Fish Rocks From Hell

[Palmer67]

I have buckets of this stuff from aquariums. About 8 years ago I had planted fish tanks, CO-2 injected. Very cool stuff but we refinanced the house and put down expensive hardwood. So much for the gallons of water sitting in tanks, on my nice new floors. Now I have buckets of this gravel. It's granite and doesn't break down. It's about the size of Akadama or Perlite I think.

This should work good right?

 

[MrWunderful]

Its good if you want to make your substrate super free draining, but I dont think it will hold any water and has zero cation exchange capacity so it wont hold any nutrients. What is your goal with it?

 

[Lorax7]

It should have good drainage. It’s not going to hold much water or fertilizer, so you may want to mix it with some other components that will hold fertilizer and water better. But, it should be fine to use it as part of your mix.

 

[Palmer67]

Its good if you want to make your substrate super free draining, but I dont think it will hold any water and has zero cation exchange capacity so it wont hold any nutrients. What is your goal with it?

Good point! I should of mentioned that. I was thinking general soil for trees, either nursery or bonsai pots. I wouldn't use the rocks only, but in combination with other material. For water retention I could add clay/akadama, wood chips or maybe potting soil. I'm learning here in Seattle I need super fast draining soil and I admit that over watering is a problem for me. I'll take any tips I can get for a good soil combo in the wet Pacific Northwest.

 

[MrWunderful]

I know a lot of people in PNW use 1:1:1 akadama:lava: pumice and add akadama for more water retention, but I could see people adding granite in really wet areas.

You might want to steer clear of organic soil unless you are growing in beds/ground though, its generally not recommended for bonsai pots.

 

[Lorax7]

I don’t have a link to anything specific, but with a little Googling it shouldn’t be too hard to find out what Ryan Neil (Mirai) or Michael Hagadorn use for their soil mix. They’re the experts in your region.