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Sand
Feb 18, 2009 10:34:27 GMT -5
Post by Rymah on Feb 18, 2009 10:34:27 GMT -5
should i get it then, i would be using it for a ceph it is pretty expensive a little jar is like 7$
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Sand
Feb 18, 2009 11:02:58 GMT -5
Post by dvg on Feb 18, 2009 11:02:58 GMT -5
That is quite expensive. Sounds like it is being used as an ornamental top dressing. Compare that to buying an eighty pound bag of sharp sand for around ten or eleven bucks. I'd keep looking.
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Sand
Feb 18, 2009 11:06:09 GMT -5
Post by Rymah on Feb 18, 2009 11:06:09 GMT -5
the thing is i cant find gritty sand anywhere, the biggest i can find is liek sugar, i only need it for one plant so im not to worried about the price, i just dont want it to murder my plant
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Sand
Feb 18, 2009 11:11:26 GMT -5
Post by dvg on Feb 18, 2009 11:11:26 GMT -5
Oh, well in that case, the glass sand should work well for you. Having the larger sized chunks will be better than the play sand.
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Sand
Feb 18, 2009 11:15:30 GMT -5
Post by Rymah on Feb 18, 2009 11:15:30 GMT -5
Awesome!!, thanx Guys, i had NOO idea how hard it would beto find SAND!! ive been looking everywhere i can think of for the last week!,
as soon as i tell people its for plants they all ask me if im growing pot do any of you guys get that, maybe its cause i young? but whenever i go anywhere and ask for somthing ( Stim root Nodamp Ext) i always getting "Are you growing pot?"
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Sand
Feb 18, 2009 13:14:13 GMT -5
Post by lloyd on Feb 18, 2009 13:14:13 GMT -5
You can buy fine gravel at aquarium stores ~ 0.8mm. pricey but for small pots it's Ok. Ask Rick where to buy sand, he's near you.
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Sand
Feb 18, 2009 13:25:33 GMT -5
Post by Rymah on Feb 18, 2009 13:25:33 GMT -5
he is Anti sand i guess it has killed a few of his plants. im a little weary of it myself.
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Sand
Feb 18, 2009 16:53:49 GMT -5
Post by brian on Feb 18, 2009 16:53:49 GMT -5
If you want silica sand try looking under sandblasting or ask at autobody or machinery paint shops. I get mine at a place that sells stone and concrete landscape stuff, but I also know a place that paints quarry equipment and epoxy coats concrete pipes and risers, they buy sacks of it by the truckload.
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Sand
Aug 17, 2009 15:52:06 GMT -5
Post by lloyd on Aug 17, 2009 15:52:06 GMT -5
Thanks to Tijuana Toad. I found a gritty silica sand Mesh # ~22 which is exactly what I was looking for. I'm going to check it for carbonates and dissolved salts and post the results. It's at Rona. The 40 kg bag was way (weigh) too big so I asked them to split it and put 1/2 in a Rona bucket.
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Sand
Aug 20, 2009 9:08:39 GMT -5
Post by lloyd on Aug 20, 2009 9:08:39 GMT -5
Follow up on Rona gritty silica sand. As I mentioned before it is cheap $11.80 for 40 kgm which is a ridiculous amount, I only took home half in a Rona Bucket.
-there was dust when they poured it at the store so either wet it or wash it before using it and avoid inhaling the dust if you pour it dry-use a mask (? silicosis risk-why take a chance, especially if you're young or smoke).
-there are no carbonates, I checked with 1N HCL and no bubbles. I tested the HCL on the garage floor and it bubbled nicely so it's still "good"
-the dustiness or cloudiness in the wash water is hard to get rid of. The wash water is still a bit cloudy after multiple washings. This is similar to aquarium gravel and could just be dust from the grains wearing against each other.
-there is something else besides quartz in the dust or on the silica initially. It did raise the TDS of the distilled wash water significantly. So I washed it multiple times in tap water (Toronto ~ 143 PPM TDS) until the cloudiness was much reduced. Then further multiple washings in distilled water and the TD gradually fell from ~145 (tap water) to just below 10 ppm. I think it would be hard to get it much below 10 ppm. Of note is that just about all medium drainage water will have a significant TDS measurement. Even the rainwater overflow from my peat/perlite pots is significantly high, TDS ~ 40 ppm (Toronto rainwater collected directly in a bucket ~ 4 ppm TDS) so the significance of these measurements is unclear. Are there good/bad elements of TDS as measured on my simple Hanna meter? Probably. I wash all medium ingredients as above except peat/LFS/perlite/vermiculite.
-Final recommendations: looks like a good product. Avoid the dust, wash multiple times in tap and then distilled water to be safe.
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Sand
Aug 20, 2009 10:42:06 GMT -5
Post by cpgeek on Aug 20, 2009 10:42:06 GMT -5
Thanks Lloyd for the report. Your scientific approach to testing the quality of the sand is impressive indeed, complete with control tests and instrumental measurements! From what you have described, I think your sand should be fine for your plants. If you still want to be really sure of its safeness for use, test it in situ on some sacrificial plants first (ie., capensis) in a 70 sand: 20 peat: 10 live sphagnum mix. The live sphagnum will act as a indicator of sand toxicity: if it eventually dies then so will your plants.
BTW, water <100 ppm is reported to be fine for CP.
Cheers, Rob
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Sand
Aug 20, 2009 10:56:23 GMT -5
Post by renesis on Aug 20, 2009 10:56:23 GMT -5
Nice work! Glad to see you found it!
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Sand
Aug 20, 2009 11:49:33 GMT -5
Post by hackerberry on Aug 20, 2009 11:49:33 GMT -5
Thanks lloyd and Rob for the info! Wow, 100 ppm for CPs is good news!
hb
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Sand
Aug 23, 2009 11:22:48 GMT -5
Post by lloyd on Aug 23, 2009 11:22:48 GMT -5
Actually I did some thinking and looking around and I think that the 10 ppm TDS reading from the final distilled water wash water from the silica sand is probably nothing more than dissolved silica. Si(OH)4 is dissolved silicon dioxide (quartz) and exists in sea water at about 10 ppm and is used by diatoms. So the washed quartz sand is as clean as possible and should be safe for CP's.
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