Aquatic Plant Central - View Single Post - How-To: Mineralized Soil Substrate, by Aaron Talbot

RickRS · 02-26-2011, 11:15 AM

From the number of post begging for brand names of topsoil, I'll add this:

Currently finishing the mineralization of a bag of EarthGro brand topsoil, from my local Home Depot. This seems to be exactly what Aaron tells us to look for, cheap ($1.33 for a 50 pound bag) and soil only. The stuff has some sticks and rocks, but nothing in excess. Because of it inexpensive natural, it has no added humus, peat, or fertilizer. It appears to be breaking down just as Aaron promised.

When you screen it dry, watch that you don't discard clay that has dried into small pellets. Half of what appeared to be rocks were actually small chunks of clay. Of course since we are to add more clay, it shouldn't be that big a deal if some is lost.

02-26-2011, 11:15 AM	#262 (permalink)
RickRS Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 54 iTrader Ratings: 0	Re: How-To: Mineralized Soil Substrate, by Aaron Talbot From the number of post begging for brand names of topsoil, I'll add this: Currently finishing the mineralization of a bag of EarthGro brand topsoil, from my local Home Depot. This seems to be exactly what Aaron tells us to look for, cheap ($1.33 for a 50 pound bag) and soil only. The stuff has some sticks and rocks, but nothing in excess. Because of it inexpensive natural, it has no added humus, peat, or fertilizer. It appears to be breaking down just as Aaron promised. When you screen it dry, watch that you don't discard clay that has dried into small pellets. Half of what appeared to be rocks were actually small chunks of clay. Of course since we are to add more clay, it shouldn't be that big a deal if some is lost.