BillsBayou
Chumono
Following up on my original "Mexadama" thread: As part of an experiment on substrates, I potted several Hongkong kumquat, Fortunella hindsii, in a variety of substrate mixtures; Haydite/Pine Bark, Haydite/Zeolite, Akadama/Pumice/Lava, Zeolite/Pumice/Lava, Mexadama/Pumice/Lava, straight Akadama, straight Zeolite, and straight Mexadama.
Mexadama is what I'm calling crushed Mexican pottery. My chiminea fell over in a storm and the shards made me think of Akadama. It's not as soft as Akadama, but it can still be crushed between my thumb and forefinger. I have no idea what the cation exchange capacity is or if it even has a measurable CEC. But hey, it's a fired clay, like Haydite, so I gave it a try. You can see the crushing process in the original thread.
There are measurable differences between the plant populations, but my dogs chased a squirrel or two across the benches and mostly ruined the experiment. So much for this year's work. I'll try again in the Spring. These four pots were not affected by the stampede. While the Mexadama was a non-serious entry the plants in this group are some of the very best. They rival the Akadama groups.
So get to smashing, people. It'll take you 8 to 10 hours of work to get about 7 gallons of substrate, but it's free if someone is throwing out Mexican pottery. I put a request on Reddit and someone put their chiminea shards in a bag for me to pick up. Now I need to find an economical way to crush it to a useable size.
I sell Haydite, lava, and pumice, but I don't sell Mexadama. A reasonable rate for my labor is $50/hour. If 10-hours of work get's me a little more than 7-gallons of substrate, that's $500 per cubic foot. If anyone wants to buy it at $500/cf, let me know; happy to sell it to you. I'll knock $500 off a cubic yard making it $13,000 and I'll drop it off at your door anywhere in the lower 48. First I'll have to find 26 broken chiminea, so be patient. You'll recognize me by my enormous left arm. That hammer gets heavy.
Straight Akadama on the left, straight Mexadama on the right.
Here's the bag of Mexican pottery someone let me have! More free bonsai soil!
Mexadama is what I'm calling crushed Mexican pottery. My chiminea fell over in a storm and the shards made me think of Akadama. It's not as soft as Akadama, but it can still be crushed between my thumb and forefinger. I have no idea what the cation exchange capacity is or if it even has a measurable CEC. But hey, it's a fired clay, like Haydite, so I gave it a try. You can see the crushing process in the original thread.
There are measurable differences between the plant populations, but my dogs chased a squirrel or two across the benches and mostly ruined the experiment. So much for this year's work. I'll try again in the Spring. These four pots were not affected by the stampede. While the Mexadama was a non-serious entry the plants in this group are some of the very best. They rival the Akadama groups.
So get to smashing, people. It'll take you 8 to 10 hours of work to get about 7 gallons of substrate, but it's free if someone is throwing out Mexican pottery. I put a request on Reddit and someone put their chiminea shards in a bag for me to pick up. Now I need to find an economical way to crush it to a useable size.
I sell Haydite, lava, and pumice, but I don't sell Mexadama. A reasonable rate for my labor is $50/hour. If 10-hours of work get's me a little more than 7-gallons of substrate, that's $500 per cubic foot. If anyone wants to buy it at $500/cf, let me know; happy to sell it to you. I'll knock $500 off a cubic yard making it $13,000 and I'll drop it off at your door anywhere in the lower 48. First I'll have to find 26 broken chiminea, so be patient. You'll recognize me by my enormous left arm. That hammer gets heavy.
Straight Akadama on the left, straight Mexadama on the right.
Here's the bag of Mexican pottery someone let me have! More free bonsai soil!
But it's only worth $15/hour when I do anything!
