any grit sources?

[ptjeff]

I am looking for course grit. this stuff has many names and I would like some help in finding some locally. Any suggestions on what I might look for? eg. chicken grit, golf bunker sand, etc. I have bought some from an internet company in Dallas and love the size and texture, but cant pay the premium of shipping

ptjeff

 

[Graydon]

Jeff - if you let us know where "local" is to you someone will help. Take a moment and fill in your user info so we know where you are located. My guess? Not Texas....

 

[Ken Duncan]

You can find filter sand at your local well drillers supply. It is sized #1 being very fine, Up to #4 being about 1/4". Check into and let us know what you find.
Ken

 

[emk]

Check the yellow pages for animal feed & supply stores; they'll have chicken grit. It comes in 50-lb. sacks in three sizes/grades (starter, builder, and developer...or something like that) and you'll probably want the largest (which may be hard to guess by the names, just tell them you want the largest). Remember that you'll still need to sift and wash it to get a nice finished product, but the stuff is dirt cheap, though you may have to drive a bit out of the way to get it.

 

[grog]

The larger grit at farm supply stores is generally called turkey grit.

 

[tom tynan]

Try landscaping supply stores or large garden centers and ask for Turface, a soil conditioning product also used as part of golf course maintenance. If you live in an area where horses are kept the best and cheapest product is DRY STALL - which is 100% Pumice in 50lb bags for around $10. Both products will require sifting to remove the latent dust. Tom

 

[ptjeff]

Thank you all for the initial responses. I will update my profile so there is more to me than just a name.

Cleveland is local for me, and yes it's cold here now, seems like it will never end.

I have gotten the chicken/turkey grit at a feed store, but the color is white with grey streakes. not very pretty.

I use Haydite instead of Turface, it's great stuff and blends in with the pine bark mulch. I'll have to do some research on pumice. I would suspect it would be for water retension.

Thanks again

Jeff

 

[Tachigi]

Hi Jeff, I would recommend you read this article to better help you understand the components of soil and what they do. Looks like your whittling down your ingredients list...congrats

 

[grog]

I've called the Dry Stall manufacturers http://www.drystall.com/dry_stall.html before and the closest distributor I can find is in St. Paul, Minnesota so I don't know if you'll have better luck in Ohio. Next on the list of people to harass about pumice or lava rock suitably sized is the local rock quarries.

 

[FOX7591]

In your area, look for local feed stores, a store that would sell hay, cow feed, sheep feed, chicken feed, that kinda thing... when u get there ask for turkey grit and it should come in 3 different sizes.

 

[Rose Mary]

did some grit shopping yesterday.

found some cherry stone grit #2 at the feed store yesterday.
100% crushed quartzsite, nice shading and feel. Non soluable

looked at their pigeon grit, nice texture as well. Has some oyster shell and charcoal in it too.
Have more research on the pigeon grit to do. Likely has mineralized salt added.

the cherry stone looks and feels interesting. both come in 3 sizes of grit,
tho this feed store only had the #2 grit.

Has anyone used it?

Peeked at a couple trees had planted in cat litter last summer and was impressed to see the pots had filled in well with nice roots. Unlike some which were planted in more organic matter, alive but roots not thriving....


Rose
SW Oregon

 

[Bill S]

Rose my understanding is that the shell portion is NOY GOOD as in salt, possibly calcium which would alter the soils ph.

Building supply houses sell sandblasting sand that comes in different sizes, I have also contemplated the black glass used for bead blasting, it's all fairly inexpensive.

 

[FOX7591]

the size that i use is a number 2 size it works good.
mine is a crushed granite

 

[Anonymous User]

Swimming pool filter sand #3 course works well as grit and is available at most pool supply stores.


Vance Wood uses this with a great deal of success.



Will

 

[darrellw]

the cherry stone looks and feels interesting. both come in 3 sizes of grit,
tho this feed store only had the #2 grit.

Has anyone used it?

Hi Rose,

I used that grit for a while in my mix. It is pretty heavy, but sometimes that is a good thing. I didn't see any issues with it, but I'm now using 1/3 akadama, 1/3 pumice and 1/3 lava at the suggestion of my teacher.

-Darrell

 

[ptjeff]

Somebody suggested trying the gravel that is used on roofing shingles. Anybody tried this or any forseen problems?

Jeffrey

 

[darrellw]

Somebody suggested trying the gravel that is used on roofing shingles. Anybody tried this or any forseen problems?

Jeffrey

Do you have a source for this before it goes on to the shingles, or do you mean using what comes off? If the later, I would worry about two things 1) contamination by the asphalt used to make the singles, 2) many roofing materials have additives to kill moss/mold/algae, which may not be things you want in your soil mix.

-Darrell

 

[ptjeff]

Darrell,
thanks for the heads up, i didnt even think of the mold, alge addition. had the blinders on, since i'm having a time finding the brown/tan colored sharp sand locally

Rose Mary,
have never heard of cherry stone grit. is it cherry pits or stone, and do you have a pic to show me?

Will,
i'll check out the pool supply stores for finter sand. thanks for the lead.

Jeffrey

 

[Rose Mary]

cherry stone

Cherry stone is what the grit is called, it is non soluble crushed quartzsite. At another feed store today I picked up a bag, they only had #3 grit. A little coarser than the #2. $10 for a 25 lb. bag.
Interesting color variations when it's rinsed off.

When I picked up some hardware cloth today the fellow in back was cleaning up a bag of something which had spilled from a torn bag... turned out it was sandblast sand and he gave it to me. Says it comes in 100 lb bags, must have ended up with 60 lbs. Brought it home but it seems kinda fine....like what I'd use in a mini zen rake & rock garden.
not sure I'll put it in the mix.

still looking for pumice

Will be by a golf course this week, will talk to the greens keeper and see if they have turface....

Rose

 

[ptjeff]

I did a quick web search today with the terms "horticultural grit." BAM! that's what i'm talking about. its sharp, brown/tan and ph neutral. The catch is that all of the web sites are from companies in the UK. One story even said that "any garden center worth its space, will have several sizes"

Anybody understand why the UK would have this and the US doesn't?

Anybody?

Jeffrey