|
| I've just discovered a landscaping supply store in my neighborhood that sells various soils, amendments, etc., and decided to load myself up with one bag of their potting mix to test it out. With all of the info about adding rocks and sand to soil, I'm now confused as to whether it's good or bad to incorporate it. I know rocks at the bottom of a container are bad because they don't really aid in drainage, and raise the perched water table, but what about rocks IN the actual soil? And by rocks, I mean "horticulture grade lava", as outlined by the store's ingredient list.
From their website:
The website ingredients differ slightly from the handout I was given, which list the ingredients as the following:
Now, not knowing much about soil, I can't really tell whether it's good stuff or bad stuff, but I can say that it smells absolutely heavenly. When I opened up my car to unload it, I actually stopped and contemplated leaving it in there for a day or two, just to perfume my car's interior with the sweet smell of soil. It smells that nice. |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
- Posted by dognapper2 5 (My Page) on Thu, Aug 27, 09 at 6:37
| It sounds interesting...what's it called/ link? |
|
| If the ingrediant lists have two different lists of ingrediants you have two different products. Keep in mind that potting soils are vastly different from garden soil. |
|
| If the ingredients are listed in order of the % of their presence in the soil, both mixes sound extremely water retentive to me. Al |
|
- Posted by spaghetina SF Bay Area (My Page) on Thu, Aug 27, 09 at 12:41
| Dognapper: here's the link: Lyngso Garden Materials Kimmsr: They mix it themselves, so I think it may be more of a website updating issue, than a "two different products" issue. I'm not really sure though. Al: If they happen to not be listed in the order of their presence in the mix (might give them a call this afternoon to find out, and to see why there's the discrepancy between their website and the printed material), would it be a decent combination of ingredients? I know you are a soil master, so I'm really glad you chimed in here. They had something there that looked a lot like a gritty mix, but I wasn't really sure whether I wanted to go that route or not, so I went with this one. A woman was there shoveling a whole large garbage can's worth and having it hauled into her car, and she highly recommended it, but of course, if I looked long and hard enough, I could probably find someone who would recommend Hyponex too, so that doesn't necessarily mean anything, lol. |
|
| Lol - you're right! There are a couple of folks that were swearing by Hyponex a couple of months ago. I imagine by now they're swearing AT it. ;o) The mini-mulch fir bark looks interesting for use in the gritty mix, if you ever get around to trying that. I don't know ..... all you can do is try it & see how it works. It Does sound like it will hold lots of water, but hey ..... let us know. You could always add a little perlite/pumice to it to help a little with added drainage/aeration after you have a closer look, if you think it's warranted. Good luck, Spaghetina. Al |
|
- Posted by dognapper2 5 (My Page) on Mon, Aug 31, 09 at 5:31
| How does THIS soil mix sound? "Bar Harbor Blend is our new, all-purpose potting soil introduced for the 2005 season. It is a rich, dark brown and full bodied, designed for re-potting house plants, planting hanging baskets, window boxes and all containers. I'm on the wrong coast for the 1st site :) Walking past the garden section of the grocery store and I saw bags of this for $4.99. Anyone tried it or one of their other blends? I guess I should buy a bag so I can see what's inside for myself. Maybe not take a sniff test too quickly? Right now I'm in the mood to check plants daily so "requires less watering" might lead to overwatering, given my history - at least until if/when I revert to desert - flood watering method of past. Which is NOT good but tends to be my pattern. (Mental image of green thumb in the middle with a little root rot on bottom and crispy tuffs on top. 2nd cup of coffee coming up! Good morning ;) |
Here is a link that might be useful: Bar Harbor Blend
|
- Posted by Tony 5b(tony_zepp@yahoo.com) onThu, Apr 14, 11 at 14:09
| Don't agree with this raising the perched water table nonsense. I think it's overthought. if a layer has clear holes how can the water possibly stay perched there? |
|
| Because the soil/mix washes into them there clear holes and plugs them up. Your drainage is only as good as your mix. |
|
| Tony - It would be better if you understood a concept before you simply dismissed its application out of hand. Water "stays perched there" for the same reason it does in the sponge you can lift, saturated, from a pan of water, hold by a corner until it completely stops draining, and then still wring out a considerable volume of 'perched water' from it. Had you been growing a plant in the sponge, the space occupied by perched water would have been unavailable for root colonization until the sponge dried to the point where it was just damp - until air could again return to it and support healthy root growth. The same is true of soggy soils that support perched water. Roots grow into those areas only if/when you allow the soil to dry down sufficiently; but then, when you water again - roots in the resaturated areas die. This cycle and its effects continue, often unseen by the grower because it is often manifest only in lost potential; but is still very expensive from the plants' perspective in terms of energy outlay. The energy expended in the cyclic death & regeneration of lost roots could have gone toward increased bloom or crop yields or simply an increase in o/a biomass. Al |
|
- Posted by steve_mass 5b (My Page) on Sun, Apr 17, 11 at 12:11
| That Coast of Maine Lobster compost that they sell is made from lobster shells and contains a natural source of chitin. Chitin is a control for foliar nematodes, so I use a little lobster compost in the hole of every hosta that I plant. Don't use the potting soil, but the lobster compost is good stuff. Steve |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Soil Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.