Seamaiden
Living dead girl
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During my endeavor to supply myself with decent weed, I found myself working a different sort of value set and paradigms. Things I didn't care about, thought little of or considered of little consequence I have examined more closely.
And so, one of my rituals of growing--adding perlite to anything I mix up. Be it coco coir or soil, I tend to want perlite in it. Why? Extension of a more expensive growing medium, increasing permeability, air spaces, and lightening the mix are all reasons why I've continued to use perlite.
But there are some caveats with using this product. It gets dusty, sourcing can be a problem, especially if you're looking for a specific type of perlite. And then there's the fact that it is mined and thusly, nonrenewable, nevermind the processing issues.
I want something that will jive better with my ideas about growing using coco coir, a product that is not only entirely renewable, but provides good work and income for people in some of the poorest nations on earth, many of which happen to lie in equatorial, tropical locations that are perfect for growing the coconut.
And so, I found myself looking at RICE HULLS. A couple of years ago a friend mentioned using them in place of perlite, but where the hell am I gonna find rice hulls? Never gave it another thought, seemed mildly interesting but that was it. Now, I can't find the perlite I want(ed) locally, and damn if I'm gonna pay to have it shipped.
Rice hulls, however, are a fantastic alternative, for many reasons. Not the least of which is the fact that they are an agricultural byproduct, and thusly are going to be created practically in perpetuity. They seem to require little processing additional to what's needed to make food, are low-dust (which is why they're being used for animal bedding), and will eventually break down into the soil or medium.
Sourcing was proving to be an issue, I've been searching agricultural suppliers and the only places I found that even offered them only did so in large bulk orders (tons). Far too much for me to handle at this time. More reading, more reading, and I found that they're being used as animal bedding, which naturally gave me an idea.
A single phone call later and I'm on my way to get my first bales of rice hulls. Get this--best price on larger particle perlite (not chunky) that I've found is $21/4'cu. An 8'cu bale of rice hulls at my local feed store are regularly $6 and are on sale at this moment for $4/bale.
That's TWICE the volume for a FRACTION of the price, a renewable product at that.
The Program, this is another way to get with it.
And so, one of my rituals of growing--adding perlite to anything I mix up. Be it coco coir or soil, I tend to want perlite in it. Why? Extension of a more expensive growing medium, increasing permeability, air spaces, and lightening the mix are all reasons why I've continued to use perlite.
But there are some caveats with using this product. It gets dusty, sourcing can be a problem, especially if you're looking for a specific type of perlite. And then there's the fact that it is mined and thusly, nonrenewable, nevermind the processing issues.
I want something that will jive better with my ideas about growing using coco coir, a product that is not only entirely renewable, but provides good work and income for people in some of the poorest nations on earth, many of which happen to lie in equatorial, tropical locations that are perfect for growing the coconut.
And so, I found myself looking at RICE HULLS. A couple of years ago a friend mentioned using them in place of perlite, but where the hell am I gonna find rice hulls? Never gave it another thought, seemed mildly interesting but that was it. Now, I can't find the perlite I want(ed) locally, and damn if I'm gonna pay to have it shipped.
Rice hulls, however, are a fantastic alternative, for many reasons. Not the least of which is the fact that they are an agricultural byproduct, and thusly are going to be created practically in perpetuity. They seem to require little processing additional to what's needed to make food, are low-dust (which is why they're being used for animal bedding), and will eventually break down into the soil or medium.
Sourcing was proving to be an issue, I've been searching agricultural suppliers and the only places I found that even offered them only did so in large bulk orders (tons). Far too much for me to handle at this time. More reading, more reading, and I found that they're being used as animal bedding, which naturally gave me an idea.
A single phone call later and I'm on my way to get my first bales of rice hulls. Get this--best price on larger particle perlite (not chunky) that I've found is $21/4'cu. An 8'cu bale of rice hulls at my local feed store are regularly $6 and are on sale at this moment for $4/bale.
That's TWICE the volume for a FRACTION of the price, a renewable product at that.
The Program, this is another way to get with it.
