Turface MVP now available in Australia

[Mojo Moyogi]

I mentioned this product (turface) to a friend of mine in the horticultural business, yet he told me not to use it as it is "too acidic, and has too many oxides". I dont know if its because he doesnt like to try new things, or because he wants to keep supplying me with diatomite, but I thought his comments were odd. I thought 7 was ph neutral, so 6 should be ok, but then again, it is plus or minus 2ph which could make it a ph of 4 or 8.

Hi Luke, plus or minus 2pH wouldn't fill me with confidence either, it points to quite a bit of variability, not what I am after in a soil substrate. What I loved about Maidenwell was it's consistenncy of particle size, hardness, working life and pH which when measured was 6.7-7.4. Having said that, is there any chance of getting some growing trials of this Turface stuff underway, for a decent amount of time, lets say 3 years. I gave Maidenwell this sort of time frame to win me over and was rewarded with the best root pads I had ever seen at the time. If Turface MVP is the goods, then before paying a premium for growing media, I want to see some sample evidence before going all in.

And before it's stated, and with respect, I have limited interest in reports from the Northern Hemisphere.

Looks like I will have to go and invest some more money at Sage Horticulture.

Cheers,
Mojo

[anttal63]

Interesting... ill have to give it a go next season.

I too think i might give it a crack as well as the mt slyvia.

[RexieStratti]

Hi Peter

I've landed at this site (I'm not a bonsai-arian or whatever you call yourselves) after reading as much as I can on Al's Gritty Mix. I want to try it for my pots. I live in a caravan park beachside so the soil isnt worth growing, and I am quite used to pots now in any case.
I'm having trouble working out Aussie substitutes for Al's American-branded ingredients...There's a guy Josh on those garden web forums regarding the Gritty Mix that suggests some substiutes. However, since you seem to have actually found all the ACTUAL ingredients here in Aus, I'm writing you to ask where, what and how (basically).
My specific questions are these:

RE: 1 part uncomposted screened pine or fir bark (1/8-1/4" particle size)
I'm in byron bay nsw. i can't seem to find (at bunnings or mitre 10 or local nursery) a pine bark that is the correct particle size - i can only find mulch which has much MUCH bigger particle sizes than Al recommends. I COULD screen, but to be honest, I dont think i'd get many particles the right size after screening. What do you do? Where/how have you found the required 1/8-1/4' particle size required?

RE: 1 part screened Turface
You've answered this nicely. WEll done! to Sage HOrticultural I go.

RE: 1 part crushed granite
Not sure where to start with this one, but Josh (guy mentioned above) says if you can't find granite (I'm not sure where to start looking for it), then you can used Crushed Quarz Gravel. Now I just happen to have a bulk load of white driveway gravel sitting in a heap next door. I wonder if this would suffice. Where on earth would I find out if white driveway gravel is the same as "crushed quartz gravel" (certainly makes sense to me that it would be)... or where do you find your granite?

And the rest i can sort myself. Thanks in advance if you or anyone else can shed any light on my questions. regards rebecka

[kcpoole]

Hi Rexi
The Crushed Granite (as far as I know), is only used for providing a larger particle size in the mix so keep it open and free drianing. It does not add anything like water or fert retension.
You could replace it with anything locally that is a hard crushed stone and get the same result.
Crused Quartz, Blue metal, River sand all will work so long as you have an appropriate particle size ( 3 -7 mm) woud be my choice.

Ken

[petar]

Hi Rexie,

Good to see that you're keen on giving the gritty mix a go. I'm not a Bonsai grower myself, but I've found this to be a great place to learn and share information related to growing plants in containers.

Yep, as Ken said, the crushed granite is really just used for drainage so you can substitute that with anything similar you can find (of the correct particle size).

As for the bark, I've only bought the usual stuff you can get from the big stores, and it has always required screening. I simply use the pine bark from Bunnings. Before screening it, I spread it out on a large plastic sheet and leave it for a day or two to dry out, which makes it much easier to screen.

I made 2 screens to help with process. They are simply made from 4 pieces of timber joined to make a square. One has wire mesh (12mm x 12 mm squares) stapled to it, and the other has flyscreen stapled to it.

For screening the bark, I use both screens (to get rid of the larger chunks, as well as the fine particles). For the crush granite and turface, I only use the flyscreen (to remove the fine particles/dust).

As a possible alternative, I believe the Debco 5-10mm Grade Orchid mix would be a good option:

http://retail.debco.com.au/products/specialty/orchid-5

I will try that out next time I mix a batch of the gritty mix.

Not sure if you've read my original thread on the Garden web forums. If you haven't, you can find some more info (and photos) there:

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/loa ... 22545.html

All of our plants are doing extremely well in this mix. Indoors, I water about once a week (although less in winter). In the 2 litre watering can, I add a teaspoon (5 ml) of vinegar (to bring the pH down to around 6), a teaspon of fertiliser (either Nitrosol or Nu Vital). I also add a pinch of epsom salts for added magnesium (especially if the fertiliser doesn't contain any).

I have found the N-P-K ratio of Nitrosol (which you can by at all the major stores) and Nu Vital (available at Sage) to be the closest match to what is suggested for the gritty mix.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,
Pete

[The Specimen]

For my first batch (which was made using Diatomite instead of Turface), I bought a bag of 7mm crushed granite from a local sand, soil & building supplies place (they give you the shovel and bag, and you go out and fill it yourself... there's no service like DIY :

http://www.midwayminimix.com.au/images/ ... te-7mm.jpg

Before adding to the mix, I put the granite into a bucket full of water, swirled it around and then poured out the "dirty" water to remove the fine particles, dust, etc. The 7mm size was chunkier than the Diatomite. Ideally, I think smaller particles would have been better.

Midway has 7mm scoria and many other screenings to use.. great place for materials though does anyone know whether the scoria is soft or hard at Midwest? I asked staff there and they are not sure.