Hey Calli!
How was your Elaine Ingram composting course! Did you learn a lot?
As for DE Rocks, NICE, glad you are digging 'em! They are one of our top favs, both for a top dress as well as as in the mix.. they have a lot of benefits! They change color when moist, to an orangish tinge, and back to white when dry, so as the mediums topsoil becomes less moist, you can tell which ones are ready for a misting or top watering just by color.
Of course, they don't clump up like the powder will, and they also interrupt many life cycles of various pests..and thats just the start!
I still like to powder anything used though, but thats just me, have you used it powdered to see if you note any differences?
Ah, DonTesla, I'm still learning so much! - there are so many rabbit holes to run down I get quite lost in there sometimes haha
Indeed, I have
only been using the powdered form, never having encountered the rock form before.
In fact, I just struggled through using a compost-heavy seedling mix I made to contain a good portion of DE. To give you an idea of the amount of DE, the composition was:
- 1.5L compost mix
- 1.0L coco coir
- 1.25L aeration (0.5L biochar, 0.5L pumice, 0.25L DE)
That - i.e. 15% - was definitely too much to add in powder form, especially with so much compost in there!
Actually, it was great for those tray thingies of connected ting pots - they hardly needed watering ever, and I made a few nice clones of my rosemary, sage and lavender.
But it co-created havoc in a larger pot I was starting a NorthernLights#5 x Haze in. The water holding capacity is
enormous, and together with the compost it caused a weird state of waterlogging whilst maintaining a totally fluffy structure.
So based on this experience, I'd not recommend using
powdered DE as part of the aerating component, but more like an amendment.
In my newest mix (reamending my old no till soil), I've accordingly only added 1,5 cups to 56L of substrate (so about at a 3/4 cups per cubic foot ratio if my math's right).
Now, in the form of diatomite
rocks.. it's bound to be quite a different story!
Cheers!