Will Akadama and Pumice (no lava rock) work?

bonsaikorea

Seedling
Messages
10
Reaction score
2
Location
South Korea
USDA Zone
6B
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

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
6,384
Reaction score
10,586
Location
Netherlands
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

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
9,361
Reaction score
15,767
Location
Front Royal, VA
USDA Zone
6
No disrespect but you need to be discussing this with other people growing bonsai in Korea.
 
Messages
168
Reaction score
194
Location
Montreal, Canada.
USDA Zone
6a
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

Shohin
Messages
361
Reaction score
358
Location
Salt Lake City, UT
USDA Zone
6a
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

Pinus Envy
Messages
14,402
Reaction score
34,868
Location
NEGeorgia
USDA Zone
7a
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

Shohin
Messages
361
Reaction score
358
Location
Salt Lake City, UT
USDA Zone
6a
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

Queen of the Nuts
Messages
13,728
Reaction score
23,191
Location
South East of Cols. OH
USDA Zone
6a
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...
 

WNC Bonsai

Omono
Messages
1,853
Reaction score
2,016
Location
Western NC
USDA Zone
7b
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?
 

Anthony

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
6,290
Reaction score
8,386
Location
West Indies [ Caribbean ]
USDA Zone
13
@JudyB ,

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

River's Edge

Masterpiece
Messages
4,681
Reaction score
12,521
Location
Vancouver Island, British Columbia
USDA Zone
8b
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.
 
Top Bottom