Kanuma soil and PH?

Anderson - For a deeper dive on the use of Akadama (and some info on Kanuma) see this post where I link to a site that documents the origins and possible alternatives to Akadama.Akadama Curious

The two clays are quite similar, but with far more leaching of iron from the Kanuma. I suspect Kanuma represents the idea soil for some azalea, but there are as many ways to blend soils together as there are bonsai practitioners. I would say that if you had to substitute some Kanuma for Akadama or vice versa, you will not see too much difference. Kanuma being lighter in iron, you might want to supplement that at fertilization time?

Any others have better advice out there for Anderson? Please weigh in…with respect to making soils work for different species, I am an unranked amateur. At our bonsai club, the experienced fellows and gals can make anything grow well in all manner of soils from straight pumice to pure Akadama to just “pine bark” which around here really means fir bark. The primary thing is to match the drainage and nutritional needs of the tree, and there seems to be multiple ways to make that happen.

I will be potting up with some Oregon clay-rich soils later this winter/early spring…so stay tuned for that. Just ordered 24 pond baskets and have 10 gallons of the Oregon clay to mix with the pumice/lava that I have pre-sorted and ready to incorporate.

But first, the crazy late winter snow/freezing event to get through!