potting mixes

Fred Thorne thorne.fred@gmail.com
Sun, 27 May 2012 18:17:00 PDT
Hi Jane,

Could you please define ground pumice?

-----Original Message----- 
From: Jane McGary 
Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2012 4:45 PM 
To: Pacific Bulb Society 
Subject: Re: [pbs] re potting mixes 

I always made my own potting mixes from scratch when I lived in the 
country and had a source of good forest humus, which I added to sharp 
sand and ground pumice. Now I don't have a forest handy (though I 
still, unhappily, own the forest, etc.). However, nearby is the 
"Indoor Garden Depot" which caters, I imagine, to indoor growers of 
something other than Rex begonias. They carry more than a dozem 
different kinds of potting soil, and I looked at all the ingredient 
lists until I found one that had none of the ingredients I dislike 
(Perlite and bark, in particular). I bought some bags of it and mixed 
it 2:1 with ground pumice, and it makes a good soil for both seeds 
and older plants.

If you don't mind getting on some kind of DEA (Drug Enforcement 
Agency) watch list, you should check out these kinds of stores. They 
have lots of supplies and gadgets that any gardener would need, and 
an orientation toward organic growing. My neighborhood one has 
recently branched out into selling native plants, too.

Sorry about the pumice; I know our mentioning it makes those in 
non-volcanic regions unhappy.

Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA








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