Interesting Grit Material

[Mac In Oak Ridge]

I got a sales flier from Tractor Supply yesterday. One of the sale items featured was sand blasting grit.

Went by the store a few minutes ago and bought a 50 lb. bag. Sale price was $5.99 - $2.00 off normal price.

The stuff looks like cracked black glass or obsidian. It has been sized and washed. I went to the manufacturers web site, Black Diamond Granules, Inc. and found out that it is a processed coal slag with a melting point of 2500°F. On the Material Safety Data Sheet it is described as:

Black Diamond abrasives are, stable amorphous glass like compounds. Solubility in water - Negligible. Black granular solid, no apparent odor.

I thought this might make a substitute for sand or other grits in growing medium mix. A dark color may be desirable with some plants and with some pottery and other ingredients. The bag I bought was what they consider medium grade and is marked 20/40. I assume that is the screen mesh it passed through and sits on. They make two larger size granules but they were not available at my Tractor Supply.

Anyone ever run across this stuff, tried it?

 

[Klytus]

Lol,boiler slag.

 

[irene_b]

I got a sales flier from Tractor Supply yesterday. One of the sale items featured was sand blasting grit.

Went by the store a few minutes ago and bought a 50 lb. bag. Sale price was $5.99 - $2.00 off normal price.

The stuff looks like cracked black glass or obsidian. It has been sized and washed. I went to the manufacturers web site, Black Diamond Granules, Inc. and found out that it is a processed coal slag with a melting point of 2500°F. On the Material Safety Data Sheet it is described as:

Black Diamond abrasives are, stable amorphous glass like compounds. Solubility in water - Negligible. Black granular solid, no apparent odor.

I thought this might make a substitute for sand or other grits in growing medium mix. A dark color may be desirable with some plants and with some pottery and other ingredients. The bag I bought was what they consider medium grade and is marked 20/40. I assume that is the screen mesh it passed through and sits on. They make two larger size granules but they were not available at my Tractor Supply.

Anyone ever run across this stuff, tried it?

Test it out and let us know....I have used screened sand blasting grit before without a problem except for the added weight...

 

[rockm]

It looks a bit fine for bonsai soil, but it might be the photo. Might work though, who knows.

I use swimming pool filter sand as a component.--crushed quartz sand and have found it to be excellent in my mixes. However, the swimming pool supply place I bought it from burned down last fall...

 

[Mac In Oak Ridge]

It looks a bit fine for bonsai soil, but it might be the photo. Might work though, who knows.

I use swimming pool filter sand as a component.--crushed quartz sand and have found it to be excellent in my mixes. However, the swimming pool supply place I bought it from burned down last fall...

I have seen it at Home Depot in the swimming pool supply area.

 

[kytombonsai]

Mac,

Throw some in a pot with some dirt and plant something in it that you can afford to lose and see if it grows. If you have a Southern States store around, you can always use Dry Stall pumice for grit or the pool filter sand if you have smaller trees. I used to use a grit called Texas grit and was told that some people used it for sand blasting. I think the more common use was to use it around pools and walkways mixed with an epoxy to form a top coating over concrete. The problem in using this was the weight it added to the larger trees.

Tom