We put down red lava rock in a 4x30 bed last year instead of the annual red pine mulch that bleached out and burns up in the Florida sun. We completely removed the mulch, dug down about a foot and removed any weeds. Put down one of the most expensive landscaping cloths, not black plastic, as there were already plants in the bed. Black Edging and 3-4 inches of lava rock put down. Within 1 week there was St Augustine grass coming up thru the fabric and rock in the center of the 4 ft bed. The stuff is a nightmare to try and maintain. You’ll destroy the fingers of any garden gloves weekly. It DOES RETAIN HEAT and my plumerias lose leaves daily from being baked. It’s also breaking down, with no car or foot traffic in the bed and there’s almost an inch of red rock sand now trapping weed seeds also. We’re in the brutal heat/humidity part of the year right now. In a couple of months, we’re removing it all. Not sure what the replacement will be.

Mara, You're funny. A honey badger in one's ancestry builds moral fiber. hanz, I've never tried leaves - perhaps I'll give it a shot, but even though they're Crassulaceae, I hadn't thought of doing so. It seems there are other Crassulaceae now which are pupping at the literal drop of a hat. Antonio, What you've written is a no-no. Karen is a friend, and you've done her and this thread a disservice in saying what you've said - potty-mouth is simply unacceptable. Colleen, I feel the same, but it's like holding back the ocean. Jojo, I would imagine there are seeds - since there are thousands of cultivars, that has to be the case. Anyway, I thought so, too, and Karen unfortunately completely misunderstood the situation. Lord knows, I've been there myself. Hey, it happens to us, and life is too short to be upset about the small fry-type irritations in life, don't you think? Anyway, thanks for the post, but this too shall pass. And on that, a good night, happy growing, and here's hoping there are more than 4 hours of sun tomorrow and not a drop of rain.

hello this forum mayb closed i am looking for only natural and organic growing mediums, i have used lava rock on and of since about 1983, the first time i used it right as it came from the bag that lasted till about 88, i got some free time on my hands and i pulverized my lava it was about 2 - 5 gal buckets worth when i gave up i still have that batch i just rinse it well if i want to use it i have had real good luck just using it as a normal water as needed medium, our thinking was such great things come from the islands and had seen the great flowers there , pinapples come from there so,,, why not grow in it as long as i keep it well drained and no obstructions on the drain holes it has been some good medium, but i never really had much time to actualy set up a real hydroponics system like u see now days it was just ur bare knuckles pump the water in and cover the medium and drain it out well, since then i have been tryn to utilize some water and slopes and grow fish and plants in our ponds and i have ignored lava rock till the last few yrs but now i am really looking into growing only organic in truly only organic containers and anything touching the water and its been very tricky since my wife does cancer treatments and my background is environmental i have looked at cancers and sickness as a result of what we eat and whats in all of what we digest and the containers that touch it and what its grown in and watered with,,, so,, my point? i have used lava rock but consider it somewhat inert but with my chemistry background and knowing whats in all the water and whats gonna be in the fish excretions from gills and excrement's it will have some affect on anything in lava rock that might dissolve up to the point my fish algae coats it with that slim, so my concern? i saw one blog where the blogger says lava rock gives off dangerous chemicals ,,, but its blog to me seemed to b pushing claycorn ,,yet its man made from who knows what and is imported from china i also see that it starts out and may stay with a p h of 8 my lava rock in and 7 ph filtered tap thru 3 charcoal filters shows 8 depending on whose eyes u use, ,,i see where the most fertile lands on earth are in volcanic soil but upon checking cancer rates in these areas i find that many say they have high thyroid cancers in those areas of course the people are exposed to more than the soil yet i found a very few isolated volcanic areas where no cancer existed but they say its from the general diet high in certain elements,, since lava rock numbers i have seen imply 66% silica, 16% aluminum. 10% iron,, lists only 10 total elements i am wondering if i should be concerned with the aluminum, and its possible affects on humans causing dementia, n Alzheimer and no i do not want to hear its a metal and it will not react i am talking pure submersion in my fish ponds and in my grow beds ,, i have stayed with what i think is river rock for now since thats what i ve always used for fish, (and its probly all conglomerate of marble (igneous limestone), granite, quartz, limestone, with one pebble or 2 or lava rock) but since i am planning on eating the fish and i am tryn to remove all man made items such as plastics, vinyls, pond liners, additives in my fish food and meds and hormones not used and all fish treatments removed ( if they die they get blended for chum), are there any other obsessive people who can give me any reason to not use lava rock over man made clay balls for grow medium my brother n law is sure that the clay balls have been developed by the professionals, my son who is helping with the learning is too young to do anything except as what the hell are ur talking about old man? i have not finalized my choices but i see the professionals as only there to part me with my money and sell me some snake oil when it comes to clay made pellets, ,, so do i have to worry about the aluminum, or any of the other 7 items aside from the silica i know i should not breath when i pound it to a pulp, i am tryn to be as true and pure organic as can knownly be and growing inside greenhouses and enclosed ponds not sure how i m gonna get the birth control pills outs the water if its not truly well water but has been slipped in from the lake if my charcoal filters won t remove it except to maybe us my springs that have p h of 6 and drill my own well, of course when i add the wrong things to drop the ph it actually draws out more of my alkalies but i have probly always grown my crops in a ten due to growing in this east texas iron ore and sand , and in central texas dirt and here i have always added gypsum to cancel out the chlorine added to the tap water if you can sort this out and it gets past censors please let me no if anyone out there can shed some lite on my determination to use all lava rock and river rock and white marble or limestone rock

Hi Pat, First of all i would like to say that im so sorry for all of your losses on all of your babies. i know it can be very frustrating, but you have a great attitude and you are willing to try again!!! That's what it's all about. We all learn from each other and then to take what we can use and apply it to our own way of gardening. I checked the pine bark and red lava rock called Rhododendron mix out. It does has fir bark in it as well and it looks great to me. You will be fine usuing this mix to start your seedlings as they will do fine. They will have great airation for the roots and i feel that when you do find other ingedients, then your seedlings will have benefited from this type of mix that you have here. Remember, its all in what we can find in an around our area. The man reason for the mix is to give the roots plenty of space (good aeration and to reduce the perched wated table. You live in California and you all have some wonderful ingerdientes out the especially at OCFS in OC. What you bought will work fine. Then if you want to search out someother type of mix...then we can help you find what you are looking for... : ) Enjoy your new babies!! Congratulations!!! Oh...Welcome to the forum!!! : ) Laura PS I can always send you a sample of the soil to you and you can see for yourself it you want to continue the search and or split the test tress in your mix verses the gritty mix. If you are interested...email me and i will be glad to send you some. I may be heading out there in April anyway, but you probably can get it sooner if i mail it now!!! Good Luck.. Laura