Sand vs. grit
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fanaticactus
- Posts: 3194
- Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2009 7:44 pm
- Location: Grand Isle Co., Vermont
Sand vs. grit
In trying to decipher recipes for soil mixes, what is the difference--if any--between 'coarse sand' and 'grit'? Does 'poultry grit' (crushed stone) satisfy the category of 'grit'? It seems it should...or is it still too coarse for cacti, although it provides good, non-organic drainage? And where do pebbles fit in?
Catch a falling star--but don't try it with a cactus!
Re: Sand vs. grit
Grit is gritty and sand is...sandy 
I don't think there's really any concrete meanings behind those terms. But you can pretty much use anything that's chemically stable as inorganic addition to your substrate. I've found over the years that smaller grain size is not good, not enough oxygen (air) goes through them. People use different things, for example this year I decided to use crushed bricks and roof tiles in my mix and I can say my cacti love it.
I don't think there's really any concrete meanings behind those terms. But you can pretty much use anything that's chemically stable as inorganic addition to your substrate. I've found over the years that smaller grain size is not good, not enough oxygen (air) goes through them. People use different things, for example this year I decided to use crushed bricks and roof tiles in my mix and I can say my cacti love it.