?!? Rice Hulls ?!?

Cant' remember if I asked this last year or not. One of my favorite ebay sellers using rice hulls in his soil mixture. This stuff is fabulous!! I love it...but finding it is a pain in the yooo-haaaa!!! Ideally if I could find a local place that sells beer making supplies - that's actually the best way to get it. Shipping it's a yuck...cuz of the space it takes up. If anyone knows of any place - I'd appreciate your sharing...thanks much!!!

Me too!

http://www.cheap-chemicals.com/filter.asp?f=CH8236&m=1&cm_mmc=Google+AdWords-_-Chemicals+-+Rice+Hulls-_-where+to+buy+rice+hulls-_-Exact+730937603%7C-%7C100000000000000011684&cm_guid=1-_-100000000000000011684-_-730937603

http://www.weekendbrewer.com/

http://cryptobrewology.com/homebrew-suppliers.php?Virginia

Ahhhh bingo on that last link...I'll call tomorrow and find out. Food grade is apparently the preferred grade. I did finally hear back from this one guy...but it sounds like 50 lbs is the min (I did ask for a bulk rate) - with shipping to my office (cheaper since its a business) it works out to $1.37(?)/lb. - just not sure what I would do with 50 lbs. Yikes!!

Maybe you and Happy could split the 50 lbs? That sounds really expensive. Look at what you'd pay for 50 lbs of peat or compost or any other soil amendment compared to that.

Hmmm...maybe Becky like some too...Happy what cha' think?

Is it really better than other stuff as a soil amendment? That's pricey. I just got a few bags of turface for under $15 a bag, as I recall. And I bought coir too, only to learn that studies should it doesn't work as well as the reports I read first . . . .

Hmmm....what did you find out about the coir - that is something I've ordered a few times...
What's the weight per bag on the turface?

Re coir -- I'll have to hunt; I posted it somewhere. You'll be appalled.

The bags of turface are big -- I can't check right now. 40 lb type bag? Except is it measured in volume, as I recall. Sorry to be imprecise.

Yikes...glad the coir I bought didn't kill anything of mine...I know it's bad to p/u the ones used for reptiles as they have a high salt content...but I thought the ones used for plants were ok.....

I think it is ok, just not as good as a good soil mix. Here is the awful study: http://www.usu.edu/cpl/PDF/CoconutCoirPaper.pdf


This message was edited May 28, 2008 8:47 PM

Wow....that study will save me $$ in the future....geesh....thanks for letter me know...I'd not heard about that.

Thanks, I think on the coir report. Now, what do I do with the blocks I already have?
Mike and I recently made a new bed using bagged topsoil. I covered it with shade cloth to keep weed seeds from getting into it before I could plant. I sowed some salvia seeds but I guess it wasn't kept moist enough because I didn't see where even one had germinated. When I went to put plants in it, it just looks "dead" if that makes sense to anyone but me. I was planning on adding some of the coir and something, not sure what to improve it. I just didn't want to put anything in it that would have weed seeds in it. Any suggestions would be appreciate. My daughter suggested I add some ground up leaves.

Personally, I agree with your daughter, although many people would say to only add composted material. I think that bagged topsoil doesn't usually have a lot of structure, and gets too compacted. Better would be leaf mold if you have any (leaves that have been sitting around since last fall). Or pine bark fines if you can find them. I have a huge compost pile of mostly shredded leaves, and use it for everything.

I don't think the coir would hurt it -- better to use it in the garden where it is a realtively low percentage of the mix than in a potted plant. It would provide great structure. Be sure to wash the salt out of it first.

On the subject of coir..........I have 32 pots in the stacking pots system. My medium was 1/4 very good garden soil, 1/4 compost pile edge soil with worms, 1/4 coir and 1/4 organic choice potting medium. I added one half gallon of Fertrell's 4-2-4 granular fertilizer.

....I started this potting of the medium about April 1st. The plantings went into the pots about May 15th. We have passed the two month point since planting. Our plants are doing just great. Water retension is greatly improved. The worms have mated and hatched new eggs. Little squiggleys all over the planting in all pots.

....We have about fifty pots all doing very well with this medium. This includes flowers, herbs, onions and lettuce blends. Except for the very hot 90 degree pluss days we water every other day.