# Wabi-kusa/Kokedama



## greenman857 (Dec 13, 2010)

Has anybody tried messing around with these for making, Vivs or Paluds?
I'm enjoying growing them but haven't really actually utilized one except for a couple trials.


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## flyingSquirrel (Aug 22, 2011)

I've never seen or heard of either of those terms until now. Thank you! I am so glad you posted this, because I just googled those and there are some amazing pics and ideas. I really like this.

Is that a ranunculus sp. in the bottom pic?


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## bratyboy2 (Jan 29, 2010)

I have made them! Big trend over seas....they mostly use aquarium plants grown out of water for these


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## greenman857 (Dec 13, 2010)

Yes it is! Here's a pic of a before and after emersed and submerged, The Wabi is really an aquatic concept but I think these things would work great in viv paluds, say at the edge of water or in moss wall pockets for producing little diverse plant mixes.









emersed









submerged for 3 weeks

These are really wild
slide to the right -> : string gardens


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## GRIMM (Jan 18, 2010)

I havent personally tried them, but they would be perfect for a low-tech open style palu, or even fully submerged. They are used in planted aquariums because they are much easier to plant. All you do is throw the bunches ontop of the aquarium substrate and let them grow. Here are a few good videos on Wabi-kusa. Last 3 videos are of the same thing, but still helpful. And subscribe to AquadesignAmano if you want to see the best aquariums using wabi-kusa. They upload a different tank update video every day.
















http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AOU...DvjVQa1PpcFOiFHlbIdrkbngRAwnYpIDAapUITX3jm4A=


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## xm41907 (Nov 26, 2007)

I recently made a modified version of a Wabi Kusa. I did not follow the typical technique, but rather took ideas from the links below and came up with my own version using some excess kitty litter and coco fiber. Not all the plants I used were aquatic, so I wasn't sure which would do well. It's been up about a week, and two ferns aren't doing well, but most everything else is thriving. Probably this weekend I'll be getting some shrimp for it. The first link is to mine and the following links are to some good posts on Wabi Kusa. 

Mine:
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/members-frogs-vivariums/79720-wabi-kusa-paludarium.html

Links to interesting posts:
http://wkuk.atwebpages.com/
Wabi-Kusa Knowledge Base + Q/A - Aquascaping - Aquatic Plant Central
Wabi - kusa I - Aquascaping World Forum
Wabi-Kusa Style Aquascapes - Aquascaping World Forum


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## greenman857 (Dec 13, 2010)

Ah that's why the water is so cloudy its the kitty litter, I tried one with clay once and the same thing happened. I guess it will settle eventually but the clay particles are so tiny it might take a while!
You might try removing most of the water covering with a plastic bag and waiting a week or so for the roots to develop, I've found that helps with the cloudy water issue.
What is the plant on the left hand side of the second picture? Looks like some kind of violet maybe?


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## xm41907 (Nov 26, 2007)

Yes, I figured the clay would take time to settle. It's cleared up a lot, but I'm in no hurry for it to be crystal clear. To be honest, I don't know what the majority of plants in this are. The one you mentioned was bought from a local nursery and it was an unnamed tropical. There are also several wild collected plants that I added. I'm a novice when it comes to plant identifications. I just grabbed some that were in semi-aquatic areas of the trail. This one is a work in progress and I might end up redoing it all in the near future.


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## skanderson (Aug 25, 2011)

thanks for the inspiration. need to get cracking on making up a few of these to put in the viv.


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