  
Nan (Nanook)
| | Posted on Monday, October 22, 2001 - 03:52 am: | 
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Vermiculite FAQ
Vermiculite, Verm for short, is heat puffed mica, a nontoxic mineral. It is used in PF jar tek for the substrate mix, the "verm barrier" on top of the substrate, and in the double-ended casing Tek.
The problem is that during the verm scare many wholesalers dropped bagged verm from their product line. However verm is still sold and used as an insulation material and in horticultural mixes. It is available in several grades, all of which can be made to work: the "medium" grade being the best for substrate and verm barriers, the "coarse" grade the best for casings. The general agreement is that the fine grade is the least desirable in all cases.
Hunt around at mom & pop hardware stores and nurseries for 4 cubic foot bags under $20.00, most of em can order it up for ya if you ask em nice... Tell em your rooting plant cuttings for holiday gifts, or insulating a freezer full of corpses down in the basement. Something they will believe. Get the medium grade if you can, grind and mix coarse if you can't, and the fine stuff if you must. Nothing works like verm.
The coarse grade of verm can be milled in the blender. Don't blend much at one time, don't overblend. A mixure of fine and coarse particles works well. If you overblend the verm, you can mix coarse verm back in with it to get a good consistancy.
Don't breath the dust. Bad to have any mineral dust in the lungs.
Shroom Glossary |
george jeremy (Mofo187)
| | Posted on Monday, December 17, 2001 - 09:18 pm: |
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i just came back with a huge bag of vermiculite, to find that the particles are a bit bigger than the ones in the vermiulite i normally bought in small bags. does this matter? is one superior? can i still make my jars without concern? thanks |
hippie3 (Hippie)
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 18, 2001 - 05:26 pm: |
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well, since i still have no idea how big they were in the small bags, i can't really tell if what you have now is ok.
use medium grade horticultural verm.
coarse is ok for substrate, but not so good for the vermiculite barrier/seal on top.
if you're worried, grind it up a little. |
Chris (Stuckonk)
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 19, 2001 - 07:03 pm: |
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I personally like the bigger chuncks of verm, one time though it was really coarse so I ground it up in the coffee grinder. |
Nugdumper (Nugdumper)
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 19, 2001 - 08:24 pm: |
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I also prefer the larger grade verm, easier to work with, and much less messy. |
Liberty_Caps (Liberty_Caps)
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 19, 2001 - 10:25 pm: |
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ah ha
I just bought 2 giantic bags of vermiculite this brand has never done me wrong "country cottage"
the bigger stuff I dont know why but when I used it I coulden't get my jars to colinize..
maby the syringes
so I got 2 syringes comeing right now frome PF
ahhhhhh I can't wait till I get some jars going I just bought a really nice bin perfect for growing.
I cant wait till I get to pack that baby. |
Dr. Cubesis III (Newbieshroomer)
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 19, 2001 - 11:17 pm: |
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Yea, I bought a bag of verm as big as me when I started up to!! Lifetime supply almost!! |
onediadem (Onediadem)
| | Posted on Thursday, December 20, 2001 - 01:38 pm: |
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I bought a huge quantity of fine verm, is there anything I can do to make it more open? like maybe using whole grain rice, precooked and mixed with it? think of anything, let me know, any help would be good for my next batch....
pj |
hippie3 (Hippie)
| | Posted on Thursday, December 20, 2001 - 06:00 pm: |
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fine should be ok to use, pj.
* Just shake it down, do not pack. |
Cragith Kilbonith (Kilborn)
| | Posted on Thursday, December 20, 2001 - 08:05 pm: |
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I purchased a 20lb bag at a local gardening department and I was very happy with the results, the grade was medium. I was using a larger course before the one that lowes carries. |
Admin (Admin)
| | Posted on Saturday, December 07, 2002 - 06:22 pm: |
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what vermiculite looks like, various grades fine to coarse, left to right. |
Admin (Admin)
| | Posted on Sunday, December 08, 2002 - 01:30 pm: |
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fine vermiculite
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