Is there any reason to pay more for Brix Basalt over the summer collection basalt from BAS? Nearly double the price for Brix. Thanks! Flex
My reply is not at all based on science, so maybe wait for someone else to chime in, but here goes: Rock dust is ground up rocks, it's primary purposes are to supply many minerals long term, and also as anchoring points for fungi. Get the cheapest you can. It won't really add anything to your soil for (correct me if I am wrong here) 3-5 years. Don't pay to ship rocks around the country. my 2c toaster Attachments stolen from GiMiK's sticky:
Nothing is worth double. Basalt is what you want, Brix or not - and the best basalt for our purposes is ground to a flour consistency providing more surface area and even distribution. Sent from my SM-J700T using Tapatalk
Well... If you’re on the Left side go with the basalt. It’s locally sourced on the west coast and so more readily available. If you’re on the Right side, please go with Granite meal. Again with the locally sourced thing - both are excellent. I’d suggest to anyone wondering what the heck the whole deal is with rock dust added to a soil mix is to read here - Rock Dust This is my thoughts on Brix - J
As long as its rock dust ground up to flour consistency (not sand) it makes no difference. Ill go further and say it doesnt even HAVE to be basalt. Now you will read that basalt has the best properties (and it does) but I doubt you will see major differences using other types of rock dust (granite, glacial...). Again, what's most important is the very fine flour consistency. Get what's easy and cheap for you to obtain. check your local stone cutters and ask if they will give/sell you their "rock fines". Or look for a rock quarry if you are lucky enough to have one a drive away. I got mine from a basalt quarry 2 hours drive from my town. they let me fill a couple of buckets for free.
That 3 to 5 years might even be a low estimate. LOL A fact sort of glossed over by sellers of designer rocks. You gotta remember this was all started to remineralize depleted farm fields and after applied was expected to last for years, if not a decade or so. I've discontinued using rock dust (Granite meal in my case), and am just staying with Greensand that has always been a part of my mix. It is also a rock dust, but being a sedementary rock is much softer and available faster relative to the super hard igneious (?) rocks like basalt and granite. Azomite would be the fastest, being a clay, but the scare campaign about Au worked well. Never mind that the conditions that would cause the Au to release would kill your plant long before it happened. When is the last time you've heard of an Au toxicity from Azomite? Me neither. Wet
I use a mix of greensand and azomite. Greensand was easy to come by, and I bought a fuck ton of azomite before I knew any better. I heard concerns about Pb, but never Au. Either way, I'm not eating the stuff, and plants aren't sponges that just sop up whatever is there. What's the concern with Au specifically?
Do you see the common thread here? It's all about the mesh size. If it's more coarse than all purpose flour it's next to useless because the break down time would be so long. As Scooby pointed out, even as fine as sand is too coarse. This pretty much applies to all minerals including lime, oyster shells and the like. Wet
Wait, did I fuck up the symbol for aluminum? That's what I was shooting for. It's Pb? DOH! Au is good ol gold! I should NOT type before coffee! Wet BTW, greensand & Azomite was also my go to blend till the Azomite ran out. If I find a good deal on shipping I'll get some more. Worked just fine for me.
Glad I asked! The company selling the Basalt super cheap has a picture that looks like this: and the other company has two options. Option A: Option B: From the sound of it I will be looking for something like Option B. On price, what do you typically pay for Basalt or any rock powder that fills that roll in the soil? If you are not lucky enough to get it for free The stuff pictured is about $50 for 32lbs. Seems high to me, but I have never done this and cant really tell how much I will use... Any idea how many cups are in 32 lb of Basalt flour? Thanks again! Flex
Second seller, option B! Option A might be partially useful if you sift, but its hard to tell the ratio of dust to tiny rocks in that. The cheap stuff from the first seller is garbage. might be ok as aeration but not as a mineral supplement.
toaster Your first line got me to thinking about the overall good results I had for the few years I was also using the blend of greensand and azomite (1/2 cup of each/cf), till the azomite ran out. Still have great results using only the greensand, but on reflection, everything was just a tad less than the combo. Anyway, took a look at Planet Natural and the 44lb bag was a whopping $26 or so. It's now on the way and I'll be going back to that old combo. I think, in time, you'll change your mind about that "before I knew any better" sentiment. Wet
Hmmm... I paid $49 shipped for 44lbs of the Ultrafine grade, which is finer than the one available from planet natural (micronized). Was shipping included at Planet Natural? To your point, and as you said earlier, azomite is technically clay, and as such particle size can be very small, and minerals more quickly made plant-available (relatively speaking). From their website: "AZOMITE® is a Hydrated Sodium Calcium Aluminosilicate (HSCAS)". I wonder if that silicate becomes available to plants, and if so, how readily? toaster
No, shipping wasn't included and total cost was about what you paid for yours. Would have to dig up the exact amount, but it was over $45 and under $50. They did offer free shipping once and actually free, not wrapped into the price. Got a 20lb bag of Stutzman chicken manure for $7 total to my door. That impressed me. I have no idea about the silicate availability and I'm sure that the micronized will be a bit slower than the ultra fine, but because of the basic makeup of azomite I don't think the difference will be huge. The greensand from Espoma is micronized while PN's is ultra fine. No comparisons yet, but the Espoma was available during the season. I'd still be using it if locally the price hadn't more than doubled from ~$9 to over $20 for an 8lb (IIRC), bag. Both the greensand and azomite are pretty soft in their natural state and weather pretty easily. At what rate do you use your blend? Like I mentioned, I was doing 1/2cup of each/cf. Wet
I used 1.5cup azomite: 0.5cup greensand per ft3, but that's mostly because I have almost 44lbs of azomite compared to about 2lbs greensand.
Still good! Nothing too much or too little. I liken micro nutes to that whiff of hickory smoke from a neighbors smoker 1/4 mile down the road. Just a whiff, but enough to trigger all sorts of stuff. I'm guessing from the amount that you have the Espoma greensand? It's all good and it was just the local price gouging of the Espoma that sent me to Planet Natural. Plus, it was on sale and shipping was 30% off (still winter). Wet