Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 1,657 Location: Stittsville, Ottawa, Ontario Karma: 38
Where to get horticultural pumice? « Thread Started on Jul 25, 2011, 9:57pm »
Hello everyone,
I've looked in nurseries, Home Depot, and Lowes and could not find any horticultural pumice. If you have ever found pumice, let me know where!
On the other hand, my mom brought some pumice scrubber things home from the grocery store to see if they are the right stuff. I crushed them up and they seem legitimate. The only thing I'm worried about with these is that they might have chemicals in them of some sort...
lol, no. It just says "made in china" like everything else these days. That's what makes me a little more worried... perhaps I should just try it out and see if it kills the plants. One pot without pumice, and one with it.
Joined: Nov 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 1,193 Location: Victoria, BC Karma: 30
Re: Where to get horticultural pumice? « Reply #4 on Jul 26, 2011, 7:32am »
I really think that you can use other materials that will do the same thing, some people use ingredients because they can get them everywhere or for really cheap. I pot 90% of my orchids is pure LFS every year because I can get it really inexpensive, as where other people will go with a different mix because LFS is expensive where they live.
Have you looks for places that sell stuff like sponge rock?
Joined: Feb 2006 Gender: Male Posts: 4,579 Location: Toronto Karma: 107
Re: Where to get horticultural pumice? « Reply #8 on Jul 27, 2011, 2:31pm »
Lavarock is harder and has bigger cavities than pumice. Pumice will fall apart eventually in wet conditions. I use lavarock for aeration of soils (pings, heli's) and I find that roots like it.
Lavarock is harder and has bigger cavities than pumice. Pumice will fall apart eventually in wet conditions. I use lavarock for aeration of soils (pings, hel's) and I find that roots like it.
Sounds good. Maybe I will try lava rock instead, for the Drosophyllum.
Re: Where to get horticultural pumice? « Reply #10 on Dec 2, 2012, 11:35am »
Good day everyone - Sorry to dredge up such an old thread but I have been searching for horticultural pumice ever since I moved away from the western States. There you could get it cheap, and it is so much better than perlite (because it doesn't break down over time and it holds more water while draining better). Plus, the intense white of perlite I find to be visually distracting in a soil mix.
Recently my quest ended when I found a new product "Growstone"; it is man-made pumice! Pumice is just volcanic glass foam, and this stuff is made of recycled glass. They make it on the Albuquerque landfill using the methane from the landfill to fire the kilns. You really can't get more environmental than that.
The stuff feels just like pumice, and is a reddish brown color making it look nice in a soil mix too. Okay, so I don't know if it is yet available in Canada, but you can apparently get it in all 50 states, which already makes it more acquirable than pumice.
Anyhow, if you are looking for pumice it might be worth checking for this in Canada too. They make a large chunk version for hydroponics, and so stores catering to that hobby are good places to check.
I know this was a pretty glowing review, but I assure you I have no association with the company. I am just excited to have an environmentally responsible version of my pumice back to use for growing plants.
Re: Where to get horticultural pumice? « Reply #12 on Dec 2, 2012, 12:27pm »
Hi Drew - Awesome, thanks for posting a link for Canada! I'm glad it's available in Canada too (it would have been a little silly for me to have posted something here about a product that was entirely unavailable in Canada). There seem to be two sizes that are commonly available, a large size for hydroponics - which is probably totally unsuitable for all but the largest CP's, and a smaller size which is slightly larger than the horticultural pumice I used to get - but the smaller size is a pretty good pumice substitute.
Joined: Apr 2010 Gender: Male Posts: 703 Location: Airdrie, AB Karma: 24
Re: Where to get horticultural pumice? « Reply #13 on Dec 2, 2012, 12:54pm »
All I could find on their website was the larger chunk stuff (link in my previous post) but I bet they have the smaller stuff as well, and if not could order it. The company selling it appears to have a location in Mississauga, ON and Langley, BC.
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