Any recommendations for good akadama?

[NamesakE]

I'm going to be repotting soon and I want to get some akadama ( it'll be my first time using it too) for my deciduous and tropical. I'm having a hard time figuring out which brand still makes good hard akadama. I've read there's been a shortage for a while. Any help would be appreciated! By the way I was also wondering sort akadama be good for the tropicals?

 

[NamesakE]

I'm going to be repotting soon and I want to get some akadama ( it'll be my first time using it too) for my deciduous and tropical. I'm having a hard time figuring out which brand still makes good hard akadama. I've read there's been a shortage for a while. Any help would be appreciated! By the way I was also wondering sort akadama be good for the tropicals?

Hmmm Looks like I should just do a little more research. Beejesus is it expensive though!

 

[kale]

Last night I listened to a new podcast from Bonsai Wire hosted by Jonas Dupuich and Michael Hagedorn (highly recommend!) about repotting and they did cover soils and they mentioned they don’t recommend akadama until the trees are in refinement stage. Mostly just a waste of money they said. Are your trees there? Im only asking because you are a “seedling.”

 

[Deleted member 32750]

I like aoki blend bonsai soil. It's Akadama, Lava and Kiyru, which is similar to pumice.

 

[River's Edge]

Last night I listened to a new podcast from Bonsai Wire hosted by Jonas Dupuich and Michael Hagedorn (highly recommend!) about repotting and they did cover soils and they mentioned they don’t recommend akadama until the trees are in refinement stage. Mostly just a waste of money they said. Are your trees there? Im only asking because you are a “seedling.”

I suspect we listen differently! I heard them say tree's in the back forty were not using akadama, The mix mentioned by John and Michael was 80 percent pumice and some bark and steer manure. And the reason given was to reduce costs and the subsequent use of Akadama. Any tree in a bonsai pot was!using at least 30 % akadama, considered Mid Range trees do best in a rather equal split of Akadama, Pumice and Lava. More refined trees benefit from a higher percentage of Akadama.
Also important to note that organic was limited to approximately 5 to 10 percent even in the back forty grow out of young trees!
They also correctly pointed out that the source of pumice and lava is important and can affect the quality and level of success.
A reliable brand of Akadama is the double red line in my experience over the past decade. There was a period of time when North America was receiving very low quality Akadama and it performed poorly.
The percentage of Akadama should be adjusted for level of refinement, wether it is deciduous or conifer and just as importantly your climate!
For example I reduce the amount of akadama due to the amount of rain and humidity in my area as opposed to say Jonas in California who may use more to allow for a hotter drier climate and his desire to water less frequently.

 

[kale]

I suspect we listen differently! I heard them say tree's in the back forty were not using akadama, The mix mentioned by John and Michael was 80 percent pumice and some bark and steer manure. And the reason given was to reduce costs and the subsequent use of Akadama. Any tree in a bonsai pot was!using at least 30 % akadama, considered Mid Range trees do best in a rather equal split of Akadama, Pumice and Lava. More refined trees benefit from a higher percentage of Akadama.
Also important to note that organic was limited to approximately 5 to 10 percent even in the back forty grow out of young trees!
They also correctly pointed out that the source of pumice and lava is important and can affect the quality and level of success.
A reliable brand of Akadama is the double red line in my experience over the past decade. There was a period of time when North America was receiving very low quality Akadama and it performed poorly.
The percentage of Akadama should be adjusted for level of refinement, wether it is deciduous or conifer and just as importantly your climate!
For example I reduce the amount of akadama due to the amount of rain and humidity in my area as opposed to say Jonas in California who may use more to allow for a hotter drier climate and his desire to water less frequently.

Hmm right at 10 mins one of them says they don’t recommend akadama for young trees.. Anywho I should prob listen to the whole episode again. I dont want to spread disinformation! It was a good one!

 

[NamesakE]

Last night I listened to a new podcast from Bonsai Wire hosted by Jonas Dupuich and Michael Hagedorn (highly recommend!) about repotting and they did cover soils and they mentioned they don’t recommend akadama until the trees are in refinement stage. Mostly just a waste of money they said. Are your trees there? Im only asking because you are a “seedling.”

Thank you for your reply! No they're not in refinement. I was planning on using that only because I heard akadama is it good for deciduous and tropical which I plan on replanting this year. I have a literati hornbeam and raft style sugar maple yamadori that's been growing well in a 80% pumic/pine bark sphagnum Moss mix the past couple years. I planned on getting them into their first training pot this year and using large size very hard Akadema. The plan was as the academic broke down it would get more refined in a couple years and benefit from getting good growth initially using Akadama.

 

[Maiden69]

One one of the last Mirai Live Ryan mentioned that he felt it was a waste of money to use akadama for trees not in refinement. He suggested a 70% pumice and 30% nursery mix (decompose pine bark, humus, peat moss, sphagnum moss, etc...) for trees that are entirely in development. With that said, right now I am using akadama at different ratios for my trees (70-50-30%), especially after having 2 of my trees (a luma apiculata and an a.palmatum-katsura) dry out during one hot summer day where I was not home to water them a second time. They were planted in Bonsai Jack's organic conifer soil (32% 1/4 inch Douglas Fir Bark, 32% 1/4 inch Pumice, 15% 1/4 inch Lava, 15% 1/4 inch Monto Clay (1/4 inch Turface) and 6% 1/4 inch Horticulture Charcoal) which seems close to the Boons soil ratio. None of my trees are in refinement right now, but I feel like akadama holds more moisture without being flooded in comparison with some organics. I am using Double Red Line akadama as well.

From what I have read during research I think that in order to maximize the use of the 70% pumice and 30% nursery mix you need to water the plants often and fertilize them heavily as well. Kind of like when using colanders. I am in central Texas, so I guess once I set up an irrigation system for additional watering I may change to a different soil mix and see if that helps me develop the plants quicker.

 

[hemmy]

I'm having a hard time figuring out which brand still makes good hard akadama.

Where in the country or world are you? Obviously, domestic shipping adds more cost on top of the freight to get it to the US. Plus more handling equals more dust. To answer the question. In Southern Cali, I’ve only used 3 brands bought at bonsai nurseries. The first was years ago and my first experience with akadama, it seemed soft (flowering tree picture on bag). I also wasn’t sure if it was Kanuma, but it looked like akadama. The one I’ve used the most and like has the stolen picture of the Walter Pall tree and claims to be heat-treated 300C. I don’t think that does much for hardness but should kill organics and drives off water (but probably not structural water on the clay). I haven’t used the double red line brand much, but it seems good and I believe I’ve read others reference the brand as good.

 

[hemmy]

I don’t have many trees in refinement, so I mainly use it in a 1:1:1 with pumice and scoria for conifers in shallow training or bonsai pots. But I also use it at 100% for shohin deciduous and trying it in shallow potted shohin olives. For this reason, I usually use the small particle size even when using it on larger trees.

Due to cost, substrate volume, and repot frequency, I have not used it on tropicals. But I will use it at some ratio this summer on a shallow potted ficus and a bougainvillea that I want shorter internode growth.

 

[Japonicus]

There was a period of time when North America was receiving very low quality Akadama and it performed poorly.

This is exactly why I phased it out of my line up. Trust...

 

[River's Edge]

This is exactly why I phased it out of my line up. Trust...

I purchased my next batch from a more reputable supplier who carried better quality products.

 

[Japonicus]

I purchased my next batch from a more reputable supplier who carried better quality products.

Me too, that's why my trust is broken

 

[NamesakE]

Where in the country or world are you? Obviously, domestic shipping adds more cost on top of the freight to get it to the US. Plus more handling equals more dust. To answer the question. In Southern Cali, I’ve only used 3 brands bought at bonsai nurseries. The first was years ago and my first experience with akadama, it seemed soft (flowering tree picture on bag). I also wasn’t sure if it was Kanuma, but it looked like akadama. The one I’ve used the most and like has the stolen picture of the Walter Pall tree and claims to be heat-treated 300C. I don’t think that does much for hardness but should kill organics and drives off water (but probably not structural water on the clay). I haven’t used the double red line brand much, but it seems good and I believe I’ve read others reference the brand as good.

Thank you very much for the response and posting the pictures! I was recently watching Ryan Neil's VSOP soil video and he was saying something about how if Akadema is fired it loses all of its cation exchange capabilities. And now I see fired (or what I think is fired anyway) akadama everywhere. Not sure what I'm missing. I'm also kind of figure out what the benefit would be between using akadama of different harnesses or if it's just simply the harder the akadama the better.

 

[Ohmy222]

I like aoki blend bonsai soil. It's Akadama, Lava and Kiyru, which is similar to pumice.

this is the first year I have used it. I couldn't find akadama anywhere for under $50 or so. I normally get it from Bonsai Tonight or Superfly Bonsai much cheaper but they are out. Also, I normally get pumice for $17 for a cubic foot but they have been out for months too. Only thing around Atlanta is the imported pumice or online and it would be around $40 buck a bag or more. Plant City Bonsai near me had the Aoki mix for $60 or I could buy Akadama for $50 + $40 for pumice so I figured if I was going to have to spend I may as well get the pre-mixed. I just repotted a few trees today and must say I really like it. My mix is a 1:1:1 mix but the particles aren't as uniform as this. Probably will continue to use on trees I like.

 

[Maiden69]

Thank you very much for the response and posting the pictures! I was recently watching Ryan Neil's VSOP soil video and he was saying something about how if Akadema is fired it loses all of its cation exchange capabilities. And now I see fired (or what I think is fired anyway) akadama everywhere. Not sure what I'm missing. I'm also kind of figure out what the benefit would be between using akadama of different harnesses or if it's just simply the harder the akadama the better.

in the same video, and a follow up he did on Mirai live he states that even the bags that state "fired" are not fired. When akadama is fired it turns a pinkish color and it gets hard like pumice, and like you mention, lose its CEC capabilities.