I'd like to discuss Akadama/lava .....again...

[Mike Corazzi]

As you probaly know, I am a NON fan of akadama due to some catastrophic degradation of NEW aka.

Which has put me in the ALL lava camp.

But the more I talk to people in the club, the father apart the opinions get.

A ...lot... of very successful bonsaists use a MIX.

Now I mixed ...some... stuff with both the lava and the aka.

Not much and the BIGGEST part of the soil was aka on my near disaster (pic of concreted aka included)
and it went BAD. Water wouldn't even soak in let alone drain out and the soil was WET for days after a watering.

Now THAT does not happen with my lava.

But that doesn't explain the success of those who use aka either wholly or in PART (as in MIXED0

So..... long story short, what IS the advantage of aka? Does it hold more moisture longer (barring the uncertainty of degradation) or hold fertilizer better and a bit longer? I know the lava drains FAST.
Yet it has appreciable MOISTURE.... not soggy water... for quite a long time. Even on hot days.

Akadama fans, pls elaborate
Lava please do also.

Thanks.

 

[petegreg]

Not Aka fan, but some authors swear...and this is only plus I can see except it's neutral pH... its degrading enables roots to colonize almost all pot volume. Not good substrate for my climate.
Are you sure Mike there is only akadama in the pots pictured above? It looks mixed with some dirt...

 

[Waltron]

lava, pumice, bark/coco chunks, turface is what im going with this year.

 

[Giga]

I can no longer get the organic part of my mix so I might use aka this year and see how it goes.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

Not Aka fan, but some authors swear...and this is only plus I can see except it's neutral pH... its degrading enables roots to colonize almost all pot volume. Not good substrate for my climate.
Are you sure Mike there is only akadama in the pots pictured above? It looks mixed with some dirt...

So little as to be inconsequential.
It went TOO bad unexpectedly as I had been using same mix for about 7-8 years with no issues.

?????

 

[Mike Corazzi]

I can no longer get the organic part of my mix so I might use aka this year and see how it goes.

I am using the TINIEST bit of cactus mix for the organic part....which... is I find deemed unneeded by many here.

I've seen responses of NO organic and ....beautiful trees.

 

[aml1014]

Akadama teds to turn into mush in winter in my climate. I use either 50/50 DE and pumice or either of those ingredients 100%. Akadama is good for the fact that it holds moisture well, and as stated, the roots can colonize 100% of the pot. As they do this they break the akadama down slowly and it holds more moisture (for more roots). To bad it doesn't work that way in my climate.

Aaron

 

[yenling83]

Hey Mike, a few observations. It appears that you took a tree in it's original non bonsai field soil and placed it directly into a mix that is mostly akadama. I would recommend bare rooting at least one half next time before putting it into the pot. This means you want to comb out the roots with bent tweezers, root hook or chop sticks. You can go a head and rinse off the old field soil on that half. Keep the other half in the old field soil. For conifer I'd suggest making sure to sift both your akadama and lava, you don't want that dust clogging everything up. Also, make sure your ratio's are correct of components. So generally speaking use only 1/3 akadama. I will use 50% akadama if I want to slow a tree down as opposed to making it grow really fast. I'd also suggest trying to find pumice as that will help the pot dry out faster. Your mix stays too wet, try out 1/3, 1/3 1/3 akadama, pumice, lava.

 

[Vin]

For further consideration, Caladama is harder than Akadama. It may be worth considering for you application.

 

[twisted trees]

When first applied akadama allows for rapid courser root growth and as it breaks down this whiches over to a finer root hair situation in the soil. It does need to be replaced more often ie more pepotting.

 

[miker]

Good quality Akadama, replaced at appropriate intervals has always worked well for me fo almost all species, provided it is watered (and fertilized) adequately, especially those trees in really small pots.

 

[miker]

Here in SE PA, it is a whole different ball game so it remains to be seen whether my results will be as positive. If the high quality stuff breaks down quickly, I will just use pure akadama on my best trees and repot(not necessarily root prune) yearly.

 

[dirk hoorelbeke]

Oh no, not a soil / akadama thread.
(1)There is akadama and akadama. I've used 3 different brands. One was shit, it is dust in a grain form. When you have dry akadama you can hardly crush it between two fingers.
(2)Use the correct grain size, sift, use a drainage layer of big akadama or bims/lava.
(3)Using it in combination with lava or bims (my choice) makes it last longer. We typically can grow pines for 7 to 10 years without repotting in a mix of akadama / bims.
(4)Pure akadama is great for deciduous trees, i've got aprox 50 trees in the stuff. Most of the time i repot every 2 or 3 years for trees in development, sometimes faster. I do reuse it time and time again. Approximately 10% per year turns into smaller particles, half of it i consider dust.
(5) It is the only thing all professionals use here, they have fantastic results.

For the photo's, the first photo seems akadama, the second photo is a rootball not growing in akadama. This is the original soil. The 3th photo is a combo of old soil and some akadama. They don't mix well. I wouldn't mix organics with akadama. Then go for full potting soil, big containers and water 5 times a year.

 

[Anthony]

Think about -

breaks down -> you end up bare rooting old trees [ say 30 years ] - dangerous.

Try something that does not break down and study the decay of organic material.

Then ask all using akadama, about their oldest trees - age - what they found with long term use.

Best suggestion -----------
Leave the artificial loam alone and move onto more modern mixes.
Good Day
Anthony

 

[markyscott]

Oh no, not a soil / akadama thread.
(1)There is akadama and akadama. I've used 3 different brands. One was shit, it is dust in a grain form. When you have dry akadama you can hardly crush it between two fingers.
(2)Use the correct grain size, sift, use a drainage layer of big akadama or bims/lava.
(3)Using it in combination with lava or bims (my choice) makes it last longer. We typically can grow pines for 7 to 10 years without repotting in a mix of akadama / bims.
(4)Pure akadama is great for deciduous trees, i've got aprox 50 trees in the stuff. Most of the time i repot every 2 or 3 years for trees in development, sometimes faster. I do reuse it time and time again. Approximately 10% per year turns into smaller particles, half of it i consider dust.
(5) It is the only thing all professionals use here, they have fantastic results.

For the photo's, the first photo seems akadama, the second photo is a rootball not growing in akadama. This is the original soil. The 3th photo is a combo of old soil and some akadama. They don't mix well. I wouldn't mix organics with akadama. Then go for full potting soil, big containers and water 5 times a year.

FWIW - I tried to document what Alabama is and the main brand differences in this resource. I did not document caladama as I have zero experience with it. But I'm given to understand that it's kibbled caliche. Certainly harder, but very different product than akadama.

Scott

 

[Mike Corazzi]

For the photo's, the first photo seems akadama, the second photo is a rootball not growing in akadama.

Actually that is the rootball after being IN the bad aka.
I should have mentioned that this was a NEW supply of akadama but same source. Had not happened before.
The dark coloration that looks like potting soil was what got me so damn mad. It had NEVER done that before.

However, thanks for the clarification to use it on DECIDUOUS. That was (still is ....whew) a Scots pine.

 

[GGB]

I used most lava rock (i grow mostly conifers) but I add a sprinkle (<10%) of akadama. I'm pretty poor but I like the idea of using the stuff the pros do. I supplement with peanut shells and other materials that break down in the 3 year range. I aim to have my soil expire together, nothing too hard to decay and nothing so mushy it'll clog next spring

 

[coh]

FWIW - I tried to document what Alabama is and the main brand differences in this resource. I did not document caladama as I have zero experience with it. But I'm given to understand that it's kibbled caliche. Certainly harder, but very different product than akadama.

Scott

I've never seen CALIDAMA (LOL) in person, but I did ask one bonsai professional about it and his response was "well, it certainly is heavy."

@dirk hoorelbeke , what is "bims"?

 

[AlainK]

Akadama is great if you can renew it after 2, 3, or at most, 4 years, after that it becomes like ordinary clay.

 

[Paradox]

I would never use 100% or nearly 100% akadama on a pine anything really in my climate.
I use a 4 part mix of 1 part akadama, 1 part pumice, 1 part lava and 1 part gravel for my pines that are in their secondary training pots (plastic and shaped like an extra large bonsai pot).
I use lava, pumice and gravel in their first, larger training pot.