I think I have this at a local lowes. To my understanding its nutrient free and neutral in pH so I thought i might use it instead of sand or perilte which is unavailable. The trouble is, is that this medium is designed to absorb and release nutrients. Will it harm my plants? Can i use it on Venus fly traps?
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schultz aquatic plant soil as aggregate?
jimscott
Tropical Fish Enthusiast
widely used product under various names.... great stuff
Shultz APS
PondCare aquatic plant media
Turface
Google site search results for "aps site:www.terraforums.com" :
http://www.google.com/search?source...P_enUS459US459&q=aps+site:www.terraforums.com
Shultz APS
PondCare aquatic plant media
Turface
Google site search results for "aps site:www.terraforums.com" :
http://www.google.com/search?source...P_enUS459US459&q=aps+site:www.terraforums.com
Brie
Sarracenia freak
So far i'm using APS in an all mineral ping media, drosophyllium media, and petiolaris sundew media.. It seems to work well as an aggregate with peat, at least in my experience.. I do recommend giving it a rinse/soak first though, it seems to contain alot of mineral content that leeches out.. i've noticed it will leave a bit of a white crust on the substrate surface for quite a while..
I use the Pondcare stuff as it seems Schultz isnt distributed up here in the PNW..
I use the Pondcare stuff as it seems Schultz isnt distributed up here in the PNW..
I'm not sure what the cost is for either of these names but the Turface version goes for $11-12 for a 50 lb bag - hard to beat that price.It's also sold as "Shultz Clay Soil Conditioner" usually way cheaper than when sold as "Aquatic Plant Soil" but same stuff.
No Turface distributors around here when I check their distribution page.
but
as "Clay Soil Conditioner" it's $4.99 for 10#
as "Aquatic Plant Soil" it's $17.99 for 10#
but
as "Clay Soil Conditioner" it's $4.99 for 10#
as "Aquatic Plant Soil" it's $17.99 for 10#
GrowinOld
Not Growing Up!
In my experience & that of others I have talked to,
You should have no problem.
Here's a little poem that happened while wiriting you...
use it here,
use it there,
use it nearly everywhere!
Yep, I have used it on VFT's,
Sarrs, dews, cephs & Neps... & even pings!
Be sure to rinse it like most other components,
to grow bigger plants than your opponents!
That pretty much sums it up.
All out of poetry too!
Good luck!
I can't say it has done wonders on the VFT's, but it certainly hasn't seemed to be a problem at all.
But then I do lean toward a different mix here & there depending on my mood, and currently have my favorites. Some based on results, others on what is available.
As each of us has different things easily available, we should use what we can find easily, and that still works well.
Indeed, the APS/Turface does decent, especially good item to assist drainage to the mixture.
You should have no problem.
Here's a little poem that happened while wiriting you...
use it here,
use it there,
use it nearly everywhere!
Yep, I have used it on VFT's,
Sarrs, dews, cephs & Neps... & even pings!
Be sure to rinse it like most other components,
to grow bigger plants than your opponents!
That pretty much sums it up.
All out of poetry too!
Good luck!
I can't say it has done wonders on the VFT's, but it certainly hasn't seemed to be a problem at all.
But then I do lean toward a different mix here & there depending on my mood, and currently have my favorites. Some based on results, others on what is available.
As each of us has different things easily available, we should use what we can find easily, and that still works well.
Indeed, the APS/Turface does decent, especially good item to assist drainage to the mixture.
I don't know about that page but Lesco (which is where I got mine - but is apparently now John Deere Landscape) has a number of places around your area. Stick in your zipcode & give the places a call ...
gill_za
Never Knows Best
Turface or APS is not exactly nutrients free. From my personal experience no matter how much you wash the Turface it will keep leaching out nutrients. Currently I'm washing a bucket of Turface. In the "mixture" of 1:2 Turface : DI_water by volume the initial TDS count was 500+, a week later, after replacing water almost every day it is still 60PPM. This will add up and poison your soil.
It works great with pings, but if you put it in the media that contains peat, soon the surface will be covered with slime mold.
This holds true for APS from Pondcare and for pure Turface from Lesco (I have both).
It works great with pings, but if you put it in the media that contains peat, soon the surface will be covered with slime mold.
This holds true for APS from Pondcare and for pure Turface from Lesco (I have both).
GrowinOld
Not Growing Up!
The APS Disaster Poem:
Dear God it killed off all my plants,
that APS is so bad,
Now I have to buy all new,
as my old plants look so sad!
So I better go get lots of cash
but I've spent all that I had,
Now what on earth am I gonna do,
Oh there you are, "Hey Dad...."!
On a more serious note,
I haven't had any issues with it, especially with Pings, Neps & Sarrs.
I don't notice much difference with it on my Dews,
although I only have it in a few of their pots & I top water them.
As for the VFT's, I only have a couple where I used it (a couple of B-52)
and haven't noticed anything either, but then I am not using it all over across the board.
When I plant up, I put down a layer of hydroton in the bottom, a layer of landscape fabric
(to keep the small particles from getting into the hydroton & also from possibly leaking out)
and then a layer of APS/Turface. This acts as my drainage, above that I do a mix of sand, APS/Tf and peat, with a top of peat & sand.
Perhaps since I have it in the lower layers, I don't notice any issues. (In fact this has worked a lot better for me than when I used to use LFS on the bottom (or other organics) to keep the drainage route open & preventing any draining of media.
ALso, most my plants are in a greenhouse or outdoors (in summer)... it is possible that with a smaller closed system, the small amounts of nutrients build up & show up faster.
Keep in mind, we are trying to grow a variety of plants that are often NOT from the same locale.
Small differences can mean a big difference sometime.
I hope you haven't lost any plants from it Gil. (If you have, contact me!)
At least if you are wanting to do a slime mold thesis, you will know how to be ahead of the game!
As everyone will realize someday, what works for one may not work for all. (One size DOESN"T fit all!)
People (especially new growers) often get into the "tell me exactly what to do so that I may have success" syndrome. And this may be an ideal situation to show that what works great for one person, may spell disaster for another. Hard to say.
There are so many variables to growing CP's, it can get hard to tell what to do or not do, unless a person learns from their own growing experience. That alone is the proving ground.
People need to remember this when trying to learn by advice & opinion instead of by experience.
Good luck all!
Again, I am all out of poetry.
Dear God it killed off all my plants,
that APS is so bad,
Now I have to buy all new,
as my old plants look so sad!
So I better go get lots of cash
but I've spent all that I had,
Now what on earth am I gonna do,
Oh there you are, "Hey Dad...."!
On a more serious note,
I haven't had any issues with it, especially with Pings, Neps & Sarrs.
I don't notice much difference with it on my Dews,
although I only have it in a few of their pots & I top water them.
As for the VFT's, I only have a couple where I used it (a couple of B-52)
and haven't noticed anything either, but then I am not using it all over across the board.
When I plant up, I put down a layer of hydroton in the bottom, a layer of landscape fabric
(to keep the small particles from getting into the hydroton & also from possibly leaking out)
and then a layer of APS/Turface. This acts as my drainage, above that I do a mix of sand, APS/Tf and peat, with a top of peat & sand.
Perhaps since I have it in the lower layers, I don't notice any issues. (In fact this has worked a lot better for me than when I used to use LFS on the bottom (or other organics) to keep the drainage route open & preventing any draining of media.
ALso, most my plants are in a greenhouse or outdoors (in summer)... it is possible that with a smaller closed system, the small amounts of nutrients build up & show up faster.
Keep in mind, we are trying to grow a variety of plants that are often NOT from the same locale.
Small differences can mean a big difference sometime.
I hope you haven't lost any plants from it Gil. (If you have, contact me!)
At least if you are wanting to do a slime mold thesis, you will know how to be ahead of the game!
As everyone will realize someday, what works for one may not work for all. (One size DOESN"T fit all!)
People (especially new growers) often get into the "tell me exactly what to do so that I may have success" syndrome. And this may be an ideal situation to show that what works great for one person, may spell disaster for another. Hard to say.
There are so many variables to growing CP's, it can get hard to tell what to do or not do, unless a person learns from their own growing experience. That alone is the proving ground.
People need to remember this when trying to learn by advice & opinion instead of by experience.
Good luck all!
Again, I am all out of poetry.
gill_za
Never Knows Best
Interesting poetry Paul
I thought I'd share results of my experiments with soil with you guys and girls:
Disclaimer: All components were thoroughly soaked and washed.
Below is a pot in which I grow U. praelonga. The plant came with a clump of soil that contained bunch of moss so after it was planted in a container with 1:1 peat:sand mix moss started spreading over the surface. About a 1CM of the top layer was removed and replaced wit 1:1 peat:turface. I grow my utrics not too wet, almost like sundews:
Below is a fairly recent pot filled with 1:1 peat:turface. I was trying to see how sundews and utrics will like it. Notice the green slime starting to spread:
This is a pot filled with 3:2:1:1 turface:sphagnumeat:cypress where i'm growing U. geminiloba. Notice a layer of slime/algae right under the sphagnum:
Same mix with a little less spagnum (trying to grow blanchetii)
A pot below has two types of soil, a half is filled with 1:1 sand:dead_chopped_sphagnum the other half (top right) filled with peat:turface. Again notice how slimy turface based part is:
Here again i have a pot filled with two types of soil bottom left side is peat:sand top right is peat:turface:
I thought I'd share results of my experiments with soil with you guys and girls:
Disclaimer: All components were thoroughly soaked and washed.
Below is a pot in which I grow U. praelonga. The plant came with a clump of soil that contained bunch of moss so after it was planted in a container with 1:1 peat:sand mix moss started spreading over the surface. About a 1CM of the top layer was removed and replaced wit 1:1 peat:turface. I grow my utrics not too wet, almost like sundews:
Below is a fairly recent pot filled with 1:1 peat:turface. I was trying to see how sundews and utrics will like it. Notice the green slime starting to spread:
This is a pot filled with 3:2:1:1 turface:sphagnum
eat:cypress where i'm growing U. geminiloba. Notice a layer of slime/algae right under the sphagnum:
Same mix with a little less spagnum (trying to grow blanchetii)
A pot below has two types of soil, a half is filled with 1:1 sand:dead_chopped_sphagnum the other half (top right) filled with peat:turface. Again notice how slimy turface based part is:
Here again i have a pot filled with two types of soil bottom left side is peat:sand top right is peat:turface:
gill_za
Never Knows Best
I'm sure there is a branch nearby:
https://www.johndeerelandscapes.com/home/locations.aspx
They sell Turface of several types. Pro league - is the fine stuff like mesh#16 sand and Turface MVP this is more like Pondcare/Schultz APS (very coarse stuff).
http://www.turface.com/sites/default/files/Turface_MVP_MSDS.pdf
http://www.turface.com/sites/default/files/Pro_League_MSDS.pdf
