Pine Bark? Orchid Mix? Same?

tachigi

Hey Mortalis, did some research on your Leca, you made it sounded promising. After some research I thought you might want to know some specifics. Leca is a plastic clay, primarily used for insulation. It can't absorb water thats its claim to fame. It does have air pockets like lava but roots can't penetrate plastic. You might want to rethink your use of this as a soil amendment, it has no real value except to take up space in your pot. Heres a link to the Leca site:
http://www.leca.dk/leca/we/home.nsf...y-about-leca%AE

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Tom

Shady Side Bonsai
Bonsai Vault
4MAAT

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cray13

rockm,

I think I remember hearing the sifting debate before and you definitely have far more experience than I. However, from my own limited experience with 6" bulb pots filled with 50/50 perlite and pine soil conditioner I've seen a huge difference with regards to drainage when I did not sift the soil conditioner to remove the fines. I have to agree, the sifting part is time consuming. Fortunately for me I have three eager little helpers that actually think its fun to sift soil .

rockm

"However, from my own limited experience with 6" bulb pots filled with 50/50 perlite and pine soil conditioner"

I do not use soil conditioner 50/50. That's way too heavy for bonsai. Sixty forty or 70/30 combined haydite, crushed granite, swimming pool filter sand/pine bark are typical for my use.

Mortalis

Hey tachigi, I dont think your research was very good.. Your websight is for the building material use of the stuff and does not mention that it can not absorbe water? where did you get that?.. Its a ceramic clay particle and "its claim to fame" is that It absorbs water and has great wicking action. I actualy water my trees by wicking action from the bottom. I have been growing three of my trees in pure LECA for a year and they are doing great. Spank you very much..

Here is the real info on it.. http://www.firstrays.com/primeagra.htm This stuff is used as both a hydroculture and normal medium. It absorbs water just fine.

Though if you use pure LECA you have to water once a day.

With research like that....

rockm

Before you get all huffy. A little up-front info from you would help everyone. Talk about the pot calling the Kettle black...The stuff you link to is called Primeagra, not LECA. I can't find a reference to LECA in that link. A better link which turns up immediately is here:

http://www.leca.dk/leca/we/home.nsf...y-about-leca%AE

If you had spelled out what LECA means (lightweight Expanded Clay Granule) and where it is called LECA (Europe), you might have gotten better response...

Mortalis

PrimeAgra is the Brand name.. There is also Hydroton, and Growlux, ect... That page just had good info on it.

http://www.growinhydro.com/index2.html


PrimeAgra ™ - LECA (Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregate)

tachigi

Mortalis, I wasn't dunning you. What you had mentioned in your first post interested me. I researched the word LECA, that link is what I came up with .... sheesh ... a simple redirection to what you use as you did above would have sufficed.

__________________
Tom

Shady Side Bonsai
Bonsai Vault
4MAAT

Graydon

Mortalis - that is a cool soil idea. Not sure I would adopt it but it sounds like it's working for you. I attached a photo from one of the sites you linked. Cool root growth.

It reminds me of my latest "experiment" using pure mahogany planer shavings as a soil. I throw so much of it in my dumpster I decided to take a bag full home and pot some stuff up. I did a JBP, a bald cypress and a vine of some sort. All three have fully colonized the pots in three months time. I'm going to leave it alone for one year and see at what point the mahogany starts to rot and collapse. I think the roots will have turned in to a useless mass before it does but we will see.

I got the idea from grafters that harden off cuttings and root stock over winter in boxes filled with saw dust and shavings.

Attached Images

1YR_6POT.jpg (30.4 KB, 48 views)

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Mortalis

Sorry, tachigi it seemed to me, that you eluded to the fact that I would use a soil amendment without researching it first. I kinda took offense to that. I spent no less than 1 month researching before I had the first piece of it in my hand.

I am sorry if I was a ___ ___ ___.. But I feel justified in being a ___ ___..

And rockm.. I do not get huffy.. I get perturbed or irritated.

By the way the two statements previous to this should be considered jocular.