AusBonsai

Howdy Folks,

Does anyone have any experience using this stuff? (See photos below) I have no experience (yet) with Akadama and I saw this. I didn't buy it but I did grab a couple of pallets as a sample.

It's intriguing stuff. Very smooth and hard ... to break it I had to stamp on it with a boot. Then it cracked in half - as opposed to crushing.

Inside it sort of looks like Scoria... still very hard. I have no idea what happen to it over time but in water - there is no immediate effect after a 20-minute soak.

Anyway - I wondered if anyone had any thoughts?

Cheers in advance.

Mark

Yes I have some that I use and reuse as a drainage layer.

It is way too big for trees.

As far as I know, gher are similar to "turface" that is used u
In the US for baseball pitches.
There are many comments online re the us in bonsai and like most soil components they have mixed results.
Some like it others hate it.

I think Brett did some experiments with it so check his old posts.

Ken

Thanks Ken, I must have had what my wife calls a 'man-look' the first time I searched. Perhaps I searched "fried clay" rather than "fired clay".

To anyone interested in this topic - here is amnestying excellent thread here viewtopic.php?f=12&t=40&hilit=fired+clay+bunnings

It's a deep thread with varied views but worth reading (I reckon). I find it interesting in the context of organic vs inorganic mixes. Seems to me to get close to the the discussion around hydroponics ... I am not a horticulturist nor indeed, am I a bonsai guru (indeed, bonsai goose would be a closer description) but I do find it interesting ... part of me wants to explore inorganic media and a very controlled fertilisation regime; part of me doesn't.

hmmm

Hi,
Just happened to read your notes today.
About 1979/80 I was working part time as demonstrator/sales rep for a company called "Luwasa" who sold hydroponic indoor plants to house wives on a party plan basis. Their sole growing medium was this fired clay balls. They sold plastic cup inserts with a water level floating gauge attached to place in expensive ceramic containers, and the bottles of hydroponic medium to add to the water. It was all rather nicely done, but I was a new mum and I hated selling to people who really couldn't afford such luxury plants, when a cheap soil one would have done the job just as well. Anyway, the medium was meant to be stable, that is non breaking down, and reusable IF your plant went byebyes .Only meant to hold a film of water on the surface for the roots to work between. Hope this explains a little of the purpose of fired clay balls.
V.