Transcript:
Welcome to another video, so I’m going to be showing you some cactus and succulent substrates that I recently got from Kaizen bonsai here in the UK. I found out about this website through claire of Cactus Cove here on Youtube. She recently got some substrates from there and one in particular. Look quite interesting, so I picked my curiosity in. I made an order, so thank you to Cactus Cove for making me Aware of this website. I shall add a link up above and in the description below to her channel, so do go over and check her videos out. She makes awesome content. Uh, cactus, unboxing seed, sewing and all that good stuff. So another reason I’m happy. Claire recommended. This site is their prices, especially the pumice. The place I was getting my pumice from was relatively cheap. They’ve doubled the price of it recently and I don’t particularly want to spend 30 quid on a small bag of hummus. Anyway, I’ll show you what’s arrived. I’ve already taken the bags out of the boxes because they’re huge and quite heavy, so it’ll be easier to show you each one talk a little bit about them and some of them tell you what intend to do with them. So first up is a big bag of coarse pumice with a particle size of around 7 to 13 millimeters. So at the time of purchase, this was 11 pounds 95 for this 14 liter bag, so its way cheaper than the other. I was buying so with this one. As the particle size is large, i’ll be using it for bigger plants with bigger root systems. Yeah, I absolutely love Pumice. I think if I had to choose just one mineral component for my plant. It would be pumice plants. Love it, and since using it in my mix, I’ve noticed just how much better the plants look. They develop really nice root systems grown in pumice as well. So yeah, just some of the advantages of using pumice, the porous nature of pumice allows it to hold vital nutrients in its microscopic surface pores, which helps regulate fertilizer feedings. It’s an excellent conditioner for soils that need increased aeration and drainage, so it’s absolutely perfect for cacti and succulents, its inorganic, so it will not decompose or compact over time, meaning it functions continuously and can be recycled and reused, Its ph neutral hummus doesn’t attract or host fungi, nematodes or insects, and it dries out fast and will not compact or become soggy. Yeah, that’s just some of the many benefits of using pumice and I highly recommend using it. Next up is a finer grade of pumice same size bag and same price as the coarse pumice has all the same benefits. It’s just a smaller particle size, so it’s perfect for smaller plants and plants with finer root systems. At the time of recording. This video Kaizen bonsai is unfortunately sold out of this product, But I’m sure they’ll get more in stock. I hope they do anyway, because I want to get some more next up. We have a type of lava rock. This is called LA Pillow or Lapilli. It’s quite similar to the Scoria I’ve been using, but it has a bigger particle size of 5 to 10 millimeters. I’ve noticed this has way more holes in it as well, which is perfect. So for this bag? It was 11 pounds 45 for 10 kilograms and like the pumice, It’s, uh, cheaper than what I was paying for the scoria that I’ve been using. It Just looks like a much nicer material as well. So some benefits of using this. The porosity of the material averages 50 to 60 percent by volume. The pillow has, uh, high levels of iron, magnesium and other minerals well to plant health, It’s 100 frost proof and can be sieved out and reused. Many times high AFP. Air filled porosity promotes strong, dense, routing It’s ph neutral, as well in kaizen bonds. I actually recommend using this in conjunction with their other products like pumice to create free draining long-lasting mineral-rich growing environment for your plants. Next we have some akadama. You know, I’ve been wanting to get some of this for a while. A lot of Haworthia growers use this and a lot actually grow their haworthia and pure Akadama. Not sure if I’ll be doing that, I’ve mainly got this to use as a top dressing for Horthia. I think it looks really nice when they’re top dressed with it. So this is a seven liter bag and the price was nine pounds 25 particle size is two to five millimeters. Yeah, academia is very popular with bonsai growers as well because of its ability to retain water and nutrients while still providing porosity and free drainage, It’s usually quite a soft material and it does break down over time, but mixing it with harder materials like lava rock can help prevent that and there’s different grades. You can get as well. The Acadama I’ve got here is hard grade. This stuff is also great for rooting plants and as well, so that’s something else I’ll be using it For. So The benefits of Vacadama include it’s able to retain water and nutrients within its microscopic pores and cavities while draining off any excess water, It’s perfect for rooting cuttings, Akadamas color darkens when moist, which can help grow and determine when to water, a plant. Medium particle size is suitable for all kinds of potted plants, especially for cacti and succulents, looks great as a top dressing. The ph value of Akadama is 6.5 to 6.9 so it’s slightly acidic, so it’s great for plants that prefer a more acidic mix. And finally we have some keodama. This is Kaizen Bonsai’s own version of it. They call Ste. Yeah, this is actually one of the product’s Cactus Cove showed in her video. That piqued my curiosity. I wanted to try some of this out. It’s a super hard absorbent fired clay product two to five millimeter particle size and for this five kilogram bag price was 5.95 so the benefits of using this include neutral ph lasts indefinitely in the pot and can be reused. Good nutrient holding capacity retains a lot of moisture while maintaining good air circulation, improved root, mass improved drainage, less root loss over winter and Kaizen bonsai also recommends this to be mixed with other products like akdama and pumice and it can be used as a direct lightweight replacement for horticultural grit. Which is what I’m probably going to use it for. And finally I’ve got a load of these square plastic pots. They’re not fantastic quality, but I mainly got them for sowing seeds in and using them for when I put up ceilings and bigger community pots. They’ll be perfect for that. So, yeah, some other things I’ll be doing is, uh, making up some mixes. Using different combinations of these substrates, I’ll use the same type of plants in each mixture, then over the weeks and months, we’ll monitor their growth and see which plants are doing the best. So for example, we can do a mix using pumice kayadama and some compost or the pillow, Kaidama and some agadama and some compost. Yeah, we’ll do a few different combinations and see which one is working the best and we’ll do some porosity and drying tests as well. So yeah, stay tuned for that video and actually, if there’s a certain, uh, combination, you want me to use here, then let me know in the comments, and we usually test it out. Yeah, I’m actually looking forward to trying out some different mixes, Especially the Kaiadama. That looks very interesting. Let me know as well. If you plan to use any of these, or if you already use some of them in your mixes, I’d be very interested to know how your plants are doing in them and don’t be afraid to try out some different things with your plants. If some of your plants aren’t doing well, then a lot of the time that can actually be down to what they’re growing in, I know in the past with their using different composts and those nasty pre-made ones, my plants absolutely hated it if they like what they’re growing in. Then they’re going to be happy, healthy plants. Another important thing is get to know your plants look up information online about them and what they actually grow in in their natural environment whether they prefer acidic or more alkaline soils and things like that and try and recreate that as best you can, there’s lots of information out there and always something new to learn when it comes to cacti and succulents, and that’s just one of the many awesome things about growing these plants, so thank you once again to Cactus Cove for recommending Kaizen bonsai. Thank you to them as well for supplying these substrates. I’ll just say as well. That delivery was fast. It only took a few days and the postage cost was fairly reasonable, as well at 14 pound, which isn’t bad considering the weight of all these bags. Yeah, I’m pretty sure. Kaizen bonsai shipped worldwide as well. So if you’re not in the UK, you can still order from them. Thank you very much for watching guys. Please remember to like comment and subscribe hit that notification Bell as well to be notified. When I upload a new video, you will be safe and well and I shall see you next time. Bye for now! you!