Has anyone here actually tried NutraAgg? If so, how did it compare to Akadama and DE?

Horticulture
1

Just for the sake of it, this repotting season I purchased a small 2lb bag of nutraagg from American Bonsai to test on some of my cheap nursery stock trees as an akadama substitute. I plan on using it in a standard mix of 1:1:1 nutraagg, pumice, and scoria, and I’ll see how the roots it produces compare to akadama in a few years. However, I was curious if anyone here has already given it a shot and whether it actually worked as well as akadama (as it’s essentially advertised to) or not.

2

I have seen NutraAgg as well, however, I have not tried it personally. Looking at the supplied soil information provided when you buy other products from AB, I wonder if it is anything other than DE but of larger particle size. There is no information provided as to what the particle is composed of or what the substrate actually is… I’m very interested and have been considering as substitute for my DE from Napa #8822.

3

What actually is it? Their website doesn’t seem to provide any information on what it is besides the brand name NutraAgg, but from the pictures, especially the wet/dry picture it seems to just be overpriced D.E. I can get 50lb bags of Optisorb D.E. for $9, which is equivalent or maybe even more volume than a 5 gallon bucket. Seems like kind of a ripoff to be honest.

4

If you want a larger particle size D.E. than Napa, definitely check out Optisorb first.

5

Thanks for the info! I was sifting some out today and I definitely think you’re onto something, I’m pretty sure it’s just overpriced Optisorb with the fines pre-sifted, lol. Kind of a ripoff, but now I know at least. How has Optisorb worked for you? I’m curious how it compares to akadama.

6

I was using Napa the last couple years, I just got some optisorb so will be repotting a bunch of trees into it so we’ll see how it goes. I just started another thread on DE and some others are sharing their experience with optisorb over there.

7

@ndavila80 , @Mike_Hennigan , @Jaron.Colorado
5 years in, you guys still using NutraAgg, Napa floordry, of Optisorb? Maybe trying something else?
Any observations or comments?
Bonsai On!
KP