Aquatic Soil Question. . .

Ciriaca · Post by **Ciriaca** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 5:47 am

Thanks Iann for your input!

As a side note, I highly respect this Forum as it is loaded with information a novice like me considers to be THE guide helping me decipher the somewhat arcane life of cacti.

Daiv, your site has definitely re-introduced and heightened my interest. Albeit my failed attempts growing them in my youth, I am still loving these plants.

At present, I am needing to find out what would be a good commercial low-peat top soil that I could buy?

I am going to attempt to use Bill from SC's soil mix, including the Aquatic Plant Soil, perlite, ... but I have no sandy loam access up here in Canada (at least none that I am aware of).

As I have researched, it appears that a low-peat (or no peat?) top soil with garden sand added to it would be an good answer to sandy loam.

I am anticipating my F. Peninsulae to arrive bare-root in the mail either today or tomorrow. I want to have my soil mix prepared before its arrival.

Please help?

readymade · Post by **readymade** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 10:33 pm

A lot of people just use commercial potting soil, usually Schultz. But I think if I was going to go with 1/3 perlite and 1/3 aquatic, I might eve use regular potting soil (if it didn't have a ton of WOOD CHIPS in it! Do you hear, Scotts?)

Bill in SC · Post by **Bill in SC** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 12:24 am

Most topsoil IS basically sandy loam.. You should be fine with topsoil and the rest of the mix as stated..
Ciriaca: I totally agree!! With Gene S, Daiv, Iann, Cactuspolecat, Templegate John, and Peterb, Bill in KC, and many other knowledgables utilizing their valuable time to answer our questions, it's easy to get good at growing without making too many mistakes. Imagine how it must have been before the age of computers, when we had to get all info from books. Are we not blessed to have it so good??!! Do I feel guilty?? errrrr. NO!! Blessed? Indeed!!
Bill in SC

Post by **daiv** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 5:46 am

Thanks for the kind words! We are all quite fortunate to have such a great community here. This forum would be nothing without the members. I'm just glad I've had the resources available to provide the place, but the content is from everybody and for everybody.

Ciriaca · Post by **Ciriaca** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 2:25 pm

Well, I have rounded up all the supplies. It is super difficult to find any Aquatic Plant Soil here in Toronto. The only place I did find any informed me that I should stock up on their supply since they only had three or four bags left. They also informed me that they are no longer going to be carrying the product since there was no demand for it. I figured that one bag of this stuff was more than enough to pot only two cati at this time!

I also managed to aquire some "peatless" potting soil ("Home Gardener" All Purpose Potting Soil) from a local hardware store across the street. The bag had no ingredients written on it so I based my decision on the trust in the customer service informant who helped me.

Now all I need to do is scoop up some sand from the construction site around the corner. Hopefully this stuff will be fit for potting - after I bake it in the oven for 10 minutes to burn off any possible pathogens residing within it. (See? I am leaning!

)

Is it any wonder how our beloved cacti independantly thrive in such wild and harsh conditions as the desert, yet we maintain such a nurturing relationship with them in domestic conditions.

To Daiv :
Just an idea, since there appears to be a growing demand for people seeking recipes for cactus soil. Wouldn't it be interesting to set up a thread in the CactiGuide Forum for people to share their recipes, trials and tribulations? Unless I have overlooked such a thread, I just figured that it would be very accessible for all, especially us n00bs who spend hours trying to find one suited to our newly found interest.

To Bill in SC :
Yes, we are blessed to have such accessibility to the Wonderful World Wide Web to gain knowledge. Especially with interests we all share in this Forum. I often get criticized with the amount of time I spend at the computer, plunking away and drilling down for the information I require. I may still grab myself a book to sit back and relax, but there is nothing as ellaborate as clicking through our favorite search engines for the information we need.

*Whew!* Yet another long-winded submission!
*As I still await patiently for the arrival of my Ferocactus in the mail, praying for its safety*

Jefff · Post by **Jefff** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 3:21 am

Well I see that this topic is a few years old... but THIS is what your Schultz Aquatic Plant Soil looks like????? It's beautiful!

I had bought that stuff for years and every bag I ever got looked nothing like that!
The particles were all much smaller... so much so that I had to sift it through a very fine mesh pasta strainer to eliminate the tiny sand (and somewhat bigger) particles.

Now I'm gonna have to see if I can find a place around here who sells it. I hope it's what that picture shows.
I still have a red plastic cup full of mine... I use some occasionally if I'm attempting to root an offset (as a top dressing to hold the offset in place). I'll get a pic and post it to compare.

And seriously:

There's something mentally wrong with people who "hate" or "dislike" cats or any other animal.
It's like someone hating babies because they don't have the ability to not cry constantly all day and not crap all over the place and not vomit all over and not drool and not prevent snot from hanging out of their noses and not cry all night and keep you awake.
Some people do hate all of that and they torture, beat, harm and kill their baby.
I'd hate to know what certain cat haters do when they can get the opportunity to vent their crazy out on one/a cat.

Plantcelot wrote: Schultz Aquatic Plant Soil looks like this:

I also have Kitty litter but I don´t think my cat will allow me borrow some of it...

Thanks Bill and everybody else for the replies! I´m glad I have the right stuff so I will be using it shortly in a mix with Bill´s soil recipe.

vlani · Post by **vlani** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 3:44 am

Look for Turface(C). It is same thing but at third of the price and generally much easier to get. Look at places that supply sport and golf fields - that is where it used a lot. Last time I've paid about $12 for 1.5 qb.ft bag here in CA

Jefff · Post by **Jefff** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 4:39 pm

vlani wrote:Look for Turface(C). It is same thing but at third of the price and generally much easier to get. Look at places that supply sport and golf fields - that is where it used a lot. Last time I've paid about $12 for 1.5 qb.ft bag here in CA

Thanks vlani,
You know- I looked for turface, pumice, dry stall and others in my area about two years ago and could find none of it... but last night I tried again searching for Turface in my area and I think I found 3 places I may be able to get it at!!

My only concern is that I also read that the Turface absorbs a lot of water and is slow to "release" it.
That has me worried about the cactus staying wet too long and rot, etc...

I got this from another site:

"Turface MVP:
-porosity (% air space)= 80
-water capacity % = 50
-saturation (water/porosity) = 60

Lava Rock:
-porosity (% air space)= 80
-water capacity % = 25
-saturation (water/porosity) = 31"

When compared with Pumice is the Turface really THAT much more absorbent, and does it make a difference?

Oh- and this is obviously the stuff everyone's referring to. I love the clay look and size of the particles!

iann · Post by **iann** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 5:02 pm

My only concern is that I also read that the Turface absorbs a lot of water and is slow to "release" it.

That's kind of the point

It is very absorbent compared to a rock but it retains far more air than a rock and I don't think you'll have any issues with rot. I don't think you'll see a huge difference from pumice, it is just easier to find in many places.

luddhus · Post by **luddhus** » Mon Aug 22, 2011 5:51 am

Jefff wrote:When compared with Pumice is the Turface really THAT much more absorbent, and does it make a difference?

Are you sure that "Lava Rock" is pumice and not scoria?

Jefff · Post by **Jefff** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 2:00 am

iann wrote:
My only concern is that I also read that the Turface absorbs a lot of water and is slow to "release" it.
That's kind of the point It is very absorbent compared to a rock but it retains far more air than a rock and I don't think you'll have any issues with rot. I don't think you'll see a huge difference from pumice, it is just easier to find in many places.

Thanks iann.

I've rotted countless cacti in my time and it's always a worry and something I try to avoid.
It would be nice if I don't have to get pumice from ebay again. Tomorrow I'll have time to pick up some of this Turface... I'll call first and hopefully I'll be lucky.

luddhus wrote:
Jefff wrote:When compared with Pumice is the Turface really THAT much more absorbent, and does it make a difference?
Are you sure that "Lava Rock" is pumice and not scoria?

No.

I believe pumice is lava but it's not the same as the actual "lava rock". I can visualize the difference but not sure how the two differ.

-Now that I look at it I'm not sure if my Schultz A P S is much smaller than the pieces in the other picture or not.

vlani · Post by **vlani** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 4:40 am

Aquatic Schultz is literally same thing, just screened and washed. Made by same folks at same place.
Look for marking Profile(c) somewhere on Schulz bag.

And my impression was turface is actually less absorbent them pumice, but I did not try to measure that, and pumice is natural material and differs from sample to sample