Anyone using VERMICULITE or PERLITE in their pot mix?

[msubzwari]

from where u got coconut coir sabzwari?

You can get it from any garden supplies shop. It is available in compressed brick form which you need to put in water as described in my earlier post.

I'm in Karachi and I bought Coir bricks from shops at old sabzi mandi area (near Suzuki showroom) on university road.

[Muhammad Arif Khan]

I am again confused; if your garden soil is good, why should you not be using the same for the pots?
It is again the brain washing by the media (through inter-net). What is the advantage of Perlite over char coal of same size or for that matter broken bricks (kari), or of peat moss over coco husk.
The potting mix of countries depends mostly on what is freely available to them.
I feel, (feel) that where we err is the proper fertilisation. Good results can be achieved by using Bhal, leaf compost, manure and proper amount of chemical fertilisers.

[UMAR KHAN]

i totaly agree with brigd sb.i use leaf compost for flower pots with bhal.old manure in the flower beds,rose beds,fruit trees & vegie beds.along with manure & leaf compost i use NPK & micro nutients.Mashallah my plants are very healthy.only the ratio of macro ingtds in NPK differs for diffrent plants.Requirments are diffrent for diff plants.its the gardeners experince which really maters.the proper useage of fertilizers,proper planting time.

[msubzwari]

I am again confused; if your garden soil is good, why should you not be using the same for the pots?
It is again the brain washing by the media (through inter-net). What is the advantage of Perlite over char coal of same size or for that matter broken bricks (kari), or of peat moss over coco husk.
The potting mix of countries depends mostly on what is freely available to them.
I feel, (feel) that where we err is the proper fertilisation. Good results can be achieved by using Bhal, leaf compost, manure and proper amount of chemical fertilisers.

I agree that freely or least expansive options are the best choice.
We are not fortunate enough here in Karachi to obtain bhal easily.
As a new pot gardner, I tried both soil based and coco peat based pot mixes. For me, coco peat/husk fares better over soil simply because of better drainage and less packing (no godi required!). Having said that, it is not good choice if you need good support for your plant. In that case soil based mix is better.
It all boils down to what works for you.

[UMAR KHAN]

oh i c so its very hard to find local stuff in Karachi.then what Mir sb has sugested is right.

[mirafzalkhan]

msubzwari paint a true picture of gardening in Karachi. The soil available here is called bahlo matti locally. Totally sand no organic matter in it so drains very quickly also the nutrient leach out from it.
Not easily available & very expansive a 50 kg sack for Rs. 150/-, in larger amount it is cheap but unfortunately no space to dump it. So we bought less quantity occasionally and also needs to add something to increase the retention of water.

[Enriquecruz]

Hello
Vermiculite is a hydrated basaltic mineral.There are two interesting things about vermiculite which make the mineral desirable to manufacturers.
I tried both soil based and coco peat based pot mixes.

[Rizwan]

in my years of growing, i have only used vercumlite and perlite once, i stopped using it as i found it just a extra expense, as my seeds germinated anyway in regular multi compost. so i stopped using it and still get great germioantion rates.. It just seems overkill, seeds and plants have been around longer than us hmans and they can cope without it

The same why i stopped using rooting hormone powder, its a waste of money DONT BUY IT!!! it doesnt work, i have grown cuttings without any rooting powder for years and still get high success rate. A while ago i made 20 cuttings of chilli plants , 10 dipped in rooting powder and 10 just natural and all 10 of the natural rooted really well and only 8 out of 10 for the rooting gel/powder.

aslong as you have loamy soil or compost you dont need perlite and vercumilte or even rooting gel.

[Rizwan]

msubzwari paint a true picture of gardening in Karachi. The soil available here is called bahlo matti locally. Totally sand no organic matter in it so drains very quickly also the nutrient leach out from it.
.

i am glad u said that.

everytime i see pics from pakistani growers i get totally amazed to see sand !!! and when i ask them " what the hell is that" they reply " this is all we can get" is it sand taken from the bottom of a river ?? the sediment beacuse thats high in nitrogen becasuse of all the fish waste, or is it sea sand ?? lol

[khalidaminryk]

Compost..
Potting Mix..

This is a issue among container / land gardeners..

i would like to suggest that under this thread .. there should be a complete formula of potting mix under certain conditions of climate, temp zones, sunny , shady , plants type , etc ..
for example ..

potting mix.. palms... zone southerns punjab .. temp 46+ .. sunlight full day/ half day .. airy.. n n n n n .. use under these condition for palm following pottin mix..

potting mix .. XXX% soil + XXXX% + sand + xxxx% organic ..............

so there should be a chart showing complete formula of potting mix for plants of different types under climate effects...

if there is already such information on potting mix plz let me know..

moreover ... under the thread compost.. there is lot of coments experiances n studies which is time taking ..

i would like to ask a question which is very important for me ...

when we take information from net under subject potting mix .. we c videos showing " add soil, add sand, add organic .....

the question is what is a SAND .. experts says that SAND is best part of potting mix which help for drainage of excess water in pot..

so what is SAND ..

here in punjab HARO SAND is used for cmented walls Plaster use...
this sand is shifted from sukhar or rohri or from karachi .. this sand is used in block manufacturing in karachi for building constructions ..

plz pardon me for a lengthy post as usual .. and i appreciate all who let me know all about gardening ..

thanks BROs