Pseudo (or Quasi) Iwatsuki/Ishizuki

[kentaki]

Those of who do bonsai are probably familiar with ishizuki bonsai. You can do this with some orchids such as Dendrobium moniliforme, Ponerorchis graminifolia and such. Usually, volcanic porous rocks or stones are used, but I used Seiryû stone wannabe because they would look better. But first I had to treat these rocks with vinegar to remove basic component. It took several days and five gallons of vinegar.

Typically, keto tsuchi is used to adhere plants and moss, but apparently, it is not available in the U.S. I read somewhere you could substitute with a mixture of clay and peat, but that did not work well, either. Basically, I partially filled crevices with sphagnum moss and then inserted Amitostigma tuberoids. Moss was something I just used temporary, and I had to keep moisten for the duration of the exhibit.

I initially used pumice to fill space between rocks for the MAOC show, and it was ok. I was not able to draw wave patters you see in stone gardens. So I bought white aquarium sand, but still did not work with a fork. I still need to work on execution, but it looks decent for the first time.