Beng
Omono
Don't usually get involved in the soil debate but I thought i'd share my thoughts and experience on this.
Does akadama break down? Of course it does over time, but the way it breaks down doesn't form a mass that is in any way a bad place for roots to reside. Pure akadama will break down into a mass of pure akadama, mixed with some fertilizer and other nutrients.
I think that those who complain about akadama breaking down haven't been taught how to properly pot with it. Akadama must be sifted, mixed, and chopsticked completely dry or it will fall apart. Once it absorbs moisture its twice as easy to crush. The japanese have been using it for hundreds of years without problems, why do we suddenly have a problem? We have a problem cause many of us have been taught the wrong ways to use it. Soaking root balls before hand, or soaking the mix before hand, or spraying the mix before hand. All of these are wrong. Trees should be repotted into DRY soil, and they shouldn't be repotted until their old soil is almost dry. Akadama is an excellent component in fact combined with pumice you can get rapid healthy growth. Used by itself you can sustain an old tree potentially forever. Do a test yourself crush a piece of high fired akadama between your fingers, then soak the same piece and try again. Try chopsticking a cup of dry akadama and see if it falls apart. Try chopsticking a cup of dry akadama and dry pumice. Then try chopsticking the same cup with half akadama and half lava and let me know your results for the amount of tan fines created below. Then put the tree components akadama with any of the other two wet and post your results below once the dust settles and it dries.
I think you will find like I have that dry akadama is a great component on it's own and combined with pumice dry. But that by wetting it and then chopsticking it we drastically decrease the mediums ability to hold its shape and turn it into a lower quality mush.
Japan has several areas that exp. the same freezes as the majority of our east coast. Granted I don't think they have any areas as cold as Northern North Dakota.
Ben
Does akadama break down? Of course it does over time, but the way it breaks down doesn't form a mass that is in any way a bad place for roots to reside. Pure akadama will break down into a mass of pure akadama, mixed with some fertilizer and other nutrients.
I think that those who complain about akadama breaking down haven't been taught how to properly pot with it. Akadama must be sifted, mixed, and chopsticked completely dry or it will fall apart. Once it absorbs moisture its twice as easy to crush. The japanese have been using it for hundreds of years without problems, why do we suddenly have a problem? We have a problem cause many of us have been taught the wrong ways to use it. Soaking root balls before hand, or soaking the mix before hand, or spraying the mix before hand. All of these are wrong. Trees should be repotted into DRY soil, and they shouldn't be repotted until their old soil is almost dry. Akadama is an excellent component in fact combined with pumice you can get rapid healthy growth. Used by itself you can sustain an old tree potentially forever. Do a test yourself crush a piece of high fired akadama between your fingers, then soak the same piece and try again. Try chopsticking a cup of dry akadama and see if it falls apart. Try chopsticking a cup of dry akadama and dry pumice. Then try chopsticking the same cup with half akadama and half lava and let me know your results for the amount of tan fines created below. Then put the tree components akadama with any of the other two wet and post your results below once the dust settles and it dries.
I think you will find like I have that dry akadama is a great component on it's own and combined with pumice dry. But that by wetting it and then chopsticking it we drastically decrease the mediums ability to hold its shape and turn it into a lower quality mush.
Japan has several areas that exp. the same freezes as the majority of our east coast. Granted I don't think they have any areas as cold as Northern North Dakota.
Ben
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