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brick 10 years 1 month ago #10537

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hi guys. i have a theory concerning brick. the well known building material is a baked clay. so it got me wondering, can brick, obviously broken up, be used as a soil like akadama on its own or as a mixture. i think it might be possible. i'm not probably going to try it until i know it might be safe, but i was wondering what you may make of it.
any comment will be fine

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brick 10 years 1 month ago #10539

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Why would you want to?

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brick 10 years 1 month ago #10540

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Brick is fired and very hard, it would be very difficult to crush to a reasonable size to be useful.Akadama is dried not fired. There are many other products available without going to extremes

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brick 10 years 1 month ago #10555

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you're right, it is fired, there are some other fired soils, it is hard to crush, but possible. and it is not going to extremes, it is trying new things, and if it is possible, you can get brick for free. it can absorb water, not too much, and can drain freely, so you could mix it with some potting compost. it may be possible.

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brick 10 years 1 month ago #10558

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I agree, why would you want to? You can get an entire bag of Turface MVP for like $17. My time is more valuable than trying to reinvent the wheel. Besides you could never get the consistency of the size to be right.

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brick 10 years 1 month ago #10559

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Something we agree on!!!?? It is true there is no way that you would get the sizes small enough and consistant to be useful. It would not absorb water either. If my trees which cost me quite a lot of money are not worth paying for some decent soil then what is the point of having them?
I have used thermablock to plant on, but that is different.

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brick 10 years 1 month ago #10582

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OK, i won't use it, but they can absorb water, in the floods at somerset, the bricks absorb up to 1 liter per brick in a house.

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brick 10 years 1 month ago #10584

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Yes something we agreed on I suppose LOL :)

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brick 3 years 3 months ago #64946

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I came here to tell you I’m in search of brick particles because of this knowledgeable bonsai person (master?)



Brick particles keep for a long time, absorb water and great for drainage. Problem is I think you have to DIY and screen the sizes.

I don’t like akadama bc it breaks down too quickly and is not worth the money.

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brick 3 years 3 months ago #64951

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OK, thank you for the info.

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