soil amendments - clay fired kitty litter brands in the USA

soil amendments - clay fired kitty litter brands in the USA
Hansen Nursery (Sun, 17 Nov 2019 11:21:19 PST)

I was a pumice user for many years but once Truls Jensen at Wild Ginger
Farms turned me on to 1/4-10 gravel or whatever some people call it, I have
not looked back. Yes, it's heavier, but my plants regardless of genus or
species have responded very well and I won't go back to using anything else.

I mostly grow in 4-inch pots and gallons occasionally so weight isn't much
of an issue. Source may be a concern, but there are multiple rock quarries
around here and I can easily get it from Knife River (which I think is a
national corporation). My first load a number of years ago was delivered by
my contractor who brought 2-3 yards. Now that I have a 3/4-ton truck,
that's not an issue.

This size of gravel doesn't take up much room if space is a problem. I have
used granite grit and am also pleased with it but can only get it in the
50-lb. sacks, so I use it for top dressing on tufa troughs where I want
'pretty'.

Robin in much sunnier, mellow Coquille, Oregon, but we still need rain!
Hansen Nursery
robin@hansennursery.com

-----Original Message-----
From: pbs [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net] On Behalf Of
SHOAL CREEK SUCCULENTS
Sent: Sunday, November 17, 2019 10:09 AM
To: Pacific Bulb Society
Subject: Re: [pbs] soil amendments - clay fired kitty litter brands in the
USA

In my general growing mix, I've used clay fired kitty litter. It broke
down too soon and I would not recommend.

I do use Turface, Turface MVP specifically.

I use it alone for most of the seed I germinate, to almost eliminate fungus
gnats.

In other seed that I wish to get to a larger size quicker in the growing
season, I use it as a 1:1:1 with perlite and a peat based soil mix.

On my bulb mix, I add coarse sand and bone meal to the above. I try to
repot every year, although every other year is more realistic.

Everyone has their favorite mix though. I think one needs to consider what
they are trying to accomplish, understand their environment and know the
pros and cons of each component of a growing mix.

Best regards, Lisa

On Sun, Nov 17, 2019 at 11:44 AM M Gastil-Buhl <gastil.buhl@gmail.com>
wrote:

In response to Bern's question
"Does anyone use as a soil amendment a clay fired kitty litter that is
similar to Akadama in their potting medium that is available in the USA?"

I have not tried the fired clay and here in California pumice and scoria
are reasonably priced and work well for me. So this a tangent, not an
answer.

Recently I did some online research what growing media are used by two
other specialty growers that might apply to some of our bulbs that need an
airy fast-draining, long-lasting, water holding medium: growers of Lithops
and Bonsai. Apparently they have more time to video and post to YouTube
than us species bulb from seed growers. Akadama looks promising, although
expensive, so I can see why you are looking for an alternative. The fired
clay spherical pebbles look interesting. I have not tried Turface. Turface
looks cheaper but gets mixed reviews from Bonsai growers. Has anyone tried
those?

Watching all those YouTube views of others' growing conditions I realize

successes may be due more to dry-summer wet-winter moderate temperatures
and sunlight with breeze but not too much wind than to any particular
practice of mine. I grow everything outdoors. Others are growing under
lights in a basement or windowsill.

Gastil
Overthinking all aspects of bulb growing
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