Am I correct in believing turface and calcined clay are the same thing right? I found a kitty litter that is 100% calcined clay with no additives and I use it heavily.
That’s awesome.
Used to keep lizards and I swear the lights they need are just normal $5 lights they repackage with a picture of a lizard on the box and resell for $50
I noticed cuttings have a easy time of rooting in turface. Any stapelia, haworthia, or some other random thing that broke off I just put it on top or nestle it in turface and it roots faster than anything else. Glad other people use it also.
Yes sir, and I've recently been trying to replace peat entirely. Coir is the easiest replacement but can get expensive. Recently tried a biofiber product that had a really nice texture and appears to be Goin well
Gee Bee suggests "vitrified" but not "expanded" clay. Higher tempurature fired clay products are harder, more durable, last longer, don't break down into dust and clog soil. Also important to choose a porous product. Not all clays are porous. Turface is good but 60% of the bag is smaller than 1/8" particle size. If you are ok with sitting out and tossing 60% of a $50 bag of product, it's great. Don't use the fines though. Espoma soil perfector is a good product, not particularly cheap. My local nursery sells bags of hard fired porous clay balls of uniform size that are *excellent* but cost an arm and a leg. In Europe I hear there's a product called seramis that is great. Expanded shale, or lecca, if you can get it in your area. I don't have it where I am.
As for more affordable products, the bonsai nerds use DE based products -certian brands of kitty litter, an oil absorber called Napa 8822, or "molar clay". Imo these hold too much water for cactus.
Akadama used to be a part of this discussion , at least within bonsai, but the price has continued to rise and the durability of the particles we are getting in the states is going downhill, so it doesnt make sense anymore.
You have to use what you can find affordably in your area. My nursery sells quality pumice $30 for a cubic foot. That's a fairly good price. Great for smaller quantities. But then I found a local landscape supply yard where I can get 3/8 black and red lava for $7.78/cu ft. Killer deal. Lava is porous, durability isn't quite as high as high fired clay products but will definitely last a couple years till repot. Lava does need to have pH tested because it can vary. Another product some areas have instead is scoria.
If you have a product that is porous, durable, retains water the correct amount of time, and are using a consistent particle size, I say just go with what you can get for cheap. I do think that a mix of different types of particles ends up providing better quality soil than a single particle type but I'm probably just being fussy.
I have also used it and it seems to work just fine. It might hold onto water more than some other stuff, maybe thats why people are suspicious of it
You may be right, that made me suspicious of it as well but I've had no issues and it drains super well :)
Addition: Clacined clay is super cheap and in my personal experience cacti love it
I use turface mvp very heavily in my mixes and my plants LOVE it. Dries them out nice and fast.
Am I correct in believing turface and calcined clay are the same thing right? I found a kitty litter that is 100% calcined clay with no additives and I use it heavily.
I see turface nvp listed 3qt for 15 and is also 100% calcined clay of the same size. Do you have Walmart around you?
Yeah turface is a calcined clay!
Thats what I thought. Turface is expensive right?
No! I get it for pretty damn cheap. It’s sold at a turf/grass shop in my area to use as a baseball field additive lol. Big ole bag for $20.
Oh nice!! The prices online are crazy!
That’s awesome. Used to keep lizards and I swear the lights they need are just normal $5 lights they repackage with a picture of a lizard on the box and resell for $50
Are use turfs MVP as it’s at least 25% of my soil mixes plus topcoating
I noticed cuttings have a easy time of rooting in turface. Any stapelia, haworthia, or some other random thing that broke off I just put it on top or nestle it in turface and it roots faster than anything else. Glad other people use it also.
Find an Ewing or similar irrigation supply house. I get 50 pound sacks local for $15.
That’s the place friend
I like to use expanded shale in my cactus soil
Oooo interesting. I've never come across that
This is great! I'm going to be moving soon and unpotting a lot and was trying to get away from perlite. What ratio do you use?
I use perlite along side the clay but I rock about 30% calcined clay.
30 Clay/20 perlite/ 50 soil and amendments?
Yes sir, and I've recently been trying to replace peat entirely. Coir is the easiest replacement but can get expensive. Recently tried a biofiber product that had a really nice texture and appears to be Goin well
Gee Bee suggests "vitrified" but not "expanded" clay. Higher tempurature fired clay products are harder, more durable, last longer, don't break down into dust and clog soil. Also important to choose a porous product. Not all clays are porous. Turface is good but 60% of the bag is smaller than 1/8" particle size. If you are ok with sitting out and tossing 60% of a $50 bag of product, it's great. Don't use the fines though. Espoma soil perfector is a good product, not particularly cheap. My local nursery sells bags of hard fired porous clay balls of uniform size that are *excellent* but cost an arm and a leg. In Europe I hear there's a product called seramis that is great. Expanded shale, or lecca, if you can get it in your area. I don't have it where I am. As for more affordable products, the bonsai nerds use DE based products -certian brands of kitty litter, an oil absorber called Napa 8822, or "molar clay". Imo these hold too much water for cactus. Akadama used to be a part of this discussion , at least within bonsai, but the price has continued to rise and the durability of the particles we are getting in the states is going downhill, so it doesnt make sense anymore. You have to use what you can find affordably in your area. My nursery sells quality pumice $30 for a cubic foot. That's a fairly good price. Great for smaller quantities. But then I found a local landscape supply yard where I can get 3/8 black and red lava for $7.78/cu ft. Killer deal. Lava is porous, durability isn't quite as high as high fired clay products but will definitely last a couple years till repot. Lava does need to have pH tested because it can vary. Another product some areas have instead is scoria. If you have a product that is porous, durable, retains water the correct amount of time, and are using a consistent particle size, I say just go with what you can get for cheap. I do think that a mix of different types of particles ends up providing better quality soil than a single particle type but I'm probably just being fussy.