Communis dying in Akadama

[AlainK]

Climate <=> Soil

Best soil mix here, no good there maybe.

 

[Vance Wood]

Climate <=> Soil

Best soil mix here, no good there maybe.

I doubt anything as esoteric as that, I think it is more likely an issue of the gradual change of the soil structure causing the development of some sort of phytofatora style fungal infection to set it in and kill the tree. I believe this is the same issue that causes the demise of a lot of Mugos.

 

[leatherback]

I see them in the wild in both sandy forests (transition forests; pines and oaks, sandy soils and very little nutrients) and in sand flats (poor soils, mostly rock and sand).
They don't seem to grow anywhere else around here.

This is, at least in part, a competition thing. These grow very slow in our part of the world. And many places have good growing conditions for other trees and shrubs. They are just competed out of light. I personally believe that the increase in nutrients are one of the reasons for the demise of junipers in the Netherlands. There is just too little open space for the seeds to get enough sun to germinate and establish themselves.

hat I know about Akadama is the fact that after two or three years it starts to break down. It is probable that it is the breaking down and the change in the structure of the substrate that is the problem.

This iswhy do not use it anymore. The repeated freeze-thaw cycles we get in combination with the wet nature of our winters kills akadama in 2 years. I have lost a number of trees to unnoticed clay forming in the pots.

Just today we realized on the Dutch forum how variable the weather is in the coastal zone. Where I live 200km from the coast, I have had several nightfrosts this week, with enough frost to freeze the pots completely at night, yet have rain and warm weather during the day. Overall we have had 6 or 7 nightfrosts so far this season. Closer to the coast some of these dutchies have not seen a single frost this fall/winter yet.