Kanana

Yes, I know about the benefits, not sure why azuzinski was dead against perlite and vermiculite in the garden soil though. Hope they offer up their reasons though. Should be interesting.

edwmax

I have changed to a pine bark mix for potting bananas. It is made/mix by a local fertilizer company for nursery's at 80% bark (medium/fine grind); 10% sand; 10% peat. ... Bark & sand doesn't absorb water but only retains that which adheres to the surface. Peat will hold water like a sponge. I don't remember what the at water retention of the mix was (I think 30% to 40% by wt ???). And excess water started draining from the pot in less than 5 seconds & was finished less than 2 or 3 minutes, making this a very fast draining potting mix.

I'll test water retention & draining again in a week or 2; and post the results later.

I bought 1 yard of the 80-10-10 bark mix for $20. Much less than buying bagged potting soil at $5 per 2 cft bag & perlite at $4.50 per 8 gt bag (abt 1/4 cft) which would cost about $262/yd (or $9.70 per cft of mix) to make a 50/50 mix for potting bananas.

I don't know that this is 'the Best' but it sure is less costly and the Bananas wont care as long as you feed and water them.

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Tytaylor77

I would think bark would do fine! Especially at that price! For perlite check feed stores! Mom and pop ones! Not tractor supply, etc. i get 4cu ft of perlite for right around $13. It’s the same place the local nursery’s buy it from! The feed store gets truckloads of product so no extra shipping for the perlite, etc. just look around! If you can’t find any, i know Home Depot sells decent sized bags for an ok price. 2cuft or so i think. Lots of mixes will work! I don’t like peat either! I love rice hulls in my mix.

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edwmax

Thanks Ty,

The prices was based on Walmart & Dollar Store. I haven't seen big bags of perlite in the stores. I think my local fertilizer company has the large bags of perlite, but I don't need it with the 80-10-10 mix. The peat is used in the mix to increase water retention, so i don't have a problem with it in this mix. ...Anyway the cost saving means I can get more banana plants!!!! ...

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obdiah

for pearlite check building supply and concrete dealers they use it to fill the void in concrete block as insulation as for potting mix I work part time for a co that makes the stuff in different varites but for personal use I get the scrap thats spilled around the machinery I just sweep it up in 5 gal buckets or if i am really lucky get a loader bucket full dumped in my pickup

edwmax

Can't beat FREE ...

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aruzinsky

Sphagnum moss is not so expensive on a volume basis. After the 22 lb. bale is uncompressed, it will be very light and fluffy. A few ounces of sphagnum moss is enough to amend about 20 gallons of potting media.

Some vermiculites contain asbestos:

Asbestos in Vermiculite

Good luck with vermiculite in your garden soil. I don't feel so lucky nor do I expect the government to protect me from such things.

And, if and when you sell your property, I hope the buyer doesn't see the vermiculite or perlite in your soil and use that as a flimsy excuse to negotiate a lower price.

obdiah

I will raise a cold beer to that

subsonicdrone

whats the deal with perlite?

aruzinsky

I admit that my reasons for disliking perlite are flimsy:

1. I prefer rice hulls because, unlike perlite, rice hulls are a source of soluble silicate. Musa are silicate accumulators.

2. In my experience, white mealy bugs camouflage themselves as perlite particles that have splashed onto the bottoms of lower leaves. I even suspect that they evolved this trait on plants potted with perlite. White mealy bug are easy to spot when you don't use perlite.

3. There is some debate about phytotoxic levels of fluoride in perlite:

AN ARTICLE ON PERLITE, FLUORIDE, AND FLORICULTURAL CROPS---The Schundler Company

Enough for a pessimist, like me, to worry about.

cincinnana

This is what we use locally

The mix is made by many of the local plant society members.

Super fan of pearlite/sand /peat/vermiculite/rice hulls.

Our go to amendments and soil mix is peat moss/pearlite/pine fines which can be adjusted to meet your plants needs.


Of course some can debate this .......just use what works for you and what you can afford.

Everything mentioned in the thread works very well.





Supplies for the soilless mix for all of the plants.
by
Hostafarian, on Flickr

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Kanana

I'd rather have the vermiculite in my soil on my property than the crappy hard pan filled with inorganic TRASH the former owners buried in gthe soil along with concrete and full size lava rock, all covered with black PLASTIC landscape fabric. It's been 2 1/2 years since I've been here and I curse the former owners everyday for their poor decisions, that I am having to fix now after the fact. Vermiculite would have been a dream compared to the crap they left me.

jbclem

Aruzinsky, since you're paying attention to these things, have you considered the amount of arsenic present in rice (hulls, especially).

aruzinsky

I am aware of the arsenic in rice. I am aware that arsenic is chemically similar to phosphorus. And, I am aware that there is a bacteria that can replace the phosphorus in its DNA with arsenic.

If you are concerned about arsenic absorption by plants growing in rice hulls, fertilizing with extra phosphorus should help.

https://scielo.conicyt.cl/scielo.php...62010000200004

cincinnana

I picked up some double washed cocoa coir today 5kg.....at the hydro store.
Pro stuff and 2.5x the cost of a bale of peat moss
Looks good and smells good.
I cannot wait to use it soon

Thx Mushtaq86 for the suggestion to try it. Lol

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aruzinsky

"cocoa coir" - I think you mean coconut or "coco" coir. I don't think cocoa (chocolate) plants have coir.

About 10 years ago, I did a side by side comparison of tomato plants grown in soils amended with coconut coir versus peat moss. The peat moss won.

Tytaylor77

The little bit of coco coir I have is used for seed starting and starting sensitive plants. When I transfer a tiny TC or culture plant with 0-2 roots it helps keep the soil moist at all levels longer without needing more water! I also find it doesn’t stay as wet and soggy as peat. For this it is outstanding. I wish it was more available here. Just isn’t worth it on most applications because of price.

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cincinnana

LOL...I must have been coo coo for cocoa puffs

I had read a number of articles and watched a few videos with side by side comparisons with various herbaceous plants. Some good threads in the forum even discuss the use of coir.

Many of my CoHorts swear by it and praise the benefits while giving me the horticultural stink eye.

It is great soilless foundation in many applications but cost is prohibitive for me.
So I am going to give this hard brick a try once I figure out how to put the square brick in a round container.

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aruzinsky

According to my suppliers, the price of coconut coir and peat moss are almost the same. The cheapest place to buy peat moss is at Menards which has it on sale for about $5 per 2.2 cubic feet bag, once a year. If you miss that sale, it costs $6.98.

https://www.menards.com/main/outdoor...3608034794.htm

Here is a $6.25 block of coir which when expanded is 2 1/2 – 3 cu. ft.:

https://hydro-gardens.com/product/co...lock-51-6e542/

cincinnana

Thanks for the information and valuable links.

Those seem like decent prices too.

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