Sand and Airpots?! ehh? (critter barrier)

So, I've been thinking of a way to use sand as a barrier against soil dwelling critters. But I also want to keep my soil light and aerated. SO I thought, what about using an air pot and filling the top half inch with sand for critter prevention. any thoughts?

also this is my soil mix that I will be using..
-1/5 perlite
-2/5 Jiffy Mix
-1/5 MG Mix (moisture control)
-1/5 Vermiculite..

1. what do you think of the air pot and sand?
2. thoughts on my soil mix? (with or without sand)

Why make double posts

newbie! sorry

any info on the sand?

I've read about it with a lot of people having success and might try it out, I have a soul cooking outside and am worried about tracking bugs in so if I do, I may resort to that. I havent heard about the pooling water problem, if you dont over water and water slow I think it should be fine.
Also I dont know if I would add the MG soil. They have a bad reputation for MJ growing. Their PH is pretty high too from my experience.

Thanks Aolelon,
ok, so would I just add more of the other (jiffy mix, perlite, ec) instead of MG? would I have to use nutes sooner without the fertilized MG in there? and maybe at a faster rate?

I use RAW brand nutes.. and also some MG plant food but thinking of switching that out bc I've heard bad things.

Yam said:

Thanks Aolelon,
ok, so would I just add more of the other (jiffy mix, perlite, ec) instead of MG? would I have to use nutes sooner without the fertilized MG in there? and maybe at a faster rate?

I use RAW brand nutes.. and also some MG plant food but thinking of switching that out bc I've heard bad things.

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dont use sand use biotenacious earth

andy s said:

dont use sand use biotenacious earth

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Diatomaceous earth?

Aolelon said:

Diatomaceous earth?

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yes sorry

andy s said:

yes sorry

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Heard to use that as well. Might try that instead as well

Aolelon said:

Heard to use that as well. Might try that instead as well

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ive used it wheni had gnats once or twice and literally once it was there they werent lol. works great and doesnt have any negative effects like sand allows the soil to still breathe

Yam said:

Thanks Aolelon,
ok, so would I just add more of the other (jiffy mix, perlite, ec) instead of MG? would I have to use nutes sooner without the fertilized MG in there? and maybe at a faster rate?

I use RAW brand nutes.. and also some MG plant food but thinking of switching that out bc I've heard bad things.

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Yea add more, also I'm unsure of what's in those other souls to make that call, I would assume you would have to feed at some point.

I would advise against DE as a soil topper

Once you water , the de will go into your soil, this will turn your soil into concrete (will stop air) where the de concentrates will not want to dry out, every time you water you’ll need to replace continuing the problem And making it worse.
Sand is better but not good
Gnat nix is a good product, but you need to run drip lines
If you water it to fast, soil will mix in with it making it useless
Your probably better off making a cover out of panda or bubble insolation , and watering a bit less .

What if you but a medium in between such as river rock or larger pebbles. Wouldn't that work to keep the sand/DE from seeping into the soil.

Plus a lot of organic soil recipes use it in their soil so I wouldn't imagine it's too has too bad of an effect

Aolelon said:

What if you but a medium in between such as river rock or larger pebbles. Wouldn't that work to keep the sand/DE from seeping into the soil.

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No

Aolelon said:

Plus a lot of organic soil recipes use it in their soil so I wouldn't imagine it's too has too bad of an effect

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Are we making organic soil or are we fighting bugs ?
Have fun , I’m out .

BigHornBuds said:

No


Are we making organic soil or are we fighting bugs ?
Have fun , I’m out .

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Either way its adding it into the soil. You're comment is the only negative one I've seen about DE so far.

BigHornBuds said:

I would advise against DE as a soil topper

Once you water , the de will go into your soil, this will turn your soil into concrete (will stop air) where the de concentrates will not want to dry out, every time you water you’ll need to replace continuing the problem And making it worse.
Sand is better but not good
Gnat nix is a good product, but you need to run drip lines
If you water it to fast, soil will mix in with it making it useless
Your probably better off making a cover out of panda or bubble insolation , and watering a bit less .

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It's not powder.. and it will not happen like that by any means have you personally used this product? Looks like perlite

andy s said:

It's not powder.. and it will not happen like that by any means have you personally used this product? Looks like perlite

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DE is a very fine powder ,
Do you have any experience with it ?

Aolelon said:

Either way its adding it into the soil. You're comment is the only negative one I've seen about DE so far.

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Bc he' dumb and it' completely false lol it not powder.. it doesn' break down like he says. I have a quarter inch maybe a half in on top of my soil and after 9 weeks it was still there didn' have any concrete in my pot lol

BigHornBuds said:

DE is a very fine powder ,
Do you have any experience with it ?

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Check it out bud it might be available in powder form but Def not what I use lol its exactly the same consistency as perlite check it out sometime I've seen the powder you talk about but still no concrete from that either