chicago1980
Omono
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Agree
Pumice
- Thread starter Gary McCarthy
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RKatzin
Omono
Nice site and good looking product. I'm glad to direct folks to you and support your business.
adamjcode
Sapling
Jonas at Bonsai Tonight sells 3.5 (13L) gallon bags of pumice of various particle sizes for $30 shipped: https://store.bonsaitonight.com/collections/bonsai-soil
TyroTinker
Shohin
Ever hear back from them? The price still is super low.
I'm interested in buying it and seeing what shows up...
markyscott
Imperial Masterpiece
Not cheap for living in western Washington. Try T.E. Walrath Trucking in Tacoma, WA (http://tewalrath.com). Just set up an appointment and show up with buckets and a shovel.
Scott
Gary McCarthy
Chumono
Nope, never heard anything back from them.
my nellie
Masterpiece
This is the best and less costy advice, if I may offer an opinion.
Shifting and washing is not a big deal if you do it little by little.
On one condition though, that they have it already separated in suitable particle sizes.
Greece is a country of origin of pumice and we can get it at ridiculous price compared to what members have mentioned above.
KiwiPlantGuy
Omono
Hi Nellie,
Same here, pumice, perlite, and zeolite cheap as chips but can't find a supply of Akadama. Mixture of pine bark, pumice and zeolite is my pick for bonsai soil.
Charles
A. Gorilla
Omono
A volcano belches out cubic miles of this stuff, and then we are happy to pay $10.00 per gallon for it? I suppose it revolves around shipping....
Personally, I just can't process that. Emotionally. I'm literally shaking right now.
Chicago-area people, if you are willing to pay 10 per gallon for pumice, you might as well go to Hidden Garden in Willowbrook and get sifted and bagged "Boon" mix for 12 per gallon.
You can also bring your own plastic storage container (c. 30 quart) and fill it up with pumice yourself for like 25 bucks I think they said. That's between 3 and 4 bucks per gallon.
These items can be found at a brew/grow store in Bolingbrook: Growstone soil aerator (kinda like perlite which doesn't float and no sifting) for about 2-3 per gallon. Kinda coarse, but manageable if you amend it.
4 cubic feet of Perlite. Their price comes out to about $1 per gallon before sifting. Yeah, I know...that's the devil's dingleberries apparently. Light, course, round, free draining...what a bastard. But hey, even if that went in the bottom half or third of the pot (due to floating issues) that would help the cost per gallon if one still wanted costlier components
Personally, I just can't process that. Emotionally. I'm literally shaking right now.
Chicago-area people, if you are willing to pay 10 per gallon for pumice, you might as well go to Hidden Garden in Willowbrook and get sifted and bagged "Boon" mix for 12 per gallon.
You can also bring your own plastic storage container (c. 30 quart) and fill it up with pumice yourself for like 25 bucks I think they said. That's between 3 and 4 bucks per gallon.
These items can be found at a brew/grow store in Bolingbrook: Growstone soil aerator (kinda like perlite which doesn't float and no sifting) for about 2-3 per gallon. Kinda coarse, but manageable if you amend it.
4 cubic feet of Perlite. Their price comes out to about $1 per gallon before sifting. Yeah, I know...that's the devil's dingleberries apparently. Light, course, round, free draining...what a bastard. But hey, even if that went in the bottom half or third of the pot (due to floating issues) that would help the cost per gallon if one still wanted costlier components
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markyscott
Imperial Masterpiece
A volcano belches out cubic miles of this stuff, and then we are happy to pay $10.00 per gallon for it? I suppose it revolves around shipping....
Personally, I just can't process that. Emotionally. I'm literally shaking right now.
Chicago-area people, if you are willing to pay 10 per gallon for pumice, you might as well go to Hidden Garden in Willowbrook and get sifted and bagged "Boon" mix for 12 per gallon.
You can also bring your own plastic storage container (c. 30 quart) and fill it up with pumice yourself for like 25 bucks I think they said. That's between 3 and 4 bucks per gallon.
These items can be found at a brew/grow store in Bolingbrook: Growstone soil aerator (kinda like perlite which doesn't float and no sifting) for about 2-3 per gallon. Kinda coarse, but manageable if you amend it.
4 cubic feet of Perlite. Their price comes out to about $1 per gallon before sifting. Yeah, I know...that's the devil's dingleberries apparently. Light, course, round, free draining...what a bastard. But hey, even if that went in the bottom half or third of the pot (due to floating issues) that would help the cost per gallon if one still wanted costlier components
I'm not trying to convince you of anything, but pumice really does not have to cost that much, even for folks in the Midwest. Prices (excluding shipping) are generally $7-$8 per 40lb bag (one 40lb bag is about 1 cubic foot or about 7.5 gallons) or in the $350-$400 range for a pallet (50, 40lb bags) of pumice or scoria. Shipping costs vary, but to Houston it's about $300 per pallet. So, for example, if you purchase a pallet of pumice or scoria you'll be in for about $400 material cost and $300 shipping for a total of $700 for 50, 40lb bags. That's 2000lbs or 50 cubic feet or 375 gallons. So your total costs including shipping come in under $2.00 per gallon. That's less than Growstone, Turface, DE, haydite or most other soil amendments in my area.
The trick is you have to buy in bulk. If you purchase by the bag, both material costs and shipping will be far higher for the convenience of doorstep delivery. It's a fantastic thing for a club or study group to do together.
TyroTinker
Shohin
Thanks! My wife just happens to be leaving for Montana for the weekend this weekend and I can't make it out with her. I might just have to take a little road trip if I can make it out there.
Any suggestions on how much to get? I don't have much for trees yet but I plan on trying a bunch of cuttings or layers next spring.
Currently I have 8 cuttings and one small JM.
markyscott
Imperial Masterpiece
Doesn't sound like you need much - maybe a couple of five gallon buckets will work? If you don't have a set of sieves, stop by Bonsai Northwest on the way and buy some - you'll want to sieve that material to grade. You can lust after some of their trees while you're there.
S
TyroTinker
Shohin
Sounds great. I've been wanting to check that place out. Maybe I'll stop by the pacific bonsai museum too. I've only been there once and it was really cool
coh
Imperial Masterpiece
If you can make perlite work to your satisfaction, then by all mean use it. But there is a reason why people pay to have components like pumice shipped across the country, we don't just do it because we like to pay shipping costs.A volcano belches out cubic miles of this stuff, and then we are happy to pay $10.00 per gallon for it? I suppose it revolves around shipping....
Personally, I just can't process that. Emotionally. I'm literally shaking right now.
Chicago-area people, if you are willing to pay 10 per gallon for pumice, you might as well go to Hidden Garden in Willowbrook and get sifted and bagged "Boon" mix for 12 per gallon.
You can also bring your own plastic storage container (c. 30 quart) and fill it up with pumice yourself for like 25 bucks I think they said. That's between 3 and 4 bucks per gallon.
These items can be found at a brew/grow store in Bolingbrook: Growstone soil aerator (kinda like perlite which doesn't float and no sifting) for about 2-3 per gallon. Kinda coarse, but manageable if you amend it.
4 cubic feet of Perlite. Their price comes out to about $1 per gallon before sifting. Yeah, I know...that's the devil's dingleberries apparently. Light, course, round, free draining...what a bastard. But hey, even if that went in the bottom half or third of the pot (due to floating issues) that would help the cost per gallon if one still wanted costlier components
I've purchased soil components from Dusty and from general pumice products, was very satisfied with both.
A. Gorilla
Omono
my nellie
Masterpiece
This is exactly how we buy pumice here in Athens.
We buy from the processing industry which is up north and shipping costs for individual orders do rise the cost of the product.
So, we make a collective order as a club and buy by pallet.
One of us who has the appropriate space receives the bags in pallet and then each one collects her/his own ordered bags.
coh
Imperial Masterpiece
Buying in bulk is definitely the way to go. Before WeeTree went out of business, I inquired about the costs to ship a palette of pumice out here. The shipping cost exceeded the cost of the pumice itself, but even with that factored in, the cost per bag came out to be considerably cheaper than what you pay to get it shipped one flat rate box at a time.
my nellie
Masterpiece
If you ask me, you don't need akadama, then.
I know a lot of people swear by akadama but there are other corresponding materials found locally which do the work same as well.
I also use crushed ceramic chips (don't know the exact wording/translation)
markyscott
Imperial Masterpiece
Here is a list of resources that you may inquire with about bulk costs if you're interested in trying.
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RKatzin
Omono
Somebody needs to bust a move! Jump in your pickup and head west, it ain't that far. You can get two yards in the average Ford, three with sideboards, at 35 bucks a yard right out of that mountain of pumice. It's a road trip and it's not about the money! Get er done! Come all the way to GP and I'll put you up right proper myself.
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