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Soil

  • #21
I would go to your local lumber yard,I got 75# of pure white coarse industrial sand for less then $5. Ask what type of sand they have and go from there. I had great difficulty finding white sand....even driving 60 miles to go to lowes and to no avail,until I went to the local lumberyard and they had it! It`s very nice sand, I think I will never go back to that nasty perlite for non Nepenthes again!(although I might use bark instead of perlite for my Neps too once my current perlite supply runs out)
 
  • #22
larger grade sands are difficult to find at lumber yards, they typically stock no larger than 30 grade... the link i posted here is where most lumber yards in most of the country get there quality sand! they have a bigger selection
 
  • #23
Last spring I had my father bring me a load of sand for a small bog I created. The sand was from a material yard and it is my understanding it is the type used by bricklayers. I have no idea what grade or type it was but it looked clean and was free of debris- no fecal matter either. I mixed this sand in with my shagnum peat at a ratio of 1 to 4 before adding rain water. I then mixed in crushed white pine needles.  The few plants I had in there did fine but they weren't CPs.  CPs were added about a month ago and they were doing fine... until the squirrels and cats got into the area. I hate to sound blonde but... the sand was a typical sand color which was a rusty beige and I did not have the foresight to rinse it.  Do I need to dig up that entire bog and replace the planting medium?  I have a few CPs that survived the critters in there that were a gift from a personal friend and I want the best possible growing medium for them.  

Additionally, this weekend I created the exact same mixture and filled up pots to use for CPs that are being sent.  I noticed excess rainwater that drained out the bottom of the pots was distinctly "sand" colored.  I thought nothing of it until I read this thread. Should I throw out the mixture in my pots and run out and buy that white play sand and more sphagnum peat real quick and start over or am I ok? I have not received the plants yet so I have some time if I need to throw out the existing mix and start from scratch.  I am sort of hoping I am ok with what I have but please give me the bad news if I am not as this is the exact same mix I was planning on using in another little bog area specifically for hardy CPs that will be set up next spring at another location.  

Also too, I did put 3" of straight sand at the bottom of my bog before adding 12" of mixed sphagnum peat/sand/white pine needles. I also placed a few inches of unmixed sand at the bottom of every individual pot.
 
  • #24
The topic of acceptable sand has come up from time to time and the consensus is that silica sand, pool filter sand, and industrial sand is safe for CP's. The latter sounds as if is what you described.

It is also highly recommended that all soil media (LFS, sand, peat, etc...) be washed before using. Some people microwave their media as well.

By being outside, as opposed to many of our CP pots, nature should be able cleanse things.
 
  • #25
Thank you Jim. I wasn't exactly embracing the idea of digging up that little bog or emptying all the little pots but I would have done it. In the future, I will rinse the sand.
 
  • #26
And also you can use the "fizz test" mentioned elsewhere hereabouts- put some white vinegar on the sand you want to use, if it "fizzes", it's likely no good, but you could always try washing it at that point and then repeating the "fizz test" (sorry to whoever posted it first, can't recall who it was)
And welcome to you, Laura25, don't let the initial setbacks discourage you
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  • #27
Bad news, I was at the school this morning for a few hours because I received a gift package yesterday in the mail of sundews and I wanted to get them over there to get potted. I used the initial soil I mixed up for them.  I am afraid to do your "fizz" test now because I don't want to know.  About all we can do is water them well and hope whatever is in there runs out.  Those kids worked really hard and were so gentle potting up each little plant we were sent after the teacher showed them how to handle them. Here's a photo hot of the press from this morning of the science teacher and some of the kids-

e6922802.jpg
.

I did a little experiment with some pumice I bought this morning that I was actually considering swapping for sand. I crushed it with a hammer and then rinsed it real well. All was going well until I tried to knead it into the sphagnum peat. Wow!  Don't use your hands or your blood will get added to the mix. Stupid move and one of those times where I have to wonder what I was thinking to try to hand knead volcanic rock into sphagnum peat.  Must have been yet another one of my out of body experiences.
 
  • #28
Must be course stuff. You are lucky you can get pumice. Maybe some heavy gardening gloves for that manuever?

Cheers,

Joe
 
  • #30
Btw. Nice crucifix in the back ground:):):)
 
  • #31
All pumice is evidently not created equal.

No can do the fizz test pond boy.  No point in getting depressed if it starts bubbling like Alka Seltzer.
 
  • #32
[b said:
Quote[/b] (LauraZ5 @ Oct. 27 2004,12:37)]All pumice is evidently not created equal.
I have to say I'm sorry as I was the one who suggested pumice. Here in Oregon we get nice, small gray pumice. I think you must have gotten what we call "lava" rock - the red, porous stuff
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The small stuff does do wonders for removng callouses
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  • #33
Awww PDX, I thought it was a great idea and I still do.  I need to get the good gray pumice though.  I did in fact pick up the red "stuff" which isn't actually pumice at all I am told.  Ya know when I was at Home Depot the sales associate made the following statement, "Are you SURE you wanna mix THAT in to something you are going to plant a plant in and you're gonne do it with your hands?"  I basically skirted his question in favor of tossing the bag in my cart as I knew best- ha, wrong.  When one is dumb one pays. Ouch!  So... does your pumice work on brain callouses?  Look at it this way, I am ready for Halloween with bloody finger tips!  Just teasing with you.  Seriously, don't feel bad at all.  Big deal. I was questioned on my choice of "pumice" and still bought it. Duh!  My husband's comment was that he couldn't believe I was such a ding dong that I actually kept at it to try to work it in.  He just laughed and shook his head and walked away.  I have no doubt he'll share this with anyone who will listen as he is totally amused.
 
  • #34
Lol. Laura I got a bloody hand foiling windows at the library with Jen,by cutting my hand on the "sawblade" thing that you tear the tinfoil on. Why you ask were we doing this? To darken the room so that the little kids could have there haunted house thingy. See we were decorateing for halloween this week instead of the normal stuff (talking,writing,working out skits etc...):;):
 
  • #35
Aww, pond boy!  What a sweet heart you were to help decorate for the little ones. Glad you didn't end up with stitches in your hand!  Hey you and I could dress up and go trick or treating together as the bloody blunder twins! Just teasing with you!
 
  • #36
Darker pieces are covered with light colored dust. Once they get wet the dust washes off. I am fond of pumice because once it gets completely wet it does not float and it is not easily crushed to dust as perlite is.

Pumice.jpg
 
  • #37
[b said:
Quote[/b] (LauraZ5 @ Oct. 30 2004,8:13)]Aww, pond boy!  What a sweet heart you were to help decorate for the little ones. Glad you didn't end up with stitches in your hand!  Hey you and I could dress up and go trick or treating together as the bloody blunder twins! Just teasing with you!
Well it was more for the socializing aspect then the actual work for the kids! Lol. Thats just what the project was this week:)
 
  • #38
That was a nice picture of the pumice, Joe, to show the difference between one volcanic aggregrate(sp?) and the more common lava rock.
Unfortunately, I was eating lunch and I almost choked, as a spoof of a Python skit jumped into my head....


"Some people collect stamps, others coins....Joseph Clemens photographs pumice."
(Camera shifts to Joeseph....)
"The trick is to sneak up on it un-noticed. Nothing worse than a pumice stampede."


smile_n_32.gif
 
  • #40
This will probably increase the mirth: I just hauled home a cubic yard of the stuff in my tiny pick-up truck and dumped it into a bin made of concrete block and lined with a plastic tarp.
 
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