Vermeculite.

[OrganicLit]

Anyone ever use vermeculite for aeration? First time with it and I think im regretting it. Soil is clumping. Seems like it retains too much water. Any tips? More perlite? I folkowed a recipe that called for 50/50 perl/verm

 

[jumpincactus]

Anyone ever use vermeculite for aeration? First time with it and I think im regretting it. Soil is clumping. Seems like it retains too much water. Any tips? More perlite? I folkowed a recipe that called for 50/50 perl/verm

Yes
Wear a dusk mask when pouring it. It has an excellent CEC rating(cation exchange capacity)

100–150 meq/100 g.

Allows better uptake of nutrients from the soil or media your using, coco promix etc

 

[jumpincactus]

Advantages of a High CEC

The advantage of a high CEC is not only that the soil or soilless media can hold a lot of fertilizer elements and give them back to plants later, but also it can help buffer or resist a change in pH. For example, if you add limestone to an acidic clay soil, the calcium and magnesium can displace hydrogen (acid ions) from the CEC sites.

The hydrogen bonds with the carbonate coming from the lime, causing an increase in the pH of the clay soil. The more hydrogen ions that are retained by the soil, the more limestone that is needed to adjust the pH of the soil.

Likewise, if fertilizer is applied to a soil, many of these fertilizer elements could bind to the CEC sites; therefore, soils with high CEC require higher fertilizer application rates to compensate for this. Later if fertility levels decline in the soil, some of these fertilizer elements may be exchanged and then become available for plant usage.

Soils and soilless media particles can also have positive charges and this attracts negatively charged particles; these positive sites contribute to the anion exchange capacity of the growing medium. In comparison, the cation exchange capacity is more significant in a soilless media than the anion exchange capacity.

But at the end of the day. CEC matters most in soil grown runs.

https://www.pthorticulture.com/en/training-center/what-is-cec-cation-exchange-capacity/

 

[OrganicLit]

Nice!

 

[jumpincactus]

Nice!

use it. good stuff

 

[oldskol4evr]

Advantages of a High CEC

The advantage of a high CEC is not only that the soil or soilless media can hold a lot of fertilizer elements and give them back to plants later, but also it can help buffer or resist a change in pH. For example, if you add limestone to an acidic clay soil, the calcium and magnesium can displace hydrogen (acid ions) from the CEC sites.

The hydrogen bonds with the carbonate coming from the lime, causing an increase in the pH of the clay soil. The more hydrogen ions that are retained by the soil, the more limestone that is needed to adjust the pH of the soil.

Likewise, if fertilizer is applied to a soil, many of these fertilizer elements could bind to the CEC sites; therefore, soils with high CEC require higher fertilizer application rates to compensate for this. Later if fertility levels decline in the soil, some of these fertilizer elements may be exchanged and then become available for plant usage.

Soils and soilless media particles can also have positive charges and this attracts negatively charged particles; these positive sites contribute to the anion exchange capacity of the growing medium. In comparison, the cation exchange capacity is more significant in a soilless media than the anion exchange capacity.

But at the end of the day. CEC matters most in soil grown runs.

https://www.pthorticulture.com/en/training-center/what-is-cec-cation-exchange-capacity/

right on brother talk to um,ive used the vermiculite for last 2 years in the garden,i just reamended the container garden and when mixing ,still there,i havent had any issues with it

 

[oldskol4evr]

right on brother talk to um,ive used the vermiculite for last 2 years in the garden,i just reamended the container garden and when mixing ,still there,i havent had any issues with it

i didnt add any to the potato bags this year,dont want nothing to be in there way,hoping for a great harvest,last year sucked a frezze hit me in april

 

[OrganicLit]

Yes
Wear a dusk mask when pouring it. It has an excellent CEC rating(cation exchange capacity)

100–150 meq/100 g.

Allows better uptake of nutrients from the soil or media your using, coco promix etc

Just to be clear, when you say, yes.. Is that answering my question to add more perlite?

 

[MIMedGrower]

Vermiculite is for water retention not aeration.

Example:

Pro mix bx has it for slower draining and pro mix hp has only perlite for maximum drainage and aeration.

What we use should depend on our environment and goals.

 

[crimsonecho]

I try to mix different materials all together to make an aerated soil and add compost to hold water. This way you get a really rich soil that doesn’t turn into mud when you water.
Lava stones, pumice, zeolite, perlite, hydrotons got mixed up by accident, still they work. Different textures, different benefits. Its good.

Vermiculite is generally used for water retention tho. So take that into account. I just add a handfull per 5 gallon pot. Again, for different textures :)

 

[jumpincactus]

Just to be clear, when you say, yes.. Is that answering my question to add more perlite?

I was agreeing that it is good to use. for its CEC value.

 

[Winter323]

I think using it as you are might be a problem, but as an amendment where you are using 10% or less or I like to use it as a liner for my rockwool clones as its works alot better than perlite which gets algae almost every time and doesnt hold moisture as well for this purpose.