This week we go outside the aquarium to teach you the naturally beautiful art of Wabikusa.
Wabikusa is derived from the Japanese concept of wabisabi. Wabi connotes rustic simplicity, freshness or quietness. Sabi is beauty or serenity that comes with age, when the life of the object and its impermanence are evidenced in its patina and wear.
In today’s Japan, the meaning of wabi-sabi is often condensed to “wisdom in natural simplicity.” In art books, it is typically defined as “flawed beauty. Combine it with the word Kusa that means “grass” in Japanese, and you begin to understand what is meant by wabikusa.
IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN:
- What is wabikusa and how is it different than immersed culture?
- How to create the perfect wabikusa:
- What ingredients go into the wabikusa ball and how to do it yourself?
- What plants can be used in a wabikusa?
- How do you attach the plants to the substrate ball?
What are the keys to maintaining a beautiful and growing wabikusa?- How to avoid fungus and algae?
- How much light should you use?
- How to control humidity?
- How to fertilize?
Overgrown by Oliver Knott
LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- Jurijs’ Wabikusa Article
- Aqua Design Amano Wabikusa Products
- An Aquascapingworld Magazine article
- An article on Aquatic Plant Central on the secret found inside ADA wabikusa balls
- Wabikusa Knowledge Base post on Aquatic Plant Central
- A post on ADA wabikusa on Aquatic Quotient
- The GALPC wabikusa category
- An article from Glassbox Gardeners on how to make a wabikusa substrate ball
- A Google search
- Pins on Pinterest
- The Green Machine article on wabikusa
- The Wabikusa Guy’s Blog
- Youtube video
- Wikipedia
- Great tutorial in Portuguese
THANKS FOR LISTENING!
Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!
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We’d love to hear from you about today’s topic or anything else. How can we help you?
The easiest way to reach us is via email. Art is at art@scapefu.com, JJ is at jj@scapefu.com and Jurijs is at JS@scapefu.com.
Again, THANKS FOR LISTENING!
Photo in header above is copyright Bart Jaspers
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5 Comments on “SF 026: How to Create a Beautiful (and growing) Wabikusa”
Another great podcast @Art and thanks for mentioning us over at glassboxgardeners.com.
You will also find a few more articles on making Wabi balls in different ways.
Best Regards
kisanjong
Thanks for the listen, Kisanjong! You’ve got a great site.
Best personal regards,
Art
Thanks so much for an informative, easy to understand post. The Japanese concept of WabiKusa, combined with Ikebana, has influenced not only my attempts at Wabi’s. but has become an integral part of my approach to aquascaping as a whole.
here’s my longest running WabiKusa. It’s about two years old now…
http://i1254.photobucket.com/albums/hh620/Barry1m/Wabi%20kusa/2014-04-08000703_zpsb3567e40.jpg
Hey Barry,
Thanks for the kind words.
That Wabi is huge! Congrats on your success with it.
I’m curious, how has it become an integral part of how you approach aquascaping?
Best,
Art
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