Dream of Eden -another Wabi Kusa attempt

Hi fellows,

after postponing this journal for quite some time, I felt that I need to do it finally today . 🙂

For this project, I have used a round acrylic dish 25 cm in diameter and 10 cm deep. Inspired by the creation of Steven Chong I have decided to try something similar, that to combine the feeling for Ikebana and Wabi kusa. I wanted to keep it very minimalistic and decided not to use sand, just some pebbles:


For substrate ball, I have chosen to use Bog peat, mixed with some akadama/pumice mix /2:1/. Plantwise I have used some moss, glosso and lilaeopsis that Mark so kindly provide me with - Thanks mate and I have also potted some Ludwigia and few of the terrestrial plants I have found around in my courtyard.
Initially I have some issues with the water clarity, due to the use of peat, but after about 2 months in a plastic box with some water under the window and daily water changes, the plants took a grip and the cloudiness disappeared .

So today I have flooded it finally:


I hope that the terrestrial plants will adapt, as their roots are under water constantly now!



I hope you like it guys! Any comments and recommendations are welcome!Will be waiting for it to mature a bit and will try adding some shrimps.. maybe red cherry... what do you think?

George Farmer said:

That is beautiful!

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ghostsword said:

The best I have seen made in the uk. I have personally been at it for some time and have not achieved what you have, really nice.

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ianho said:

looks absolutely brilliant!!

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Thanks guys, that means a lot for me!

viktorlantos said:

oh wow! This looks beautiful mate. Very stylish, very clean. Looks amazing

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Thanks my friend!

That is the reason I gave up the sand, just felt that the bear glass, pebbles and plants look neater.

George Farmer said:

I love the dash of red in particular.

Good luck with the flooding.

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The ludwigia has so intense red colour, but I'm struggling making it grow Maybe I need to start dosing more macros in the water colomn.. at the moment I'm just spraying some.

How did you get the soil to bond and not dissolve under water?

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Well, I used the bog peat, which is very sticky and messy stuff 😵 but it helps to make the akadama and pumice mix very sticky and not to crumble down in the water. I have also used a plastic mesh for base of the ball and covered everything with moss, which I tied up with cotton thread. It was muddy and murky on the beginning , but I believe that the roots of the plants and the moss got the ball solid and the water changes, washed off the excessive mud off.

If you want the plants to adapt better flood the dish slowly to the desired water level over a period of say a month, this will give the plants chance to change the roots for more moist sites rather than starving the aerobic roots.

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Thanks Gareth, actually that is what I have being doing for about 2 months now, but as I have added some new plants today and I'm a bit concern about their adaptation 😵 but we will see... Just dont have the patience to wait another month or so.. looking it dried up

bigmatt said:

this. Is. Amazing. Legend.

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nayr88 said:

Looks good man! Really like it, looks soo clean and fresh 🙂

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Gill said:

liking it alot, some nice ideas to use

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Thanks guys, I'm so glad you like it

flygja said:

The clean look without sand makes it stand out a lot IMHO. Very nice looking especially the last pic with a blue hue at the bottom.

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Thanks, that final photo was taken with mixture of light from the window and the desk lamp, as I don't have the flashes at the moment 😳 but it turns out nicely. I will maybe try using a reflector, just to get rid of the shadows next time..

ghostsword said:

Good tip on the substrate mix, got akadama, will try to add pumice to it.

Clay and moss does not work for me..

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I have got the idea from the Kokedama - how the Japanese make the mix for it!

Thanks Steve!

I'm quite keen too I'm planning to put some miracle grow in the substrate, to force it a bit, as only spraying the foliage would probably not be enough IMO and the akadama is not rich of any ferts, as well as the peat. If I start adding ferts to the water colomn this might provoke an algae outbreak, as there is no CO2 and filtration what so ever. :?:

So far the plants are doing well with roots under water constantly. I'm almost sure that there are new leaves unfolding on one of them 🙂
Just did 100 % WC today. Dosing liquid carbon every day to prevent algae ... so far none
And have ordered some osmocote to enrich the "wabi ball"

Re: Dream of Eden - shrimp choice?

This looks great, mate! It could turn into very nice wabi kusa 🙂

Mine is going well, thanks! Just did a WC and cleaned the acrylic from some spots of green algae. No major issues, plants are going well, too slow for my liking.. Added some osmocote the other day to force things a bit.

Now as we have discussed in other thread I'm thinking of some pets.. probably shrimps. Any suggestions are welcome 😀

The red cherry are the usual suspect, but I would love something not that common... 🙄

Thanks, John!

Just have being plant hunting and found a new/for me / interesting plant, that I will add to this wabi, as soon as it shows willingness to adapt to wetland 🙂