Can I ask how much a bag of imported pumice goes for down south???
Rich - Honestly I have no idea. I vend to Bonsaimonk wholesale and they reciprocate by selling me any of their products at wholesale. I will not receive the bill for a few weeks. I believe she said it will sell retail for the same as the other pumice which is $25 for 16 liters. It's the freight that gets expensive down south or east coast. That's why I try to pick up things like soil components myself while traveling in the car.
Tom - I have purchased the river sand you describe from Dallas Bonsai before and this is not the same stuff. I was hoping it was as I really likes the coarseness and lack of absorption of that sand in my mix but this is a partial volcanic product that will crush if you apply pressure.
Actually there are three distinct particles in this mix. The darkest and the lightest color are a sand that will not crush under finger pressure. The mid color particle will crush and seems a bit like akadama but harder. I would compare it to a product Dallas Bonsai sells (or did sell) that was a mix of akadama and sands. I just checked their site and could not find it but found it described in
this newsletter. I purchased some a year ago and really loved it except for the price. I think this may be the same type mix. Now that I have opened it and fiddles around with it I think I'm gonna need some more.
Attached are photos of the bag of the other pumice I use, the bag of the new stuff in question and a close up of the new stuff wet and dry.