vermiculite

Do you organic growers use vermiculite in your soil mixes?
Is it good for organic growing medium?
If you use it/and perlite how much you use it?

doctormj said:

Do you organic growers use vermiculite in your soil mixes?
Is it good for organic growing medium?
If you use it/and perlite how much you use it?

Click to expand...

I use it, in my opinion is much better than perlite.
Vermiculite has fantastic CIC capacities......it can absorb 400-800 times it's weight in water and nutrients.
It is very effective to reduce the need of watering the plants....as it is has the greatest water retention specs.
It ends up generating mini retention spaces....so the soil never really dries completely...which is a basic of organic growin'.....unless you want you micro life to die as a cause of absolut dry soil.



MY soil always has 20% vermiculite.....and about 5-10% perlite.
The rest is compost, WormCastings.....guanos......peats......

If you fill a bucket with vermiculite only....you soak it in water/// it will take about a week to dry...or even more...if its in a shelter.

You fill the same bucket with perlite....do the same thing...and it will be dry in a couple of hours maximum.

That is because perlite has good water absorption....but not retention due to its pouros nature.
It is better for drainage.....and a good, well made soil should not need help to drain, if it was properly done.

BYE

i dont like it, it holds too much water, I messed my roots up with it, so i am biassed.. lol I dont add any extra any more. but yes it is very good stuff. just dont over water

I use a mix of peat moss, vermiculite and perlite. I mix them in a 1 to 1 ratio and I have had excellent results. I only have to water every 3rd day and that is with 2'-3' plants in a 2 gallon smart pots.

I will upgrade to 3 gallon on the next grow, so I can go 4+ days between waterings. When I mix it, I never place dry mix in a pot, I always moisten it to the point it will clump together when squeezed in your hand. This makes the mix take water more evenly and eliminates the "hard" clumps that can form and divert water to the outside edges of the pot when you try to water.

Peace and Great Grows

Asmallvoice