Soil

[Grim]

I am about to repot my D. Spat and I have no sand, only perlite. Can I use this and Peat or should I keep searching for sand? Thanks in advance

 

[Clint]

you can use perlite, but sand is better IME

 

[Clint]

oh, homedepot sells 50 lb bags of playsand for about 2.50 or 3 dollars. that's the stuff i use.

 

[PlantAKiss]

You can use perlite...but personally I hate the stuff. I use it sometimes but prefer sand. Don't forget to rinse the sand until it runs clear. That helps wash out any impurities in the fine sand dust.

 

[Grim]

playsand eh, I think i'll go to home depot today

 

[Jason Wong]

I once used peaterlite, but then came to hate it after it contaminated my mix with all those nasty algal spores. Don't use perlite if you have access to sand. Sandblasting sand, silica sand, lawn/river sand, podzol, are all examples of pure silica sand you can use for your mix.

Hopre that helps,
-Jason-

 

[Jason Wong]

Playground sand eh...I'll be heading over to my residence playground this afternoon...

 

[tree terror]

make sure its not contaminated with baby wee or the local cats poo

 

[Grim]

I Horpe it doen't

 

[Starman]

Oh no, not river sand!!! River sand is full of minerals!

 

[Clint]

i agree, you should never use river sand unless you test it. it's alot safer and easier to just buy sand.

 

[BigCarnivourKid]

I have used river sand. I rinsed it very thoroughly with tap water and then again with distilled before using it in my CP mix. It'll do in a pinch but for what I spent on tap and distilled water rinsing it, I could have bought a 100 lb bag of sand.

 

[peter]

Again, to all of you who never used playsand before- most of the time the sand you see for sale is unsuitable. If it has spots of black, brown, and other weird colorations throughout the sand, 99% of the time it is no good. Look for white sand that is pure white, with some pink or light brown impurities every once in a while.
Home Depots usually don't carry this stuff from my experience, try Walmart or Meijers.

 

[firewired]

Silica sand seems to be a good supplement. My dad drills water wells so we have alot on hand

 

[jimscott]

I use pool filter sand, as recommended by others.

 

[Tamlin Dawnstar]

Be careful with sand. Playsand from HD to HD can vary, same with Walmart. Sand should be white, like sugar. Avoid multicolor grained sand. Sand must be clean, have no dust, and always be pure silica. Another source is pool filter sand sold at Swimming Pool supply concerns. So far, it has all been pure white silica sand of excellent quality. Walmart sells pool filter sand, but this is multicolored and I would not trust it as it is not the same product.

I do not use perlite, for all the reasons stated above. I don't trust it, and reserve its use for the Petiolaris Drosera only.

 

[Grim]

We have a pool at my house so we might have some pool filter sand, Thanks everyone!

 

[Jason Wong]

Quote[/b] (JustLikeAPill @ July 12 2004,9:31)]i agree, you should never use river sand unless you test it. it's alot safer and easier to just buy sand.

But what kind of sand?

Maybe my bro was wrong, it could be lawn sand, the lady at the shop told me it was the same thing.

Still, that's why I wash it 15 rounds or soak it for 2-3 nights.

I've been trying to get pool filter sand, but it seems the only way I can get it is by sneaking some out of the pool filters, no shop sells it here.

 

[Jason Wong]

I meant what king of sand is just 'sand', it must be of some type, you know, beach sand, river sand, sandpaper sand...

 

[kayaker78]

I recently had great difficulty getting any good quallity sand in the Seattle area (well I mean Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart etc didnt have good stuff) So I asked around and nearly all company's in my area and many throughout the US and canada get there sand and bricks etc. from Mutual materials, so if you need sand and live in Washington go to them, they will sell to private individuals. If you live elsewhere here is there link Mutual Materials on there you will find a where to buy link. They can get white silica sand blasting sand in all the available grades!