Please tell me i can use crushed brick as akadama alternative

[Shibui]

Surprised to see crushed brick test at pH 8.6. I can't find any test results on brick here. Closest I can come is tests on rock/brick blends but given the 100% crushed rock tested at pH 10.9 maybe not relevant however the pH for 30/70 crushed brick/crushed rock shows pH 9.6 which would indicate the brick is bringing pH down.
I might try some tests on various crushed media and see what I can come up with here.

 

[Tieball]

You can use crushed brick. I haven’t used crushed brick as a substrate though. I’d use it and add bark chips. As others posted, select a few trees and try it. You’ll learn something.

Closest I have used was crushed concrete mixed with bark chips. I’d think crushed brick would be much better though. I just didn’t have crushed brick anywhere.

 

[jerzyjerzy]

You can use crushed brick. I bought 1 ton (yes, I know - my name is Jerzy and I am an addict...) of crushed low-fired red clay 3 years ago, and have been using it for all my trees since (around 200 trees in total, at different development stages).
It is the material normally used for tennis courts. The clay particles I bought are 4 to 8 millimeter sifted fraction, and I mix it 50/50 with perlite 3-6 mm. So far all trees grow great, no health problems at all. The additional good characteristic of this material is the fact that it is sifted wet, with water, so no dust is present at all so there is no additional work.

 

[Katie0317]

I use 100% crushed granite from Alabama. It's called Crimson Red and some places are selling it as Lava, calling it Crimson Red Lava. A granite mine exploded in Alabama and the bonsai nursery/school I go to uses it on 100% of their trees. David Cutchin works and teaches there and he also teaches for Ryan Neil at Mirai.
I found it being sold very inexpensively from House of Bonsai but it's coming from Korea so I can't say if it's in any way the same.

Decomposed Granite (DG) Bonsai Soil - Small 18 lbs

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[Clicio]

You can use crushed brick. I haven’t used crushed brick as a substrate though. I’d use it and add bark chips. As others posted, select a few trees and try it. You’ll learn something.

Closest I have used was crushed concrete mixed with bark chips. I’d think crushed brick would be much better though. I just didn’t have crushed brick anywhere.

Yeap.
I've got approximately 100 bonsai in various mixes, all with some percentage of crushed tiles.
So far - 10 years - so good.

 

[Tieball]

Yeap.
I've got approximately 100 bonsai in various mixes, all with some percentage of crushed tiles.
So far - 10 years - so good.

Probably a good opportunity for me to crush-up broken pots. I have used broken terra cotta pots before as a substrate. They worked just fine for me needs. Just haven’t used recently….I probably need to accidentally break a few for starters.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Crushed brick is most likely Turface for USA members. Same benefits, same problems. In USA we can get good media, and for a price, Akadama and Kanuma.

Crushed brick is common outside USA. My Nepalese friend uses it, a very coarse grade for orchids in Nepal.

But think calcined clay, like Turface bor Haydite or Leca or Aliflor. It is an cheap , available substrate.

 

[Clicio]

Crushed brick is most likely Turface for USA members. Same benefits, same problems. In USA we can get good media, and for a price, Akadama and Kanuma.

Crushed brick is common outside USA. My Nepalese friend uses it, a very coarse grade for orchids in Nepal.

But think calcined clay, like Turface bor Haydite or Leca or Aliflor. It is an cheap , available substrate.

I've been using small sized Leca too, it's lightweight and looks good as top soil.

 

[ShadyStump]

I've experimented with both crushed brick and terracotta. Both are viable, but don't think of them as replacements for anything. They're their own thing.

Select your brick carefully. As said before, different bricks have different characteristics. Find low fired or highly porous bricks if possible, but most will do the job. Porous types are not to dissimilar from lava.
pH hasn't been an issue for me when watered properly. I recommend soaking in water before repotting to start out with a high moisture content. If you start dry, brick can take a long time to absorb water just by normal watering.

Terracotta pots works well enough, on par with low fired brick, but terracotta pipe is a different beast.
I don't recommend pipe. It's made with a high sand content as filler and to PREVENT too much water absorption.

For either, I suggest mixing in organics like fine pine bark or coconut husk.
Peat can be used, and helps balance pH if it's a concern, but it will hold A LOT of water despite the whole mix draining well. My only case of root rot happened with this mix.

 

[Clicio]

..bonsai growers in Brazil use "crushed bricks" in their mixes.
They are not really bricks, but high fired roof tiles crushed by machines...

I want to correct myself; they are low fired, not high fired. Porous and very water retentive.
Sorry, my mistake.

 

[ChristianDGreat]

I guess the better question is. If akadama all of the sudden is not available. What is going to be your mixes?

 

[Paradox]

I guess the better question is. If akadama all of the sudden is not available. What is going to be your mixes?

Lava, pumice, probably pine bark

 

[BonjourBonsai]

I've never tried crushed brick but to my mind it is similar to turface: both are calcined clay. BUT, Turface is designed to absorb water on ball fields. Bricks are meant to hold up buildings and probably designed not to retain water because who wants a soggy house? (They might be fired at different temperatures I don't know, just speculating) I think they are separate things like @ShadyStump said.

I use turface with pine bark and perlite and vary the ratio depending the type of tree

 

[Clicio]

I've never tried crushed brick but to my mind it is similar to turface: both are calcined clay. BUT, Turface is designed to absorb water on ball fields. Bricks are meant to hold up buildings and probably designed not to retain water because who wants a soggy house? (They might be fired at different temperatures I don't know, just speculating) I think they are separate things like @ShadyStump said.

I use turface with pine bark and perlite and vary the ratio depending the type of tree

As I have said before, we use crushed roof tiles, low fired and with good water retention.

 

[ShadyStump]

I've never tried crushed brick but to my mind it is similar to turface: both are calcined clay. BUT, Turface is designed to absorb water on ball fields. Bricks are meant to hold up buildings and probably designed not to retain water because who wants a soggy house? (They might be fired at different temperatures I don't know, just speculating) I think they are separate things like @ShadyStump said.

I use turface with pine bark and perlite and vary the ratio depending the type of tree

If you ever pulled a brick out of a wet ditch, oh, yeah, do they hold water.
It's just getting them saturated can be tricky.

I look for tricks from places with under developed industry and/or economies to save money, and to be able to keep my bonsai life going no matter how crappy my circumstances get.
Crushed brick and terracotta is a very common substrate choice in south Asia where economics preclude purchasing other aggregates for the sake of a pass time. @Clicio indicates that it's a common practice in South America, and I suspect that we'll see similar as bonsai grows in Africa and other parts of Latin America.
The level of work to do it by hand means it's generally too coarse for my climate, but it is very much practicable. CEC and the like are a crap shoot depending on the type of brick, but proper use of organics should temper that.

Can't speak to best yet, but Napa 8822 seems to be doing alright for me, a long with coco coir. I have some ice traction stuff on order to arrive tomorrow that's supposed to be 100% coarse zeolite. I'll start a thread when it arrives for those interested. If it works out well I'll see about cheaper sources.
Still, I'm keeping an eye out for a landscape tamper to make crushing bricks a bit more practical.

 

[ChristianDGreat]

Lava, pumice, probably pine bark

Mine is almost the same.
If akadama will disappear for some reason ill use

Lava, pumice, cococoir (or clay stuff like monto clay) , pine bark

 

[win320]

Ive recently been looking into sources of crushed brick here in Britain due to the soaring cost of Akadama.
One disadvantage is that apparently the pH can be quite high so it may not be suitable for some plant species/
I guess it depends on the chemistry and hardness of your local bricks. I think its worth a trial as part of your bonsai soil mixed with other ingredients

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