Where are you getting your soil components?

[Jason_mazzy]

I am looking for:

crushed lava
decomposed granite
crushed granite
pumice
and really coarse sharp sand

I want to try a new mix I have been theorizing on and I have no idea where to find this stuff. Lowes and HD swear they don't carry it and I have looked.

Any guidance into who what where I should be looking?

 

[mcpesq817]

Do you have Southern States near you? I get Dry Stall (pumice) and Granni-Grit (crushed granite) from there.

Lava is tough on the east coast, but I got a bunch through my club who ordered a bunch of pallets from Roy Nagatoshi in CA.

 

[Poink88]

I always start at Lowe's or Home Depot when I can. They sell some of these pretty cheaply.

If you are near places that sells aggregates, they are lot cheaper if they sell by buckets. They usually want to sell by truck loads or at least by CY.

 

[coh]

I am looking for:

crushed lava
decomposed granite
crushed granite
pumice
and really coarse sharp sand

I want to try a new mix I have been theorizing on and I have no idea where to find this stuff. Lowes and HD swear they don't carry it and I have looked.

Any guidance into who what where I should be looking?

I'm not sure what the difference is between "decomposed" and "crushed" granite...but, you can usually find grani-grit in farm/feed stores.

Pumice on the east coast...good luck. I haven't been able to find it up here, not even in the "dry-stall" form. I have ordered some from wee-tree in Oregon, but the shipping costs more than the pumice.

Lava, you might be able to get from some specialty nurseries, though they usually carry the larger chunks. I can get it locally at hollow creek bonsai, they do ship but again that is expensive.

Chris

 

[Fangorn]

I buy my pumice from this guy
CLICK

 

[fourteener]

Crushed granite I buy from places that sell rock/mulch in bulk. They generally have a size between course sand and pea gravel that is just right. Buy it by the 5 gallon pail save a lot.

Haydite (my replacement for lava rock) I buy it at places where they make cement. Haydite is used to make cement lighter for buildings or bridges. They usually have a pile on hand, they let me buy by the 5 gallon pail as well!!

 

[Martin Sweeney]

Jason,

Go to Southern States for the granite and Dry Stall. They will probably not stock it. My closest store does not. I requested them to order and call me when it arrives. It worked 2 Springs ago when I first tried finding pumice. Their SKU for Dry Stall is 06657999 40lb at $14.99 per the website.

Brad at the BLC has red lava. 50lbs for $30 or $35, I think.

A piece of unsolicited advise; unless you need less moisture retention in the mix, granite and sand can be considered space filler only as they do not hold moisture or nutrients for the plant. I know you are excited to get going, but adding the variable of your own unproven idea(s) on soil to the mix as you are learning basic skills like wiring and routine care might not be advisable.

Arthur Joura and I think Vance Wood have used well sand. I think Arthur used #2, I cannot remember what Vance recommended, but I think it was #2 or #3 (maybe he will add his expertise here). It might be at Lowes or HD, but in plumbing. I never looked for it so I do not know sourcing. Also, sandblasting sand has been recommended as an alternative to well sand. My sourcing knowledge as per well sand. You might be able to find some data on BNut using the search function.

Regards,
Martin

 

[cascade]

I am looking for:

crushed lava
decomposed granite
crushed granite
pumice
and really coarse sharp sand

I want to try a new mix I have been theorizing on and I have no idea where to find this stuff. Lowes and HD swear they don't carry it and I have looked.

Any guidance into who what where I should be looking?

Jason, I purchase this mix from Schley's Bonsai. I addition I also use Akadama from Hollowcreek Bonsai, Pumice ( waiting for a bulk order of Pumice from out of state) and Asaake riversand From Dallas Bonsai as well as red Lava from Wigert's. I add activated carbon (charcoal) from the petstore to the mix. Particle size vary according to plant size.



Best,
Dorothy

 

[Mellow Mullet]

My club ordered a pallet of lava from Colorado lava and shared the expenses- $2.75 for a 1.5 cubic foot bag

I mix it with Turface MVP or All-Sport from John Deere Landscaping - $17.00 for a 50 pound bag

For sand, I use Black Beauty sand blasting media. It is, well, black, and adds a nice componet and color contrast to the mix, $16.00 for 60 pounds. I also purchased some crushed glass (the edges are smooth like sand) to try, it is about $10 for 50 pounds. If there are any sandblasting supply businesses in your area, check them out, they have all sorts of media in various sizes and the prices are cheap.

For an organic componet, I use Evergreen Soil Admendment, from Lowe's. It is small pieces of pine bark and I use it straight out of the bag, no sifting. $2.97 for 2.0 cubic feet.

Hope it helps,

John

 

[rockm]

Mystic White swimming pool filter sand is crushed quartz. The grains are about the size of 1/3 of a rice grain, pretty good for added "grit" in a soil mix. I used to be able to find the stuff for $10 a 50lb bag at the local pool supply store. That store has gone out of business though.

Crushed granite and decomposed granite aren't the same. Decomposed stuff tends to be less angular that the newly-crushed stuff. "Granni-Grit" is the crushed chicken grit I've used. It comes in a few sizes. The "Grower" and "Turkey" grades are generally too big. You want the "starter" grit (starters being chicks, as in baby chickens)

If you're looking at grit other than Granni-grit, be careful. Some is made from crushed oyster shell (in more southern states) and some can have weird additives -- I came across pigeon grit that had an extremely nice color (grey/brown) but had been sprayed with anise oil to get the silly pigeons to consume it...I guess pigeons are finicky eaters, who knew? I thought they were jsut flying rats.

 

[subnet_rx]

I've read that I can get grit from a farm supply store many times, but never remember that when I'm in the market for soil supplies. What rockm said does kind of make me worry though, since I'm sure my local feed store will not know what the grit is made of. Right now, I order Turface through a garden supply store that is about 20 minutes away and takes about 2 weeks to arrive, so something closer and something more accessible would be great.

As far as organics, I'm very near to Lowe's and Home Depot, but don't really like any of their offerings. Pine bark is around 2-3 inches. Scott's Topsoil has a good bit of bark in it, but also has a good bit of fines.

 

[rockm]

The grit should say what it's made of on the bag, since it's supposed to be fed to chickens/poultry. It may say "calcium carbonate" or something like that since that's what oyster shells are. Stay away from that stuff, as calcium carbonate is also bascially limestone and is soluable if your water is acid enough.

As for organics, you might try "baby orchid" bark used to rear orchid seedlings. I've used it in a pinch. Some say it isn't good as it consumes nitrogen as it decomposes, but I've never had a problem with it.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

http://www.bonsaiboy.com/catalog/product4119.html

Depending on how many plants you have this could be prohibitively expensive for lava, but with my 10-20 trees a couple bags doesn't set me back too far and lasts quite a while. If you buy a few backs the shipping comes down a little per bag.

I was planning on switching my organic component to long stranded sphagnum, branded as an orchid media component. I only plan on using at 5-10% along with lava and turface. From what I have read it has practically magical properties, with the main drawback being the price? Anyone have any thoughts on the Sphagnum other than to use protection using it?

 

[KennedyMarx]

I get my grit from Tractor Supply Company. They have the Manna Pro chicken grit and the Cherry Stone poultry grit, both are exactly the same insoluble purple granite. The Cherry Stone comes in 50lbs bags while the Manna Pro only comes in 25lbs as far as I've seen.



The calcined clay I get from my local nursery. It's not Turface, but it's the same material. The brand is Diamond Pro. It is quite hard to the point that I can't crush it between my fingernails and it hasn't broken down after several freeze and thaw cycles in the freezer.



I get my diatomaceous earth from NAPA auto parts. It's their Floor Dry #8822 floor absorbent. It doesn't seem to break down after several freeze and thaw cycles in my freezer and is supposed to hold six times it's weight in water, but it's white when dry and kind of ugly looking.



Pine Bark fines I also get from my local nursery. The brand is Golden Trophy and they're labeled as pine bark mini fines. The worker at the nursery said that the label is changing and they're simply going to be call pine bark mulch.

 

[Jason_mazzy]

I use a lot of DE. And after reading about using pure substance on roots I want a few things just to hangs the texture up. DE holds moisture for a long time so I want to increase air ratio and sand for finer roots. I have never lost a tree in my soil mix so I am willing to add a little of these other components and see if it improves the feeder roots.

 

[Jason_mazzy]

Your experience with 8822 is a main reason why I'm looking for the other stuff. If I can pretty up the mix while improving the root system I'm all in.

I get my grit from Tractor Supply Company. They have the Manna Pro chicken grit and the Cherry Stone poultry grit, both are exactly the same insoluble purple granite. The Cherry Stone comes in 50lbs bags while the Manna Pro only comes in 25lbs as far as I've seen.

View attachment 31979

The calcined clay I get from my local nursery. It's not Turface, but it's the same material. The brand is Diamond Pro. It is quite hard to the point that I can't crush it between my fingernails and it hasn't broken down after several freeze and thaw cycles in the freezer.

View attachment 31980

I get my diatomaceous earth from NAPA auto parts. It's their Floor Dry #8822 floor absorbent. It doesn't seem to break down after several freeze and thaw cycles in my freezer and is supposed to hold six times it's weight in water, but it's white when dry and kind of ugly looking.

View attachment 31981

Pine Bark fines I also get from my local nursery. The brand is Golden Trophy and they're labeled as pine bark mini fines. The worker at the nursery said that the label is changing and they're simply going to be call pine bark mulch.

View attachment 31977 View attachment 31978

 

[coh]

Crushed granite and decomposed granite aren't the same. Decomposed stuff tends to be less angular that the newly-crushed stuff. "Granni-Grit" is the crushed chicken grit I've used. It comes in a few sizes. The "Grower" and "Turkey" grades are generally too big. You want the "starter" grit (starters being chicks, as in baby chickens)

Interesting...I've found that the "grower" size is a really good match for sifted turface (allsport)..."starter" seems too small but would obviously work for a finer mixture. Our local feed store has samples out on the shelves so you can decide which size works best before purchasing a 50 LB bag.

http://www.ncgranite.com/gritmailer.pdf

Chris

 

[rockm]

I used to use the "grower" but it's borderline for my mix anyway. The starter grade worked a bit better for me, but you're right both are usable.

 

[Jason_mazzy]

Thank you Martin. All soil additives have been proven as useful. I'm trying to change from pure DE or real high DE and add a few of these other Components that have been praised here in other mixes.

Jason,


Brad at the BLC has red lava. 50lbs for $30 or $35, I think.

A piece of unsolicited advise; unless you need less moisture retention in the mix, granite and sand can be considered space filler only as they do not hold moisture or nutrients for the plant. I know you are excited to get going, but adding the variable of your own unproven idea(s) on soil to the mix as you are learning basic skills like wiring and routine care might not be advisable.


Regards,
Martin

 

[coh]

I used to use the "grower" but it's borderline for my mix anyway. The starter grade worked a bit better for me, but you're right both are usable.

You've probably answered this a hundred times, but what components do you use for your soil mix(es)? Other than the grit, that is.

Chris