26 replies to this topic

[SpornStar]

Ok, so I have been using the fine grade verm and have had ok results. It just clumps together too much when used as casing or even in brf mix. I can't find med grade anywhere but online. I'm trying to avoid ordering anything online. Is there another way? Is there a substitute I can use that may be more easy to find near me?

[SonOfGaia]

Check small private owned nurseries[FONT="][/FONT]... people get lucky there sometimes w/ the owners willing to sell them the big stock bags of course vermiculite that they use to cut soil (they normally wouldn't sell them to the public, but usually all it takes is you asking nicely). Also, check to see if you have a local hydroponics store. I've seen them there, and not only that, the people at those kinds of stores will generally have access to those products through their catalogs and usually will have no problem ordering you a big bag of it. Good luck!! :thumbup:

[SpornStar]

Thanks.. never really thought about asking someone to order it. At first i didn't ask cause i didn't know what the "real" use was but now i can play my part well. Hydroponics store... good idea thanks

[SonOfGaia]

Most likely, if they don't normally sell it, they will be selling you a large stock bag that's worth around $30-$50 depending on the person, but it will be enough to last you a long while. If they start hassling you about the use, just tell them you run a large vegetable garden with your grandma and you have tried using perlite to cut your soil, but you don't like how fast it drains + aerates and your grandma wanted you to get course vermiculite because she's used it with success in the past. :lol:

[Hippie3]

with Spring coming fast
should be easier to find
but if you strike out
i do sell the medium grade vermiculite
on my other site, www.mycrotopia.com
shipping makes it pretty expensive though.

[SpornStar]

Thanks Hip forgot that frigid weather goes away lol. Will keep your site in mind if I cannot find some soon ;P

[dial8]

If you have a local seed and feed store near you try that. Or, you can try a nursery. Both of those places should carry some.

[chimp]

If you have a local seed and feed store near you try that. Or, you can try a nursery. Both of those places should carry some.

I have had good luck with one of the nurseries in my town.

Also, if you use a mixture of say 70/30 coir /verm for your casing..most likely you won't have as severe of probs with clumping. You will probably get a better pinset too...because of the coir IMO.

[Hippie3]

agree, i go 2/3 verm to 1/3 coir .

[Hirum Lightfellow]

I went around town looking for vermiculite and i finally found a damn store that sold it but all they sold was the fine grade vermiculite... am i gonna have any problems making PF cakes with this? and is there anything i can do to fix it?

[GoVols]

I dont know where you live but around here all I have found in the small bags is the fine stuff. I used that the first time I made jars and they took FOREVER. Seriously they took about 2.5 months to completly colonize pint jars.

When I got them out they were so dense. I think too dense.


I went to a big garden center, kinda like a co-op, to get some. They had fine, medium and coarse (A-1, A-2, A-3) verm. I bought a bag of the coarse. Those jars were knocked up on 4/18, birthed the first one on May 2nd, all are done now and have been for sometime,I did 15.

Here is the down side. It was a 4 cubic foot bag, 18lbs of damn verm.

I didnt want to be seen carying that into my apartment, so I went to walmart and bought the second biggest sterillite tote they had and it wouldnt hold all of it. I shall never have to buy verm again:headbang:


Oh yea $12 dollars for that huge bag, and its like $4 for those smaller ones that make like 20 pint jars at most

[Hirum Lightfellow]

see thats what i thought might happen... is there anything else i could mix in with it to make it not so dense?

[i01231]

the fine stuff is good. my foaf does have a big bag course and fine one. He always uses the fine one.

[GoVols]

Well I think fine can be fine depending on how fine the fine is.

Seriously though, the guy who turned me on to this uses fine verm. He just lives 90 miles away. His fine verm was A LOT less fine than my fine verm. Different brands. So it depends. Each flake in my fine verm was about the size of a coffee ground. His are about the size of pot seeds.

The coarse I bought was not too much bigger than his fine. I just really liked how it was shaped. It was about as big around as a bb, but is was probibly 4 times the length(the average piece, some were bigger some were smaller) as the width. Made a really airey substrate. The fine was such a mess too. I will never use it again.

The thing I liked most was how it broke up. With the fine I never could get it to do anything other than clump. The coarse seperated nicely.

So, it just depends how how fine your fine verm is.

[Hirum Lightfellow]

ok i guess i will mess with a lil bit of it here in a little while and see what it does... but out of curiousity would mixing perlite be a feasiable option to fix the fineness problem should i find i have one when i start my work?

[GoVols]

http://palmettovermi...m/products.html


There is the verm I bought. Select the coarse A-3.

It will tell you all about it.

[Hirum Lightfellow]

those are nice lookin Glass... ok so using the fine verm should be fine so long as i use some sense, sweet deal :rasta:

[Hirum Lightfellow]

would occasionally shaking the jars with the fine vermiculite speed up colonizatoin at all?

[the jesus]

No don't shake brf jars, you will disrupt the dry verm. barrier on top and possibly let contams in.

BTW if you are grinding your own brf leave it chunky and that will help combat the over density caused by the fine verm.

Good luck!