Any experience with Ibuki Studio soil

Horticulture
1

Hello,
was wondering if any members have experience with Ibuki Studio soil (esp. their Akadama)?

Thanks

2

A friend shipped some over to the UK last year and so I decided to trial some. I normally use akadama/pumice/lava in varying proportions. It’s obviously too early to comment on breaking down etc. but those particular trees thrived last year(bearing in mind it was their first repotted year) and I had no drainage issues. I used the fired akadama/pumice mix. The colour was not what I expected but that was just based on my experience of conventional pumice.

3

Hey.

Yes I’ve been buying Mariusz’s akadama for two years now as it’s really the most reasonably priced that I’ve found in the area. I’m living in Brno. I’ll be mostly likely buying more this year as I’ve run of of the larger, 4-6mm size.
I haven’t tried the fired akadama but that seems, to me at least, that it must loose the good qualities we want in akadama. I think if you want the fired akadama then you might as well go the Terramol (should be diatomaceous earth) route.

4

The reason that I wanted to try the fired is that he says he did a lot of experimentation with the firing temperature. The idea was not to give a rock hard substrate but to still allow it to break down for fine root development without breaking down so much in European rainy weather. As you say if it was fired too high then it would lose the benefits that we get from it. My existing soil mixes work well for me but like many enthusiasts I enjoy experimenting to see if we can improve more.

5

I see your point. I don’t have any experience with it myself but when I was writing with him he simply said it was fired. If you do try it, write back on here :slight_smile: I’d be interested to hear about it as well.

6

As I say I have a few trees planted in it but too early to tell about any results. I will post again.

1 Like
7

so, update #1.

got my order placed with Ibuki and it was a pleasure to deal with Mariusz. Soils arrived in a timely fashion. Bags had very little dust/broken down particles in them.
As for the response of the trees. Guess we will have to wait as @Blown55 already stated, too early to tell.

8

So far all I can say is that everything planted in the mix is doing well this year. I’ve had no unusual problems and growth has been strong. At this point I am happy. The interesting time will be when I first re-pot a tree that has been in the mix for a few seasons.