Miracle gro perlite

[squidheadpro]

Looking for people who have experience using miracle gro perlite.

Seeing as though this is the only perlite I can find whithout going to a hydro shop. Miracle gro perlite seems to be the only brand they carry now a days at walmart, homedepot, and lowes.

Package says it has added fertilizer.

N .04% ( .016 ammonial and .024 nitrate)
P .01%
K .06%

Now I grow organicly using Vic High super soil mix which is Petemoss 60%,perlite 30%,worm castings 10%,blood meal, bone meal, kelp meal, epsom salt and dolomite lime. Been using this mix for 15 years with good success.

However lately ive been having problems with overfertilazation. Plants grow very rapidly in veg nice dark healthly foliage. Problems start coming 2 weeks into flowering. First leaves start clawing severaly. Next apears to be complete nutrient lockout. Leaves turn yellow then white starting with older fan leaves then become brittle and fall off.

This is happening on all my plants and with 3 differents strains. Deisel, DJ blueberry, and god bud. Im starting to think the only thing it can be is the miracle gro perlite. The numbers seemed extremely low so i figured it would be no issue.

I opened a new bag of Miracle gro perlite yesterday and smelled it. It has a very strong cat piss smell. Where pure perlite has no smell what so ever. Am I correct to think this perlite is my problem?

Please share your experiences.
Thanks

 

[h.h.]

It's giving off nitrogen. I don't know if that's your problem or not. It certainly doesn't help to narrow it down. I'd at least check the hydro shop. I found pearlite prices comparable along with a better quality product.
Consider making the switch to DE.
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=202305
At least 1 soil company is using it and touting it's advantages in supplying silica, which I tend to agree with.
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=229543

 

[Iron_Lion]

I wouldnt use MG perlite, especially in an organic garden. God knows what that shit has been treated with, and a better question is, why the hell does perlite need to contain fertilizer?

F#ck MG products.

 

[h.h.]

I wouldnt use MG perlite, especially in an organic garden. God knows what that shit has been treated with, and a better question is, why the hell does perlite need to contain fertilizer?

F#ck MG products.

The same reason they have to put vitamins in fruit loops.

 

[intotheunknown]

miracle grow=junk.
ditch it and get yourself some PLAIN perlite. fox farms chunky perlite is my personal fave.

 

[mad librettist]

napa auto parts # 8822


it's a 1:1 replacement for perlite. grab the lightest bags in the store. If there are too many small bits you have to sift.

outperforms perlite quite a bit

 

[h.h.]

...or Molton #8834 @ Riley's Auto
The part #'s are so close, I wonder if Napa is the same stuff rebranded?
I've gone through maybe 4 bags so far and I've yet to sift it.
it could very well be the brand, that I'm using it differently, or maybe I've just been lucky so far. I feel any smaller bits may be releasing more silica though surely they impede it as well as far as drainage material. I have no comparison other than pearlite in which case even unsifted I find it far superior for my needs.

 

[mad librettist]

particle size will vary by batch, is what I have found.

almost all of this calcined DE, regardless of brand, is mined by EaglePicher Minerals.

 

[Sean Price]

Ya!

 

[Bunz]

MSDS for the Napa Absorbent.....................wonder if that tiny bit of silicon would affect my pool filter. Whole lot cheaper then the DE for pools at Home Depot.

https://partimages.genpt.com/partimages/1217562.pdf

 

[mad librettist]

the DE for pools is a totally different product with its own physical properties.


just like in crystal making, the DE for pools is calcined and treated with a fluxing agent. This makes it very dangerous to breathe the dust, unlike regular calcined DE which is fine to breathe occasionally.

wear a dust mask anyway though

 

[h.h.]

http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/55/1171/579124/

 

[Bunz]

the DE for pools is a totally different product with its own physical properties.


just like in crystal making, the DE for pools is calcined and treated with a fluxing agent. This makes it very dangerous to breathe the dust, unlike regular calcined DE which is fine to breathe occasionally.

wear a dust mask anyway though

Thanks for the info.

 

[foomar]

Was widely sold in UK garden centres some years back , saw no difference between it and pure insulation perlite , hardly any ferts in there really , punch a few holes in the bottom of the bag and flush out if its all thats available locally.

Same stuff in a couple of grades is sold at builders merchants for makeing lightweight and insulating cements , and backfilling the space left in a chimney stack when a liner is fitted for woodburners , usually cheaper than hydro or garden outlets.

 

[Iron_Lion]

The same reason they have to put vitamins in fruit loops.

Ah.......because it's good for me

 

[redneck shogun]

It works fine, had it in my recycled mix for a few years but use pumice now after bringing back a bucket of it on a field trip to another state.

 

[supermanlives]

maybe rinse it off. let it soak in some water. i have used it before in a pinch without any issues