Bonsai compendium

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L	M	N	O	P	Q	R	S	T	U	V	W	X	Y	Z	AA
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2		✼ = recommended for bonsai			For suggestions/full acces send an Email to: bavrije@gmail.com					Please leave comments anywhere to fill the void											¹	²	³	Shift+scroll = horizontal scrolling
3		Ձ = Data Confirmed by expert			Core					Extra							Physical properties							Other
4	✼	Ձ	Name	Type	Water retention	Drainage	Aeration	Cation Exchange Capacity	Root penetration	Root safety	Break- down	pH	Frost- proof	Floats in water	Average Costs	Country of Origin	Density	Weight to volume	Texture	Structure	Porosity	Chemistry	Colour	Alternative names	Remarks	Dutch Translation	Saved information

5	✓	Ձ	Akadama	Vulcanic Clay mineral	High	Very high	High	High	yes¹	yes	1-2 years	6,9	no	no									Dark Clay	Baked granular volcanic clay mineral, 赤玉土, Akadamatsuchi, Red ball earth	¹ This can be positive because it gives the roots more room to develop, but negative because it turns to mush and you'd have to replace the soil mix every 1-2 years.
6	✓		Turface	High fired Calcined clay	Medium	High	Medium				5 years		no¹	no									Light Clay	LICA expanded clay, Turface MVP. Brand name of Lightweight high fired Calcined clay aggregate.	Often used as top dressings. Relatively stable but can break down over time. ¹ Frost speeds up breakdown of Turface
7	✓		Pumice	Solid volcanic lava foam	High	High	High	Low	no		Indef.		no	yes				Light					White/Beige	Amorphous Aluminum Silicate, BIMS, Puimsteen	Good with Bark&clay based. Avoid 1-3mm. Vesicular properties. Floats in water.	Bims (+zeolite?)
8	✓		Scoria	Vulcanic rock	Low	Very high	Very high	Medium+	no		Indef.		yes¹	no				Heavy					Black/Red/Brown	Black Lava stone, Scoria, Lava rock, Lava stone, Vesicular vulcano basalt, Cinder	Vesicular properties. Sinks in water. ¹Does break down a tiny bit when frozen
9	✓		Perlite	Volcanic glass	Medium	Medium	Medium	Low	no		Indef. ¹		yes	yes				Light					White	Hydrated Obsidian	Heated to 850celcius. ¹ Crumbles with some pressure
10	✓	Ձ	Zeolite	Microporous mineral	Medium	High	High	Very High	no	yes	Indef.	7											Gray-Green	Microporous aluminosilicate minerals, Boilstone	Be carefull to select the right horticultural type of zeolite.
11	✓		Coir	Natural fibre	Exceptional	Medium	Low	Medium	yes	yes	2-4 years	6	yes	no				Light					Orange-Brown	Coir, Coconut fibre, coyer	Decent aeration despite very high water retention.		WR: 7x dry weight (30% more than Peat moss)
12	−		Peat moss		Medium¹	Low	Low		yes	yes	2-3 years	4-5	yes	no				Light					Brown	Sphagnum moss	Divided opinion on usage, can breakdown and cause clotting ¹ Actually retains very little water when completely dried out. Thorougly soak mix to recover retentive properties.		WR: 16-26x own weight
13	✗		Organic compost		High	Low	Very Low	Medium	yes	yes		5-7	no										Black-brown	Potting compost, Normal potting soil
14	-*		Diatomoaceous Earth	Sedimentary rock	Very High	High	High	Medium	yes		Indef. ¹		no											Diatomite, Kittydama, Catlitter, kieselguhr, siliceous sedimentary rock, Freshwater diatomite	* Can contain harmfull particles, so make sure you only work this material when thorougly moist. ¹ Crumbles easily. Be carefull to select the right horticultural type of Diatomite.
15	−*		Composted Bark		High	Medium¹	Medium/high	Low					yes												* A lot of different qualities pH levels, particle sizes and wood percentages % only use High grade horticultural Bark fibres. ¹Highly depends on state of decay
16	✓*		Chipped Pine Bark		High	Medium	High	Low				~5	yes¹												* Only high quality bark, for specific usages ¹can also help with retaining warmth in winter
17	✗*	Ձ	Vermiculite	Mica clay	Low¹	Low	Low⁴	Very high	yes	yes	<1 year	N	yes²	yes³	0,50/L			Light							*Can be harmfull to health. Is often used as toplayer on soil or when sowing seedlings. Breaks down quickly. Also used to break up clay soils ¹Water retention does improve when thorougly soaked ²Breaks down a bit when frozen; because of the short lifetime anyway, considered frost-proof. ³ Sinks when thorougly wet ⁴ Aeration highly depends on soil mixture, actually earates really well when used alone, also highly depends on wetness of the material.
18	✓		Coarse Sand		Very low	High¹	Medium¹	None	no		Indef.													Coarse river sand	¹Aeration and drainage highly depend on particle size
19	✗		Granite		None	High	High	None	no	yes	Indef.		yes											Chicken grit	High in calcium and magnesium, can cause root burn due to high salt levels. Especially in low pH soils.
20	✓*		Kanuma	Vulcanic	High	High	High	Low	yes		Indef.	5,5	yes	yes	Expensive	Japan							Beige	A kind of pumice	* Acidic soil, certain uses only.
21	−		Kiryu	Pumice?	Medium	High		Low				7	very		Expensive	Japan									Dense-like pumice
22	−		Ezo Grit		High			Low					yes		Expensive	Japan
23	✗		Fuji Grit/Sand	Volcanic ash	Medium											Japan
24	✗		Horticultural Grit	Crushed stone		Low								yes										Quartzite/granite
25	✓		Seramis		High	High	High	Low	no	yes¹	Indef.	7	yes		High	Germany									¹ Depends on the quality, the source and the amount of salt present.
26	✓		Hyuga	Volcanic rock	Low	Very high					4+ years					Japan								Japanese Pumice	Often with some granite
27	✗		White sand		Medium	Medium¹	Low¹	None																	¹Aeration and drainage highly depend on particle size
28	✗		Aquarium Gravel		None	Very high	High	None	no															Pea Shingle
29			Expanded slate
30			Calcined clay									>7
31			Expanded Shale		None
32			Frit
33	✓*		Humus	Organic root residue																					Plant residue after absorbing and using NPK fertilizer. * Isn't added to the mix, rather occurs over time. If too much is present, repot the plant. (2-3years depending on mix)
34	✓*		Crushed Charcoal	Charcoal	High	Medium	High	Medium¹	no²	yes³	3-4 years													Biochar, Agricultural Charcoal	* <5% used in mix. Charcoal is used as an absorbent of any toxicity. Be sure to use Agricultural Charcoal. ¹ Loads of uptake, even organic molecules (phenols, vitamins, sugars) but not a lot of release unless it starts breaking down. ² Roots don't penetrate untill breakdown (3-4 years) ³ Highly depends on state of charcoal, it's safe if it is clean and washed well to remove excess pottasium. EXTRA: Also used for wound treatment, reducing hormones, does not take up most pesticides and does not take up alcohols! Charcoal is no cure though, it aids.
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