Schultz Aquatic Soil comes in 10 lb bags and IS Turface MVP in Schultz's packaging.

Will that work, Anne?

You could also substitute NAPA Floor-Dry (I think their part # is #8822), but increase the granite fraction a little and decrease the floor-dry a little.

5 granite
4 bark
3 floor-dry
gypsum

is where I would start

Al

Wow! What a quick answer :-)
I'll look for the Aquatic Soil and, if I can't find that, try fiddling w/ the NAPA stuff. I was thinking that only came in really big bags, too, but if it comes in smaller ones, I'm golden. Can't wait to try this!

Thanks for the quick help. This is such a great forum. I was here years ago, and then kind of forgot about it, but I haven't come across anywhere this human and helpful on the web in a long time :-)

Thanks!
Anne

I'm SURE that everyone who hangs out here appreciates what you've expressed, Anne. Soo nice to see you back! ;o) Take good care, please.

Al

Yes Anne..

Welcome back, and congrats on your balcony! You have a lot of fun to look forward too..

Goodluck!

Mike..:-)

Hi, Anne! I'd like to add that the main ingredients I use all come in small bags...

ReptiBark reptile bedding, which is 100% fir bark, ready to use right out of the bag. Available at most pet stores. I buy mine at Meijer's in the pet section, and the bags are 4.4 dry quarts.

Manna Pro Poultry Grit, which is granite chips. I buy mine in small bags from Rural King, a large farm oriented store. The bags are 5 lbs.

And perlite, which is available pretty much anywhere plant supplies are sold. I buy the small bag, which is 8 dry quarts.

Those are my main three ingredients, all available in small quantities. I, too, only need to mix small batches at a time for my indoor plants.

I'm still searching for turface in small quantities, but the 3-ingredient medium works ok without it... I just keep a close eye on watering. I think your medium will largely depend on what you can locate locally, like mine does.

I hope this helps... added to what everyone else is saying! :-)

Thanks jodik--that's a big help!
One question--I would have thought perlite would be a substitute for the gravel rather than the turface. Is it absorbent enough to be a balance to the grit? Or is it just that it makes the mix lighter?
(Still trying to get my head around the basic concepts and make sure I'm understanding everything correctly :-))

I'm going out hunting for ingredients this weekend--should be good!!

Jodi - you can get it at the John Deere dealer in E Peoria or Springfield (ask for Allsport - same product), or at Growmark in Bloomington.

I don't know how close these dealers are to you, but they're all in central IL. (Send me a note with where you live & I'll find it for you. Sorry - I forgot) ;o)

Jerechase - your thinking is correct. Perlite holds water on its surface, but has no internal porosity, so it's closer to granite than Turface. Jodi's just found something that works well for her; and remember, though she grows lots of different plant material, she favors bulbs, which do best in a soil that has less water retention than the soils most other plants like. I suspect that even if she had Turface at her disposal, she would not use the 1:1:1 blend, opting for more granite and less Turface, but we won't know until she tries & reports. ;o)

Al

Speaking of Turface substitutes, up until recently I was only able to get Playball locally. I used it in my mixes and found it to be "more like crushed granite". It simply does not have the water retention of Turface MVP. One of my principal uses for Turface is as a substitute for perlite in my cutting mixes. For cuttings that take two months or longer to grow ANY roots with the bottom heat needed to accomplish this, causing drying of the mix, the extra water retained in Turface is a godsend. Al

I remember reading that you were just recently able to locate a source of Turface. You have my curiosity piqued, though. ;o) Play Ball and Axis have greater internal porosity than Turface, and the pores are open, like Turface, so they should have better water retention. What's up? Are we dealing with a smaller particle size in the Turface and an unscreened product, which would increase water retention?

Al

The particle size is comparable but the water retention is not. Al you take the time to test everything, test this for yourself. I only observe the results and when I was able to compare Turface to Play Ball in my propagation program the results were striking. If I only weighed the pots after saturating and allowing to drain, the amount of water remaining is quite noticeable. Al

Did you take into account that Turface has a much greater bulk density than Axis or Playball, so would naturally feel much heavier than it was wet - if you're used to hefting the calcined DE products?

Al

I'm sorry... I neglected to come back here and see if there were any questions about my post...

What Al says is correct... I mainly grow tender bulbs, and they do not like to sit in moisture for long periods of time. I would like to add a bit of turface to my mix, but it's not really necessary because I grow indoors. I also have the time available to water whenever a plant should require it... I check my plants daily.

So far, the three ingredients I'm using are working out good. I would like to test a few pots, using some turface for water retention... but other than that, I'm finding that my bulbs are loving the more aerated medium!

I like having complete control over the moisture and fertilizer... my only problem now seems to be growing space! I'm out of room! :-)

Thank you so much, Al, for the mention of turface dealers... Bloomington is not far, and Peoria is on the way north to see my kids... so, next time I'm out and about, I'll check it out! I go to Champaign more often than Bloomington, but they're about the same distance from me. Thanks! :-)

You know the pleasure was mine.

Al

I will do some testing when I get more time. When you are digging up your septic system by hand your priorities change for a few days. Al

I use volcanic Pumice in place of Turface in my mixes.
If the Pumice is retaining too much moisture, I balance it with Perlite and sharp quartz Gravel.

Eventually, I'd like to have a bit of everything on hand - Turface, Napa #8822, Granite grit, et cetera - to make functional and attractive container mixes.

Josh

When you HAVE to dig up your septic system for any reason, your priorities change! I'm way too familiar with septic systems, having gone through quite a bit with the two separate ones here... one for the house, and one for the kennel! (Hint: they should both be constructed the same, as they both serve the same purpose!) Kennel septic, no peacock used in outgoing piping... use your imagination!

Anyway... I'm surprised at the amount of moisture retained without the use of turface in my mix. The top couple of inches can be fairly dry, but the area around the roots will still be quite damp. While I do have to water more often than if I were to use a more moisture retentive, organic medium, it's not nearly as often as I originally thought it would be. I'm quite happy with the results so far... the real test will be what the roots look like at re-potting time.

And... so far, so good on that issue... I recently re-potted a couple of small bulbs in 4" pots... they were planted in a pre-mixed bonsai medium, which was quite gritty, but with smaller particles than Al's Mix. The roots looked healthy and numerous, and the used medium fell away with very little effort, making re-potting much easier.

Jodi, I think you hit on what can cause some of us to over water using a mix with Turface (or the Napa OilDry product). The top couple of inches seem perfectly dry, but around the bottom where the roots are? It's still quite damp. I've tried using a wick to tell me if it's still wet, but haven't perfected that yet. I just tell myself if it's dry on top, to wait another few days.

There's a good trick used by orchidists to test mediums for moisture... it's difficult to get your finger down into pots of large bark pieces, especially since you don't want to disturb fragile orchid roots...

Get yourself a package of wooden shish-ka-bob skewers from the grocery store... they're usually sold in packages of about 100 for a couple of dollars. Insert the pointed end of one into the medium at an angle, so the point is somewhere close to the root ball... and leave it there.

To test for moisture, just pull out the skewer and press it your cheek. If it feels damp and cool, the medium is still moist... hold off on watering. But if the skewer comes out dry, it's time to water.

Just leave a skewer in each pot, and pull them out to test for moisture every once in a while.

I use my fingers to check for moisture most of the time... but the skewers work great. I've also got a moisture tester, but after a few false readings, I abandoned using it... I trust my finger and the skewer method much more!

Great idea Jodik...I will have to pick some up for the "few" plants I always seem to guess on. Thanks for the tips!

Yes, depending upon the depth of the container, chopsticks, kabob skewers, and toothpicks are your friends!

Josh

I'm actually very surprised at the amount of moisture that remains around the root area... even though the top couple of inches feels bone dry, there's still plenty of moisture available for the roots!

If I'm not entirely sure whether I should water or not, I wait another day... just to be certain. But the skewer trick is definitely an integral part of my indoor gardening!