Will Akadama and Pumice (no lava rock) work?

[bonsaikorea]

Hi, I live in Korea. Large bags of Akadama (differeent sizes) and Hyuga Pumice (differeent sizes) arrived today. I could not find lava rock.


Will Akadama + Pumice work ok as a mix?

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

It depends on the tree you want to grow and your climate. Excuse me, but I don't know much about the Korean climate.
If you get serious freezing, then akadama should not be used. Unless you can keep your plants protected. Here in the Netherlands, akadama turns to dust if I keep it outdoors, after a single winter. Deciduous trees can handle this for a year or two, but my conifers have trouble with akadama after winter. Due to the freezing and thawing it turns to regular clay and it blocks the holes of the pots.

Pumice + pine bark works well here.

 

[penumbra]

No disrespect but you need to be discussing this with other people growing bonsai in Korea.

 

[Rafael Najmanovich]

For sure it will work. I use Chabasai (equivalent to Akadama), Pumice and Diatomaceous earth + 10% or so pine bark. Works great for my pines, junipers, deciduous. I also used Chabasai + DE and I also use DE alone. All these combinations work, you may only need to adapt your watering. More important is particle size: Sifting and potentially removing the 1/8 to 1/16 fraction for larger pines (leaving it for junipers, smaller trees, deciduous, elongating species: larch, taxus, picea, tsuga, abies, etc).

 

[chansen]

There are people here stateside that are starting to abandon lava rock in their mix, and only using pumice and akadama. Just add more akadama for trees that like more water, and more pumice for trees that need to be drier.

 

[Adair M]

Pumice is very light. The lava is heavier and helps provide stability. It’s easy to accidentally wash lava out of the pot when watering if you use a coarse spray of water. Using lava minimizes this problem.

But, sure, trees grow well in pumice. Straight pumice is the preferred “soil” for newly collected yamadori.

 

[chansen]

Adair brings up good points. I still use lava in my mix, but I also live a 2 hour drive from a lava mine . I showed up with four 55 gallon garbage cans, they filled them from a front-end loader and put them into my truck with the loader as well. So I can get it easily, and cheap (coincidentally, I can do the same with pumice 2 hours in the other direction, now if I could just find an akadama mine in the US...).

The complaints I've heard about lava is that it's hard to find, and hard on your tools when repotting. Pumice is soft enough to cut through, lava will chip your tools. I know Mike Hagedorn stopped using lava for these reasons and his trees do just fine .

You'll do just fine growing without lava. It performs similarly to pumice other than the weight. So just be sure to tie the trees into their pots (should do that with or without lava), and be careful watering so you don't blast the pumice out.

 

[JudyB]

For sure it will work. I use Chabasai (equivalent to Akadama), Pumice and Diatomaceous earth + 10% or so pine bark. Works great for my pines, junipers, deciduous. I also used Chabasai + DE and I also use DE alone. All these combinations work, you may only need to adapt your watering. More important is particle size: Sifting and potentially removing the 1/8 to 1/16 fraction for larger pines (leaving it for junipers, smaller trees, deciduous, elongating species: larch, taxus, picea, tsuga, abies, etc).

So Chabasai is a zeolite? Can't find any information written in English about what this is and where it comes from...

 

[Anthony]

Akadama, I believe decomposes into clay and pumice.

 

[WNC Bonsai]

I have been avoiding akadama for the negative reasons listed above but have done a bit of research online. Its stability seems ot be related largely to how it is processed. Traditionally it seems ot have been just dug up, laid out in the sun to dry, and then used in the soil mix. In that context it would be little different than using dry clay particles. Current methods vary from thentraditional all the way up to baking it in ovens at very high temperatures (2200 F) which basically turns it into a near ceramic. Depending on which variety you purchase you may get soil that breaks down in the first freeze thaw cycle or thst lasts for years. So the important question to ask is how was it processed and what is it stability?

 

[JudyB]

Akadama, I believe decomposes into clay and pumice.

Seriously, you really believe that? You are joking right?

 

[Anthony]

@JudyB ,

left that information and direction to the source a few years ago.
You must have missed it.
Good Day
Anthony

 

[River's Edge]

Hi, I live in Korea. Large bags of Akadama (differeent sizes) and Hyuga Pumice (differeent sizes) arrived today. I could not find lava rock.


Will Akadama + Pumice work ok as a mix?

The correct answer is yes. Experiment with proportions for best balance in your situation. Be sure to wire tree in pots, as the mix is light without coarse sand or granite. Quality of the Akadama and Hyundai will determine how well they stand up to freeze/ thaw. Better quality products last a long time used properly. Best wishes.