No one will make me change from what I find is the best substrate for most of my trees. I use Kanuma for the Azaleas. There was a friend of mine who had a huge collection, and because of his work he used a heavy soil mix so that they did not dry out so quickly. After he died his collection was sold and I bought several of his trees. I know other who also bought some. He had a BIG problem. When I re potted the trees VINE WEEVIL. Others had them too. The vine weevil seems to hate Akadama. I bought a bottle of Provado, but in 15 years I have not opened it.
As I said before it is a matter of opinion, not prejudice, the fact it is called cat litter is irrelevant to me, so, we will agree to disagree and use what suits us. Here freezing conditions, and as I said I keep as many of my trees as I can under cover to keep the rain off. This helps. I have several trees not re potted for 5 years in Akadama, and the soil is fine.
So, That's my last bit
Geoff.

I don't think that you can use ANY cat litter as a substitute to Akadama. I would go for Akadama soil myself but I was reading about it online and stumbled across an article on bonsai4me.co.uk about using a Tesco Low Dust Cat Litter instead. It was compared there head to head too and they are very similar. The guy actually got in touch with manufacturers of it and apparently it's made out of burned clay and produced in Denmark.

"Tescos Low Dust Lightweight cat litter is a 'Moler Clay' and originates from Denmark, exported by a Scandinavian company - Damolin. Moler Clay is a type of Diatomaceous Earth or 'Diatomite'. "

There are couple of products that are made out of same material, for instance: they export that burned clay particles to USA and sell it as industrial liquid absorbent. So it's not really about what it says on the bag but who is it made by and what is it made from.

The thing is a big bag of Tesco Low Dust costed me about £3.20 for a 10L bag... and I've grabbed it when I popped out to Tescos to pick some beers up too which is handy. I probably don't have to tell you how much is Akadama and how long you have to wait after ordering online...

Also I've got one of my trees growing in it and it seems really happy so far.

Tom

EDIT:

Here you go: www.bonsai4me.com/Basics/Basicscatlitter.htm

m5eaygeoff wrote:

As I said before it is a matter of opinion

It most certainly is not a matter of opinion.
It can be my opinion that my Juniper will do well in ground rubber tires, but that opinion will not make my juniper do well.

As said though, I'm not trying to convince you. You know your trees, your environment and climate, and you will need to decide yourself what is best for your trees.

spuker1 wrote:

I don't think that you can use ANY cat litter as a substitute to Akadama.

Correct.

apparently it's made out of burned clay and produced in Denmark.

Must be the stuff that was discussed and recommended on the Dutch forum - I know that was from Denmark

There are couple of products that are made out of same material, for instance: they export that burned clay particles to USA and sell it as industrial liquid absorbent. So it's not really about what it says on the bag but who is it made by and what is it made from.

Maybe they should give it a new name, sell it as bonsai soil, and double the price

They probably could. Funny enough, somewhere in the middle of that article is a picture of Swedish (I think) equivalent of UK Tesco Low Dust cat litter with instructions at the back saying that it's good for potting plants with step by step pictures

Baked clay has been used as potting media for a long time, especially in aquaponics. www.ehow.com/list_7466728_types-aquaponics-mediums.html

People that claim that their plants died of it, have been using the wrong kitty liotter (Note: if it sais: Clumping on the bag you have the WRONG type).

Allow me to quote Walter Pall (walter-pall-bonsai.blogspot.de/2010/06/f...atering-english.html), one of the most controversial bopnsai growers (Due to him not having a formal training, let aloine Japan time under the belt, and therefor doing what makes sense to him):

Good substrate material must: be of equal particle size, have the ability to absorb water and release it back, have no fine particle organic material, must not decompose easily, be as lightweight as possible when dry, preferably inexpensive and should have an aesthetically pleasing appearance. This would then be: lava, pumice, baked loam, Turface, zeolite, Chabasai (a type of zeolite), coconut pieces, bark pieces, Styrofoam pieces (no joke) and a few more which you can find yourself if you have understood the principles. Please note: Some of these materials may not be available in your area.

Normal akadama is questionable as a good substrate as it inevitably decomposes, especially when exposed to winter frost. It can become deadly loam in the pot, choking the flow of water and air into the soil. This is especially true for trees which are only rarely repotted, like collected conifers and old bonsai in general.

Substrates which are not useful: soil, compost, stones, sand etc. Trees grow in sand and flower soil, of course, but it is not an optimal growing medium for health in bonsai culture.
All substrates can be mixed according to your liking and it makes almost no difference. They can also be recycled and used again, but make certain to sift and clean any recycled materials as needed.

There is no such thing as an 'ideal bonsai substrate'. There are in fact thousands of ideal substrates. I believe that IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT YOU USE AND IN WHAT MIXTURE as long as it is a modern substrate.

From a biofysiology perspective I completely agree, and use this fylosophy for my substrates.

Well this has been a very enlightening discussion. Certainly different perspectives have been exposed. Now I can take a better informed decision based on this topic. I must say though that I live right in the middle of Spain. That means that my weather is continental, being pretty hot in summer and cold (but rarely freezing) in winter. Also, rain it is almost nonexistent most of the year. That said... I think I might experience a bit with both substrates and compare by myself how would my trees endure the different mixes, since I won't be risking my Akadama to possibly turn into loam.

So I say thank you all

Repotted all my trees but one this spring in Tesco dust free cat litter with about 20% fine pine bark. So far the only tree that is not looking too bright is the one that I didn't re pot.The rest are growing better than I have seen them grow before and are looking very healthy so far.

couldn't remember how to get quote to work.my minie strokes got most of my memory.

I agree with alain ,[Well this has been a very enlightening discussion].

also found this on home page of site when I first came to it have read and watched most every thing on it just my 2 cent's worth..
www.bonsaiempire.com/basics/bonsai-care/bonsai-soil
good information thank you all.

Dave

alainleon1983 wrote:

I´ve been doing some research about soils, particularly Akadama, and I´ve come up with a doubt... What is the difference between Akadama Jirushi, Akadama Ibaraki and Akadama Tokoname?Alain

Hi guys... After sometime now I´ve finally found the difference between these 3 types of Akadama and I wanted to share it with you. In any case, if someone else comes with the same doubt, this hopefully might be of help. I got in touch with my local dealer and here is the response:

"The best of the three and recommended for long term cultivation in climates with lots of rain and freezing temperatures would be, unquestionably, the Akadama Tokoname. This type of Akadama is baked at high temperatures making the granules much harder, hence degradation diminishes accordingly. The problem, of course, would be the price, it is remarkably expensive.

Akadama Ibaraki is the one with the best quality/price ratio, a few years ago it was called Double Red Line, but the factory that manufactured it changed its owner and it has improved its quality, specially the cleaning process. It does not come anymore with root remnants as it used to be when it was known as Double Red Line. The granule remains stable enough to hold together and won´t disintegrate in a continental weather at least in a 2 to 3 years span without any need of repotting.

Akadam Jirushi is similar to Ibaraki, even a bit better in granule hardness, but on the contrary, it is not well sieved and the bag contains a higher percentage of granules of a size that is inferior to the 2mm mark."

Well, my intention it is not to promote a further discussion on Akadama, right now I´m just stating the facts that the dealer has already transmitted to me. I do this because this topic remained unanswered on behalf of its original question, which was the difference between three types of Akadama. Also, I´m hoping that this can be of help for anyone else that might encounter such products and won´t know what to do. At least, now we could make our call based on some facts.

Again... Thank you all for listening!

Alain