Stones and wood
Cork bark
Reusable
Light, rough cork slabs that last for years. Great for climbers and moss.
What the simulation uses
- Holds water
- 6 % by volume
- Water it keeps after draining; the rest runs down to the drainage.
- Pore space
- 85 % by volume
- Room for air and water between grains; low means roots suffocate when wet.
- Weight
- 185 g/L
- How heavy a litre is.
- pH
- 5 to 6.5 pH
- How acid it keeps the soil.
- Mould risk
- low
- How much fresh food it gives white mould; high-risk soils fuzz over in the first weeks.
- Breaks down in
- 5 to 15 years
- How long it lasts before rotting down to fine soil.
- Nutrients
- none
- Plant food it brings.
Description
Stripped from cork oaks every seven years or so, this bark is full of air, floats and shrugs off rot. It sheds water rather than soaking it up, so it rarely moulds. It also makes a good background panel.
Also called cork flat, cork tube, Quercus suber bark.
Estimated, where sources were thin: decomposition time in humid vivarium estimated; water uptake estimated low.