bonsaiTALK Community - View Single Post - The Water absorption of 4 Bonsai Soil Types

"Kiriyu is really not worth the trouble imho, it is expensive and has little added value exept for its color maybe. I’d replace the Kiriyu in you mix with a cheap gravel, and adjust the ratio of my mix a bit."

Been a while since I read up on it, but I recall Kiryu sand to have one of the higher CEC values making it quite attractive. Slight work to further results into water volume retained per cubic soil volume with common volume unit would be interesting and move towards more refined comparable data

I understand your interest in water absorption magitude of various materials. But also very important is the negative pore pressure and related suction properties associated with these voids in the materal that have taken up some water. If suction of material is high the tree roots will have little success getting all but the surficial water out in a timely manner. Akadama holding 20% more water is not a preference to me if it can't deliver it in time for the trees optimum needs just for example.

I'm more interested in a balanced delivery of the water over time with a high CEC which I suspect many of us are.

You did some lab work which most don't get to do, thanks for posting your info. If I get some other soils I might supplement this, I've got a full soils lab available for easy access.

5-Oct-2006	#10
Happy Gilmore bonsaiTALK Expert Join Date: Oct-2003 Location: Vancouver, BC Country: Canada USDA Zone: 8 AHS Heat Zone: ? Posts: 159	"Kiriyu is really not worth the trouble imho, it is expensive and has little added value exept for its color maybe. I’d replace the Kiriyu in you mix with a cheap gravel, and adjust the ratio of my mix a bit." Been a while since I read up on it, but I recall Kiryu sand to have one of the higher CEC values making it quite attractive. Slight work to further results into water volume retained per cubic soil volume with common volume unit would be interesting and move towards more refined comparable data I understand your interest in water absorption magitude of various materials. But also very important is the negative pore pressure and related suction properties associated with these voids in the materal that have taken up some water. If suction of material is high the tree roots will have little success getting all but the surficial water out in a timely manner. Akadama holding 20% more water is not a preference to me if it can't deliver it in time for the trees optimum needs just for example. I'm more interested in a balanced delivery of the water over time with a high CEC which I suspect many of us are. You did some lab work which most don't get to do, thanks for posting your info. If I get some other soils I might supplement this, I've got a full soils lab available for easy access.