

[bluone23]

Not sure if you have some big brico store near you.
in Romania, at Hornbach we have a product called Lechuza Pon, a mix of lava pumice and zeolite.
mix in a 5-10% bark and it is a good soil.
however in the end it has a similar price than a premixed substrate from Ibuki in Polland.

 

[Underdog]

I've been using crushed red brick for a few years with good results. No breaking down from freezing. Holds water well. It's heavy. Good for little pots but hard on the back in the big ones.

 

[Rivian]

I dont think seramis is recycled, I think they fire their own clay and use a special process to make it porous. Its better than crushed bricks. Heavier than perlite, rounder and more porous than crushed brick, even particle size, feels nice to work with. Not cheap but consider it almost doesnt break down.
Because of the price of seramis and considering bricks and pots can be found for free some places, if you have a good set-up to break them down it can still be worth it. Use some water to avoid dust if you have to.
I tried the hammer thing, never again.
I did not know people who work with clay had lung issues

 

[Clicio]

We use it ALL THE TIME in Brazil.
From tiles, not terracota bricks.
It is called "caqueira" here, and is a great soil component.

 

[LAS]

I've been using crushed red brick for a few years with good results. No breaking down from freezing. Holds water well. It's heavy. Good for little pots but hard on the back in the big ones.
View attachment 447649

are you using it 100% or a percentage of the mix?

 

[Clicio]

are you using it 100% or a percentage of the mix?

A percentage.
For conifers, 30% bricks, 30% lava rock, 30% river gravel, 10% peat.
For deciduous less gravel and more peat+perlite.
But....
Many bonsai growers in Brazil use 50/50 of crushed bricks and nursery black soil, with some gravel for aeration.

 

[rockm]

Are there dyes in that product?

No dyes that are going to leach out and harm your trees. The masonry bricks this is made of are fired in kilns to about 1800 F. They are inert for the most part. It's very similar to Turface, only harder.

 

[Underdog]

are you using it 100% or a percentage of the mix?

usually only 1/4 to 1/3 of the mix. Sometimes as a drainage layer on the bottom of deeper pots. I have a brick factory half hour away and I use it for other things. They crush and sell the broken ones. I have no volcanos nearby so....

 

[Katie0317]

The bonsai nursery we frequent uses only 'Crimson Red' granite. A granite mine in Alabama that exploded, (Not sure exploded is the correct term) and the result is broken down 'Crimson Red' granite. It's been used as a bonsai substrate for many years and granite was especially popular in California in the early years of bonsai. Ours is mixed with pine bark and it's very inexpensive. Trees want to grow and it seems they'll find a way using all sorts of soils.

 

[LAS]

Beautiful garden Underdog

 

[LAS]

im not a fan of granite. in my experience

 

[Clicio]

A percentage.
For conifers, 30% bricks, 30% lava rock, 30% river gravel, 10% peat.
For deciduous less gravel and more peat+perlite.
But....
Many bonsai growers in Brazil use 50/50 of crushed bricks and nursery black soil, with some gravel for aeration.

Pictures:

 

[Crazy Diamond]

I've been using crushed red brick for a few years with good results. No breaking down from freezing. Holds water well. It's heavy. Good for little pots but hard on the back in the big ones.
View attachment 447649

Yes, weight is certainly a problem but overall a good material in my opinion