From what little I've seen on the net, pumice for bonsai growers commands a premium price. Why, I don't know.
From one who resides in the shadow of the mountain, there is more ash for the taking than there is pumice. chunk
The only pumice I've found I would have to pick out of orchid mix. The way I figured it(with my slide rule of course) it would come out to about 200 bucks per cubic ft. Sometimes it sucks living so far from civilization. I guess I'll have to grow my own rice if I want hulls as well.
It's the consistency of sand, and primarily composed of crystalline silica. IMO, it would not be as useful of an aeration amendment as pumice, perlite, rice hulls, buckwheat hulls etc. etc. etc. chunk
But I thought I had read that the area around Mt St Helen, the vegetation anyway, was making a good come back? Due in part to the fertility of the volcanic ash?
If you have lava rock available at your Home Depot, it is a suitable replacement for pumice. Additionally, check to see if there any rice growers/producers in your state and work from there to obtain rice hulls. You can achieve similar benefits with buckwheat hulls if they're grown or farmed in your state. A Google search showed a lot of rice being grown in the Southeast so you may be able to have some luck finding it. chunk
The ecology has been slow to return, but indeed there is vegetation returning. You have to remember though, it's been over 30 years since the blast. The elk herds have come back so strong that there have been special hunting seasons because the vegetation wasn't sufficient to sustain the herds. As the seasons come and go, the ash is slowly absorbed into the landscape and the minimal groundcover grows, dies back and regrows to slowly re-introduce organic material. The regeneration is actually a sight to behold, especially after seeing it shortly after the initial blast. It looked like moonscape a couple of years after the blast, but now there are the beginnings of a future forest. chunk
If you have an auto parts store nereby you can use the oil absorb. It's calcined DE and works as an aeration component.
I think as soon as any product starts getting pushed towards a certain group of people, the price goes up - kind of like cheapo AN products marked up 600% towards cannabis growers. jerry.
Sometimes it sucks living so far from civilization. Poppy - I'd still rather live where I do any day of the week than listen to honking and beeping and ambulances and fire trucks and too-cramped-together people yelling at each other and look at litter and graffiti and overall general ugliness - (compared to the natural beauty of the country life). I say - consider yourself very lucky. jerry.
26 days in flower. A sleuth might find some yellowing on a couple leaves. This came after using a homemade calcium phosphate that was perhaps over done. At this point they probably are done getting any more inputs, other than maybe one kelp/neem tea, but that's about it.
You would think, but it ain't so. Doesn't make much sense as I even have 'sea island' rice grown not super far away. But, if you ask about rice hulls, you get a look like you sprouted a third eye. Something like Jamaican's not being able to get Blue Mountain coffee in Jamaica? It's all exported. But, that doesn't make any sense either, since rice hulls aren't gourmet coffee. I'll keep looking, because there is a boatload of rice being grown in the general southeast area. Wet
Ive been to Jamaica 9 times. My family has a charity there that builds school houses for children. They sell Jamaican Blue mountain coffee every 10 feet. It costs $27 per pound there. anywhere else in the world expect to pay $50-$75 per pound. The reason Jamaicans don't/cant get Blue mountain coffee is because they are poor as hell there. $27 is an entire months income for most families in Jamaica. I love me some Jamaica
7 gallon pots, and around a month of veg time, I'm not exactly sure. I repot and finish vegging in the flower box under a bigger light, when the scrog screen fills up at 60% or so I reset the lights to 12/12. For that reason i don't pay too much attention to veg times like another grower might..... MIW
You might want to try DIY brew stores Wet. It is used to filter beer sediments. So those guys have it on stock, and it's not too expensive either. I don't remember a rate though.....MIW