Aggregate

stephentoddpope

hey, this guy who was helping me repot my juniper, said Aggregate is good, thats what we used, i am not sure what it is, or even if that how you spell it, would gravel, be the same thing, caue i can get, that but acn't find the other

__________________
"A Bonsai! A Bonsai! My kingdom for a Bonsai!"

William Shakespeare

Advertisement

KZitzewitz

Not knowing exactly what aggregate is either, I looked it up on dictionary.com, the definition seems to be generally
'To come together or collect in a mass or whole.'
But this was also a definition
'A mass, assemblage, or sum of particulars; as, a house is an aggregate of stone, brick, timber, etc. '
From this I gather that aggregate is more so a rock based or soil soil (i.e pumice, lava, cinder, akadama, kanuma) I think is what he is refferning to would be more along the lines of akadama. I am not sure where you are from, but I can only find the stuff for really expensive, or extremly expensive... if I can even find it (I believe Matt sells it here, and some other online stores do). So is what most of us use, is a soil conditioner, similar to akadama. Akadama is a naturally occuring fire clay in some japanese mountains. Soil conditioner is a human made fired clay pieces. The only differnece is Akadama seems to have more nutritional qualities. My suggestions would be to place your soil mix here so we can see what you use, and talk to him to find out what his Aggregate is.

__________________
--Kristopher

TreeBay

"Aggregate" as used here is a concrete and roadlayer's term used for any hard bits of inorganics (gravel, pumice, sand) that they add to the cement or asphalt to give it body and strength or to create a hard wearing surface.

So yes, various gravels and sands, chicken grit, pumice, lava (and other forms of volcanic ash), decomposed granite, oil-dry, rooflayer's granite or turface / terragreen and perlite would all qualify. This is basically a distinction between organic and inorganic amendments.

What you use to form the inorganic portion of your soil usually depends on what you can lay your hands on. The turface or Scott's Turf Builder* (baked, calcinated clay - 100% gypsum) is a good product and there have been suggestions for others. Perlite is usually too light and floats around. Lava is great too as long as it has been graded pretty small 1/16 to 1/8. Most of the Japanese soils, hyuga/akadama/kanuma are all volcanic ash of one kind or another. Harder materials last longer, porous materials can store moisture, materials with high cationic exchange ratio (CEC) are "sticky" to certain dissolved compounds like fertilizer.

Be sure to sift and rinse anything you add to your bonsai soil as the fines will impede drainage.

Regards,

Matt

P.S. Turf Builder has come as a brand name for all sorts of soil amendments and fertilizers. So look for the products that are 100% gypsum, not the topdress containing fertilizer. An example is the 40# bags of Shultz Clay Soil conditioner - that's 100% gypsum backed and graded. Still needs sifting though. Wear a mask.

__________________

Want to be a seller on bonsaiAUCTIONS? Get authorized today!

bonsaiTALK: Over 100,005.36 Megabytes Served this Month!

stephentoddpope

so, if i was to take a terracotta pot,and smash it up in to a bunch of little peices, i could use that instead, because i have tons of those

__________________
"A Bonsai! A Bonsai! My kingdom for a Bonsai!"

William Shakespeare

whidn

I recently came across the same idea in sorts.
A neighbor to my inlaws recently remodled his house and in the process he replaced some of that old clay drain pipe. (They quit making that stuff about 50 years ago) I stumbled across the pile in some overgrown scrubs while I was collecting wisteria. I cleaned it up for him, took it home, and with a 3 ib hammer let out some built up stress on it. I then sifted it and saved the larger peices for soil. I am still experimenting with it on 2 plants but I find that its working pretty well. It provides for good drainage and keeps the soil nice and loose.
I only wish I lived near a brick factory. There they smash up un usable bricks int tiny peices to recycle them. Im sure that they would be willing to let go of a bucket full of crushed up bricks for next to nothing.

__________________
Beginner From U.S.A.

If you skim when you read
Your knowledge will be skimpy

A lways
S eek
K nowledge

God, give me the wisdom to use it