Perlite and beyond: the pros and cons of various drainage and aeration amendments

[mad librettist]

So for things like grit, pea gravel, etc its important to have enough in there, but not so much with other things. Am I off base here or does this sound right?

ummmm..... spurr?


lol I don't know the answer sorry!

wisco - those particles look nice and chunky! Al on Gardenweb recommends window screen but he uses something bigger I think. So you could maybe afford to use smaller mesh and chuck less product. Chunkier is better though (I think).


VG, I am not sure what that stuff is you got there. You can always start with the soak test, in water and also vinegar. You can freeze it to see if it survives that as well. If all that goes well maybe see how much water it holds. With the calcined DE it is really amazing how much water you can pour in without leaving a pool.

 

[Clackamas Coot]

I was unaware perlite contained so much fluoride. I may have to reconsider its use.

There's a perlite manufacturer in Portland near the airport. This plant, specifically, is where they pack the 'extra large' perlite for Fox Farms - heh.

When you go into the plant to pick-up, the smell from the plant is pretty bad and begins to hurt your lungs if you're there for any amount of time.

I'll stick with pumice - locally mined and bagged here in Oregon. It's the same price per c.f. as perlite and much, much easier to work with.

HTH

CC

 

[mad librettist]

VG, I did a bit of searching and you are going to need to do homework, because in the UK you have to have your own little special names for everything!

Anyway, Fuller's earth in the UK is sometimes attapulgite, which if you can get is supposed to be even better than calcined DE.

The name reflects the first use of the material. In past centuries, fullers kneaded fuller's earth and water into woollen cloth to absorb lanolin, oils, and other greasy impurities as part of the cloth finishing process. Similarly, it has been used as an ingredient in powdered, "dry" shampoos, such as the (no longer manufactured) Minipoo. Fuller's earth was also sold in pharmacies until recently for compressing pills and cleaning hats and fabrics.[3]

In England, fuller's earth occurs mainly in the Lower Greensand. It has also been mined in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England. The Combe Hay Mine was a fuller's earth mine operating to the south of Bath, Somerset until 1979.[2] Other English sources include a mine near Redhill, Surrey (worked until 2000), and Woburn, Bedfordshire, where production ceased in 2004.

In some countries, like the UK, calcium bentonite is known as fuller's earth, a term which is also used to refer to attapulgite, a mineralogically distinct clay mineral but exhibiting similar properties.

 

[VerdantGreen]

im not sure fullers earth is the right stuff (although it seems fullers earth is a pretty broad term), i would double check that if i were you. i think that is what they use for clumping kitty litter - and its the non clumping (calcined) stuff you want.

Fuller's earth is any non-plastic clay or claylike earthy material that can be used to decolorize, filter, and purify animal, mineral, and vegetable oils and greases.

mad that stuff i lined to is right i think calcined clay. similar to calcined DE. that particular one is dust free so hopefully the granules will be a bit bigger. i'll try it on my next run i think.

that said i get great results with perlite....

 

[mad librettist]

Heya VG,

I think we are talking about the same clays, and then whether or not they are calcined. Stateside, some of the kitty litters are the good stuff too, while others turn to mush.

If you can get attapulgite (agsorb?), I'll take it on Spurr's rec that it's the best thing ever. Next best is the Calcined DE, then the other calcined clays. The product over here called "turface" is calcined fuller's earth, which here I think means bentonite.

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Hmmm yep the fluroride thing i was unaware of. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

Clackamas Coot sounds like you have the right idea with the pumice. Seems like i can get 1000 litres for $250 but the shipping will be hefty.

I do have 20kg bag of diamatecous earth on its way with some coco bricks.

I will think about replacing perlite with a mix of char, de, maybe zeolite or pumice if i can source cheap enough...

 

[Guest 150314]

Buckwheat hulls instead of perlite for the true hippies out there!

 

[guest2012y]

I'm liking the pumice,after several recycles it still looks pretty good. Perlite does seem to degenerate,but it's not horrible. I use both....might add a bit of the D.E. on the next recycle..that along with some rice hulls.

 

[mad librettist]

I came close to doing the rice hulls, but I don't have a place to char them. I think that's my first choice.

 

[Guest 150314]

Buckwheat hulls man you can get them at a pet store or health food store.

 

[jaykush]

some of the kitty litters are the good stuff too, while others turn to mush.

at the local dollar tree they have cat litter that is calcined DE. i know a few people who use it for bonsai, ive been known to get some for seedling mixes. 5 lb bag for 1$.

you dont need to char the rice hulls, they work fine by themselves.

 

[mad librettist]

you dont need to char the rice hulls, they work fine by themselves.

I considered that, but I wanted to use something a bit more durable.

I may get some for the worm bin. U-brew places sell them.

 

[GanjaSnake]

Has anyone ever experimented with Aragonite sand? It's used extensively in salt water aquariums both for its PH buffering capacity and its calcium boosting effects.

As a soil amendment I imagine it would be very similar to any other sand aside from the fact that it is almost 100% calcium based.

I have a bag of it that's been sitting around for years, I may mix a bit into my next batch to see what effects if any it may have on the soil.....

 

[GanjaSnake]

Actually, crushed aragonite may be a better substrate come to think of it, it's larger size would have a better aeration effects on the soil and there less of a chance that it would effect the PH.

 

[mad librettist]

OK this is important - when we say "sand" in relation to container mixes, we are not talking playground sand. The fine granules in playground sand will react with your mix to become cement.

this is builder's sand:

t

this is sharp silica sand of appropriate particle size, all screened and ready to go:

 

[GanjaSnake]

Yea, the oolitic (aragonite) sand I have is the consistency of sugar. Far too fine to use in my mix. However, I did a bit of research and found that people do indeed use aragonite for gardening purposes. Especially where you want to boost calcium levels without adding additional magnesium, I'd think if you were reusing old soil that already has dolomite lime added it may be a good idea to add in aragonite instead to keep it balanced?

http://www.basic-info-4-organic-fertilizers.com/aragonite.html

 

[mad librettist]

just don't add too much of it to your mix and it should be fine. And remember it never goes away, so if you add it here and there, it will build up.

a bit of fine sand in the mix is a good thing. just don't think of it as a drainage layer.

 

[heady blunts]

mad i know you've been loving the DE recently.

i'm a little unclear about all the benefits of it. as far as i understand, it retains moisture, adds porosity, lightens the soil, and adds calcium. am i missing anything?

is it possible to have too much calcium in a soil mix?

 

[SativaHybrid]

While i saw mention of volcanic rock added to the bottom i saw no mention of it used as a replacement for perlite in the soil mix. I believe that porous basaltic lava rock could be the next best thing since sliced bread. I'm just starting to incorporate it however i'm feeling more confident by the day. There are many benefits that seem so obvious i wonder why i haden't thought of them earlier: it's light weight, rather resistant to elements, has many air spaces, breaks down into volcanic sand over time, inert, high silica content, etc. The one thing to note is that unless you live near a volcano the only viable option for use on a large scale may be to buy bags of the large rock for landscaping and prep. I have been doing this and let me tell you it makes sifting the napa 8822 look like heaven. I crush the rocks down until size ranges from a little under an inch to chucky perlite size, then sift. The benefit to this is the sand created can be collected and mortar and pestled into a volcanic rock dust that should be a great addition to the local glacial rock dusts i use. Not too mention if there is anything to the whole paramagnetic thing the lava rock is supposed to have very high paramagnetic properties.

 

[Clackamas Coot]

Pumice

Pumice is a textural term for a volcanic rock that is a solidified frothy lava typically created when super-heated, highly pressurized rock is violently ejected from a volcano. It can be formed when lava and water are mixed. This unusual formation is due to the simultaneous actions of rapid cooling and rapid depressurization. The depressurization creates bubbles by lowering the solubility of gases (including water and CO2) dissolved in the lava, so that they rapidly exsolve (like the bubbles of CO2 that appear when a carbonated drink is opened). The simultaneous cooling then freezes the bubbles in the matrix.

Available in 1/8" - 1/2" sizes in 1 c.f. @ $4.50

CC