Gritty mix: substitute granite grit with Marble gravel OK
stefpix
12 years ago
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Ohiofem 6a/5b Southwest Ohio
12 years agojojosplants
12 years agoRelated Discussions
Granite Grit Substitute?
Comments (17)Adding sand to clay, even coarse sand, won't cure your water retention problem - it'll just make concrete. Generally, amending clay soil by digging out a bed and amending the soil in it has the serious problem of creating a "bathtub effect". Water just pools at the interface between the clay and amended soil, and causes serious problems. This might be no issue for shallow rooted annual flowers, but it is problematic for deeper rooted perennials (like butterfly weed). Common varieties of butterfly weed are unlikely to thrive in clay soil, though I think there are a couple of prairie varieties that do fine in it. In the wild, it's usually seen near water, but in higher areas that don't get saturated. If you want to amend clay soil, you can mix in something porous and inorganic, like expanded clay or expanded shale (haydite) into just the first couple of inches. More commonly, people just lightly mix in compost and mulch heavily with virtually any kind of organic matter, then let the earthworms do the rest. When organic matter is incorporated by natural processes, it's distributed more evenly and gradually, reducing the bathtub problem. Organic material at the surface also increases the surface area available for the clay to absorb water, which improves drainage. It's also less work for you, with better long term results....See MoreSt Teresa Lemon in Al's Gritty Mix
Comments (9)An update. After months of cold and damp coastal weather, we finally are getting some warm sunny days here in coastal N. California. The Santa Teresa is now almost 3 months into the new pot and gritty mix surrounding. It's sporting new purple leaf growth on most major branches. My 2 older trees are showing signs of blossoms or new leaf growth now. My previously rootbound Valencia that got bare rooted lost about half its leaves, but has stabilized. It has dozens on young green fruit that are still holding and expanding in size. I did get a fair bit of branch die back over the past 3 months, and I did some light pruning. Because I am starting to seeing signs of the trees thriving , I decided I'd go ahead and repot the remaining 3 older trees last week. This time, I SIFTED the fir bark and Napa 8822 to remove the fines. It was much work, but it makes a cleaner looking mix and doesn't seem to separate as much after watering. One day, I may redo the others (sift them), but for now, they need to recover and thrive some before disturbing them again. I'm hoping the fines don't adversely effect things for the time being - I will be able to compare them with the trees in sifted mixes. On fertilizer, I took advice here and got Foilage Pro (FP). I went light at first then increased to 1 tsp per gallon manually applying by hand once a week. On top of that, because I have a drip irrigation system (no fertilizer feeding into it), I later added some CRF (Osmocote), but then started to get leaf burn. I backed off to 1/4 tsp per gallon FP and the burn subsided, that's when I started to notice all the new growth coming in (after 2 months). My drip irrigation system comes on every 3 or 4 days, and I manually water once a week with the light dose of FP fertilizer at 1/4 tsp per gallon. I'll post some photo when I have more to show - right now, all the older trees are not in the greatest health, partly I suspect the previous soils were old and the roots never penetrated the lower parts of the pots (all except my orange tree which became rootbound). Hopefully, as the months go by, they will thrive in the new soil. The next 3 months will be the sunniest/warmest for us no more coastal fog) until the winter rains start, so I am hoping we'll get some growth. One good sign I did notice- I have some onions nearby that have gone to seed. The winds blows the seeds into the pots, and I am finding them sprouting very rapidly in the gritty mix. It must be very good on any fine/delicate roots....See Morehas anyone used "Quikcrete" Gravel instead of granite in gritty mix?
Comments (11)hsw, I understand completely. Having no transportation makes getting these materials infinitely more difficult. Due to similar circumstances, I just paid $17.00 for 25lbs of grit. As for myself & many others I have read about, these 3 items can be hard to come by & you have to travel far & wide to get them. You have a lot of drive w/ no transpo ( no pun intended ). Another source I found was a sand & gravel company. " Haydite " ( expanded shale ) is another good substitute ( if you can find it in the right size ). What ever you get, I would be sure & rinse it thoroughly. Best of luck to you. Rob...See MoreGritty Mix Pea no Granite how does it look
Comments (6)Gray, what are your trees residing in until you make the mix correctly? I wanted to give you a suggestion..Make sure you get a few wooden dowels or wooden Kabob sticks to regularly check the mix for moisture since you are not use to watering more often..It will guide you for now until you get use to watering them and knowing when to do so. Also, use some chop sticks or a pointed wood stick, you can even sharpen the tip of one of your dowels like a pencil and make sure to get the mix between all the roots..Use the dowels the same thickness of a pencil or smaller.It very important to make sure most of your mix comes in contact with most of your roots. Don't forget to use Gypsum if you can't find a fertilizer with calcium in it. Those poor roots....I could never grow any kind of a pine tree in anything but a well draining mix..So bravo to you for understanding the concepts of growing in containers and how important root health is....See Morestefpix
12 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
12 years agostefpix
12 years agostefpix
12 years agowestes Zone 9b California SF Bay
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agorooftopbklyn (zone 7a)
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agowestes Zone 9b California SF Bay
8 years ago
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rooftopbklyn (zone 7a)