Have you seen this thread?

It's members sharing what state they are in and where they find supplies.

Here is a link that might be useful: Supplies by State/Region

Thanks for that thread. I posted in it as there were no entries listing any suppliers in Florida, so I added the places I found Pine Bark Fines, and Turface but still no Gran-I-Grit. There was a poor guy from Tampa that can't find anything earlier in the thread from around the middle of June...

I think tapla should start his own soil and grit company and would make a killing considering his mixes work better than the crap at the box stores. Hell he could charge a premium as a boutique type of mix and people would buy it. As long as it was available throughout the country I think it would do well.

Just called Southern States where they DO have Gran-I-Grit on their website but the neartest local affiliate doesn't stock it and cannot order it for me. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Anyhow here it is on their webpage.

Gran-I-Grit

I left a message for Southern States asking if there is anyway they can find a way I can get this product here in Florida. Frustrating doesn't even begin to describe the feeling.

Got a call back from Southern States who do have a Florida store in north Florida and they cannot get the product. Something about they can't ship it below I-20 or somewhere in Georgia. I got a lead to call the manufacture that makes GRAN-I-GRIT which is North Carolina Granite Inc. and talked to a woman there and she said unfortunately they do NOT sell to Florida. Looks like I am SOL. So what are the substitutes for Gran-I-Grit? If it is 6/14 sand then I think I am also SOL. Even the places way across state only sell 6/20 and from what I read through all those threads by tapla is that 6/20 is too small. Damn!!!

Will they not sell it to you on-line either? Or is it that the shipping makes it prohibitive?

Susan they might, but prob not, but even if so, it would probably be $100 or more JUST IN SHIPPING PRICES, and that's not happening for a $7 bag of grit... Sorry.

You may have tried this already, but in case...

Try searching for poultry feed supplies [your city/state].

I think I saw you were on the west side, say by Ft Meyers. I found this link for a feed store. You probably called them, but just in case: http://www.futralsfeedstore.com/home.html

They may not call it gran-i-grit. If you haven't tried it, consider asking for grit. I can't believe there isn't some source as people have farms and grow poultry in Florida.

I have tried feed stores down here apparently use oyster shell as their "grit".

Well, given all the coastline, that makes sense.

Pk, how far are you from Haines City, FL? I just bought the
6/14 silica sand from Surface Prep Supply
a few months ago. I just bought Turface MVP last Friday and their prices are great!

The Website for Standard silica sand is below...you can call the #800 and see if there's one closer than Haines City since I don't know where you live. Good luck!

Standard Sand and Silica

At the very bottom of the page I attached a link to the place I bought my Silica and Turface from in Haines City.

This is the 6/14 size silica sand I bought from them
{{gwi:11739}}

Here is a link that might be useful: Surface Prep Supply in Haines City

Nancy, I knew you would show up!!

Good to see you and your kindness in helping out poor pk..........and all the other letters..

Hope you are well my friend! :-) :-)

Mike

Hi Mike...thanks!! Good to see you too! My DD is down visiting me from school so I haven't been here for a few days! Hope you're well also! :o)

Hi puglvr1 (Nancy)! Surface Prep Supply is the place that I called Tuesday and while they did have the 6/14 a woman in customer service I talked to tried to find a place where I lived that orders from them and gave me their number. The guy said he'd need to order several pallets in order to get it for me so no go. Haines City is a bit of a drive but I may call them and see if there is a place that has it closer to me than they are. I think last time I called, she mentioned a place in Clearwater, so I may get that # and see if they actually have it at Clearwater since that is only like 1 to 1-1/2 hours from me which isn't too bad.

Just curious what the price is and what size do they sell bags in 50#? 100#?

puglvr1, did you say you also got the Turface MVP from the same place Surface Prep Supply? How much was it there?

Hi PK, I think if memory serves the 40# or #50 lbs (bag) of 6/14 was around $8-$9? The Turface MVP was also #50 lbs...was a little over $10 out the door. Best price I've found so far!!

Yeah I bought Turface "All Sport" at John Deere Landscape today 2 50# bags at $12.00 even! Thanks puglvr1, I will call Surface Prep again tomorrow during lunchtime and hope to get some good news and maybe a small road trip is my future on my next day off next week.

Pk, I also found a place in Tampa (Feed store) that supposedly sells "crushed granite", I specifically asked to make sure its NOT oyster shell when I called. I am going tomorrow to check it out since my DD and I are going to be in Tampa. She said they have the 50 lb bag for $15.99 or .65 cents a pound. If it looks like the right stuff I will buy 10 pounds since I don't need much right now, I still have some silica sand...but nice to have some extra since I don't know when I will be back in Tampa.

Below is the store's website...

Here is a link that might be useful: Feed Store in Tampa

That's interesting puglvr1, too bad it's almost double the price of Gran-I-Grit. I called Surface Prep again today and they gave me the # of the business in Clearwater that buys silica sand from them (They do sand blasting). Talked to the guy and he said they do not sell product as they offer a service. I told him I am in Sarasota and there are no other retailers selling the 6/14 sand and he said he doesn't use that grade he uses something called 20/30 and said it was very coarse. I don't know much about sand but wouldn't 6/14 be coarser than 20/30? In any event I ran into a brick wall again as the guy in Clearwater won't be ordering it for me. Now I'm stumped.

pugluvr1, just wondering how you made out at the feed store. Was it really crushed granite?

Hi PK, I made it to Tampa but the one that they were offering for .65 cents a pound was only 50% useable. The rest would have to be sifted and thrown out as it was dust. I think the
$15.99 (50 lb)bag might have been better in size...but since I really didn't need that much and you couldn't see through the bag so I can see the size, I passed on it. So its really hard to say for sure if it was the correct size or not. If you decide to go, maybe they can open the bag up so you can see the size before you buy it? But I would call first...since I'm not sure if they would do that...

Sorry that you hit another brick wall. I know how you feel, it took me forever to finally find the 6/14 silica sand. If I find any other sources I will let you know. I'm sure you've already tried all the pool supply company right? Sometimes they might be willing to order the sand since they do use the finer sand in some pool filters. Good luck!

puglvr1, yeah all the pool supply places use fine sand as expected. I may have to make the drive the Haines City for the 6/20 and just hope it really is the right size. I never thought I'd drive close to 2 1/2 hours for SAND. In FLORIDA of all places...

I'm in Melboure, FL and I want to use the Gran-i-grit as landscape gravel in a Japanese style garden. As per the
following from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Record, Plants & Garden 1961-62 (new series vol. 17 no. 4)
The "Sand Gardens" Of Japan
...there are centuries-old "abstract" gardens in Japan in which sand or gravel are used more frequently, because it can be raked in meaningful patterens.
In constructing the replica of the Ryoanji Temple Stone Garden at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the gravel problem required a satisfactory solution. Washed gravel cannot satisfactorry be raked into surface patterens. Crushed gravel of uniformly-sized particles can be raked into patterens, but if it is to hold the pattern and at the same time present a satisfactory appearance (texture, light and shadow, etc.), it is necessary to combine two or three sizes of gravel particles.
After several experiments, it was found that poultry grit from the North Carolina Granite Corporation, Mt Airy, NC came closet to giving the effect obtained by the Japanese in their Ryoanji Garden in Kyoto.
Of the many size combinations we tested, one of the best proved to be:
2 parts "Grower" size
1 part "Turkey" size
1 part "Turkey Finisher"
The different sizes were thoroughly mixed, applied evenly over a flat surface, and raked into a the "wavelet" pattern.
The mixture can be recommended both for texture and holding quality. The wavelet pattern holds its form for several weeks, depending on the weather.
While mixtures with a higher percentage of small grit held the pattern very satisfactory, they were chaclky in appearance and did not resemble the orginal Ryoanji mix. --- Landon H. Winchester,
(Assistant Horticulturist, Brooklyn Botanic Garden).
I added the following:
http://www.ncgranite.com/gritmailer.pdf
grower: 3/32 - 3/16 inch (2.3813 - 4.7625 mm)
turkey: 5/16 - 7/16 inch (7.9375 - 11.1125 mm)
turkey finisher: 7/16 - 5/8 inch (11.1125 - 15-8725 mm)

Here is a link that might be useful: Gran-i-grit broucher