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My Wabi kusa journey

Samjpikey

Member
Joined
22 Mar 2013
Messages
859
Location
Devon
Well yea as per the title ....
Giving the old wabi kusa a go . I haven't actually done a lot of research on the different methods but I have briefly read through the ones on ukaps and decided to give it a shot , another project involving aquatic plants !! Why not ;)

I found a glass bowl at home bargains for £2.99
190mmx 170 mm (not the biggest but big enough)

I made the light from some offcuts of wood from work , mitred them and glued it together, stained in a medium oak.

The bulb is a gu10 4 watt 4200kelvin 45 degree lense - £2.99 home bargains. I wired it up and it works brilliantly.

The plants I've used are from underwatergarden (eBay seller)
Echinodorus tenellus
Hydrocotyle Sp. Japan
Cryptocoryne Beckettii
Hc Cuba
Anubias nana

I've used java moss and spagnum moss for the wabi ball .

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The wabi ball is made with garden soil ( the soil is like a clay where I live) with a cat litter core ,
I was going to use Ada Amazonia but I didn't want to open the sealed bag just for a little bit .
I'm hoping that the cat litter will absorb the nutrients from the water and then sufficiently provide the plants with what they need .
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Once the ball was made I wrapped it in spagnum moss with fishing line followed by a some java moss
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I then planted all the plants with tweezers , made a nice hole and pushed them straight in .
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I really don't know how I managed to get all the plants that I did onto the ball but wabi kusa are meant to be wild so at least I'm on the right track ;)

I poured in some sand and placed a few lava rocks into the bottom for my wabi ball to sit on.
I'm hoping the moss will slowly creep over the lava rocks (hoping)
The ball just about fitted through the opening hahah, I added some dry ferts into some water and poured in so the bottom of the ball is slightly submerged .
I have no idea how much ferts to mix Into the water I just dosed Ei as per 500ml . Also not entirely sure how often to change the water .
Misted the plants with water then covered with cling film
I'm planning to spray about 3 times a day for the 1st week then reduce it over 3-4 weeks along with slightly opening the cling film untill it completely acclimatized.
I've also set the light for 10hours a day, and again I'm not sure if this is the norm .
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Cheers ;)

I have no idea how this is going to turn out or if it fails miserably. But I'm hoping it grows in nicely .


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That looks brilliant, I'm really impressed how good it looks. Makes me want to have a go.

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I really don't know how I would fit any more plants in there but I'll take note of that one ;)

I think there should be a dedicated section for wabi kusas
They are only small and I guess they don't take up much time at all so I recommend doing one.



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wow very impressed mate and thanks for sharing how you done it, like you say I think I will watch yours and off works out give it a go lovely on kitchen bench or small living room table , will be watching progress mate and I hope fills in nicely, obviously they all low light plants ?

Dean
 
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Just an update pic ,

All seems to be growing fine , give it a month or 2 and this will be a bushy interesting thing to look at :)


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This is my window cill version , it's been completely sealed for over a month, it has some soil ,10ml of water and I've glued the cap on , it's actually an old tequila bottle from Mexico. The plan is to leave it forever ;)


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Just an update pic , at the moment I spray this twice a day , I haven't changed the water in the bottom for a few weeks and it actually has a surface scum and smells funny hahah I'm just lazy and won't change it or clean the glass , but all is growing well ;)


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Wow,....that's looking magical mate. And this being your first attempt at it makes it even better. Congratulations Sam on an amazing wabi kusa....you are a natural:)
 
Careful of bga in the water mate it creeps in out of sight. Looks great dude

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Settling in very nicely mate:). I am imagining your house with so many little green corners set up at strategic places :). Such an eye candy to return to after a hard day's work.
 
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