# General > AquaTalk >  Anyone considered Wabi-Kusa?

## thomaspkc

I chanced upon this beautiful concept in the Style of ADA 2007 book, and thought that it looked just like bonsai. I went to my friendly LFS in JB and ADA distributor and asked about it. Wabi-Kusa balls (balls of mud with plants planted on them) are cheap actually, but with the plane ride over they can be very expensive. Had anyone ever tried to replicate it? I went digging for tutorials on doing one and found A LOT. Thought of sharing with you all:

* Wabi-Kusa Knowledge Base*
This thread describes the concept of Wabi Kusa and a few journals on making one.


*FelixAvery's Photo Guide for Wabi-Kusa*


*Plantnuts' Nano paludarium "Wabi-kusa" style*


*Steven Chong's Wabi Kusa


messy_da_legend's Wabi Kusa


shake's* *"Wabi-Kusa" bowl*


*FelixAvery's* *"two islands"* *Wabi-Kusa*

I don't mind trying this out, but with my limited knowledge of plants, I have no idea which submersed plant can be emersed as well. In fact I'm wondering what is that grass/reed-like plants in the ADA sample (the first pic). I think Wabi-Kusa can be a great gift!  :Grin:

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## bossteck

Nice! 

Seemed like the water got to be kept relatively still for such setup, which probably means no filters which probably means frequent water changes.  :Knockout:

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## illumnae

would it be a site for mosquito breeding?

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## luenny

> would it be a site for mosquito breeding?


Put in some small fishes like the one in Steven Chong's setup and your mosquito problem is solved.

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## doppelbanddwarf

Yup i think boraras sp. would do fine in such a setup. Have about 6 in a big tank or container and you can do minimal water changes too.

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## tcy81

what substrate to use to mix with base fert ?
normal garden soil ?

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## thomaspkc

> what substrate to use to mix with base fert ?
> normal garden soil ?


I think from the tutorials you can actually use soil from near the stream (provided you can find one nearby in the neighbourhood), else you can just use normal potting soil to do it. In fact I believe that normal potting soil, chicken dung fertilizers and lacterite would be sufficient, since that's how most plant trive in natural ponds.

But my question would be whether I can use the normal plants from my garden (moss and some clover-like plant) in my future wabi kusa? If my soil ball is only partially covered with water, would terrestial plants die?

Hmm...  :Confused:

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## Cacatuoides

will the soil ball breakdown and collapse?

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## tcy81

think need to try and experiment on this more.

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## vratenza

Reviving this...interesting zen concept...
Essentially, it's a terrarium with more water? :Roll Eyes: 

Anyone done this locally?

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## Czyne

Those setups would look great with some bromeliad tillandsias mixed in.
If you want to partially cover the soil ball with water, maybe hemianthus callitrichoides or eleocharis parvula would make a good ground cover since it's both aquatic and terrestrial. Lots of different mosses you could use also for beneath the water. Many true terrestrial plants would probably have their stems rot if you had the water line exceed the top of the mud they're rooted on, though.
I would think that potting soil (the kind sold in stores) would not compact together too well. Is there something that's recommended to add for bonding it together from your research?

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## footballe

happen to do one yesterday. my bonsai pot broke into half. quite difficult to achieve as I have only a small glass tank. The soil of the plant have to just touch the water level. only some hairgrass was planted in the submerged part of the tank. Sorry unable to take photo now as no camera.

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