Cool. BTW, welcome to GCO! I gotta crash, but I'll respond in length in the AM, so I don't sound like a total ranting asshat. But, it's been a long day (I'm in SC).
We're used to it. You should use whatever is local to you. I know we've discussed this before. The point being is it makes no sense in shipping rocks. If you can get lava, pumice, or perlite for cheap and easy go for it. I don't care for the way it's made, but that's a personal call. @bugsy714 never use lava is a strong statement and my plants would strongly disagree. Welcome to GCO!
@bugsy714 You answered my main gripe about pumice/lava with the 'about the size of a pea' bit. Graded/sized is worlds away from what's usually available, being the decorative, ground cover stuff. Inexperienced growers don't know the difference and just use it as is, which is mostly way too large. Had one guy who told of filling 5gal buckets of pumice from a landscaping supply bulk bin and using as is in his mix. Another spoke of taking bags of gas grill lava rocks and dumping the bags in his mix. Both were having drainage problems (no surprise there), and both were totally shocked when told about the need to size that stuff, figuring that just adding it was good enough. It wasn't. For sure, use what you want and what you can source the cheapest, but at the end you really have to know just how the mix should be performing/draining. Most new/inexperienced growers simply don't have a clue and if it takes 5 minutes for water to reach the drain holes it must be good because the right amount was added according to X recipe. I'm just of the opinion that using perlite at first will give that experience of how a well aerated/draining should perform when they experiment with other forms of aeration. Make sense?
Yeah those lava rocks are no good, they were one of the first soilless media Tried by Growers doing hydroponics in the 70s and they cause all types of funky issues When you buy pumice it should be almost white gray and feel like the stones that you rub on the bottom of your feet to get rid of callus with lots of tiny pores. I think one of the main issues people have is that they forget to rinse it well to get rid of all of the dust prior to adding it to their mix that stuff will clog up the peat moss or other substrate pretty good. Also it is a great idea to never use more than 25% pumice as it is very porous. I tend to run my Gardens dryer rather than wetter so I like mixes that drain quickly. Sent from my LGLS775 using Tapatalk
For reference here is the pumice that I am talking about Horticultural Pumice | Acme Sand & Gravel This is lava rock, a definite no go Lava Rock - Landscape Rocks - Hardscapes - The Home Depot Sent from my LGLS775 using Tapatalk
I hate to rain on your parade, but I have several aquaponic operations in my area that use lava/cinder as a media. It's kinda hard not to use it when volcanos are in your backyard. I get my cinder from a local yard that grades. 3/8" minus is my jamb. I walk the yard and pickup a handful it should be light and airy. I leave the denser stuff alone. Maybe "hydroponics in the 70's" may have been more the issue. These organic soils also function entirely differently. Here's one of my lava aerated plants, soil mix, and lava used.
Looks pretty tasty can you get a picture of your uncut Cinder? I wonder how it differs from the dense colored red and black Cinder we get out here on the West Coast Sent from my LGLS775 using Tapatalk
It all depends on where it's pulled from. The dense "blue stone" is from areas where it cooled slowly. Best rock wall material, IMO. Not what you would use for aeration. The crushed fines are pure basalt however, and what I use for rock dust. The A'a is a fast cool where there is a violent reactions occurring. It's pouros and is light. Very corse in texture. This is what I use for aeration. What you see in the picture is kind of a combo. It's light but contains a fair bit of blue. The composition of the actual rock is dictated by the path the molten source took. The main thing for me is the porosity and the weight. Scoria cinder sold on the west coast is usually a medium cool. The red cinder is higher in iron, IIRC.
i use (red) lava rock in my soil with great results. actually these lava rocks are the most used form of aeration for agricultural soils in my country (Israel)
For anyone worried about or has lack of access to lava rocks, I have 3 30 gallon notills that have biochar as the aeration amendment, they seems to be preforming better than the lava rock amended 30ies, but there are too many variables to tell, all I can say for definite is the biochar amended pots have much better water retention and are much much lighter than the lava rock pots. it's also cheaper for me.
Hi your soil mix seems very simple to mix. Can you tell me the exact measurements for a 1 cft of this mix? Also do mean pro mix bx the biofungicide one? Thanks.
Beautiful thread. This explanation is seen all over the internet. I was lead here by a link to this thread. Well said, simple and respectful of beginners.
When I buy Pro mix I usually opt for the bio fungicidal but it isn't necessary. I buy the compressed bail that fluffs out to 7 cubic foot I believe it is called 3.8 cubic foot compressed bail or something like that Nothing in farming is terribly exact just get yourself a 1 gallon pot or a 32 oz cup or anything that is a fixed size I don't like to use a shovel because we are trying to match volumes rather than how much happens to stay on a shovel in a scoop. I would put two 1 gallon pots of Pro mix 1 1 gallon pot of aeration material like pumice or perlite and then one 1 gallon pot of either earthworm castings or high-quality compost then mix it all together and add the additional fixings such as the neem meal alfalfa meal crab meal kelp meal and organic vegetable fertilizer as recommended in the first post along with some rock dust. Toss it all together so it is Thoroughly mixed and water with dechlorinated water for two weeks to let it cook then you are good to plant Sent from my LGLS775 using Tapatalk
I have to ask if any of you are using humic acid in the form of granular leonardite AKA Brown coal? I use it in all of my gardening and added it to the above mix at the rate of one cup per 10 gallons do any of you do the same? Sent from my LGLS775 using Tapatalk
I Ive used both isolated fulvic and humic acids in liquid form. Wont grow without them however have never used it in the form your speaking of. Are you noticing nice yields with its use?
Yes I always used to use Liquid Karma and Diamond nectar but I can get a 50 lb bag of the granular humic from my local Farm Supply for $24 and it is more than enough haha I also use it when I make compost tea it is definitely something I would recommend although I am not sure how it Stacks up with the refined versions as it is literally little chunks of coal about the size of extra fine perlite Sent from my LGLS775 using Tapatalk