Recycled Organic Living Soil (ROLS) and No Till Thread

ShLUbY

ShLUbY

Well-Known Member
Groat21 said:
Could not find pumice anywhere, but I picked up about 15 gallons of red lava rock for FREE today.

Will this rock work? It seems pretty porous, and there’s a good variety of sizes. It was in their garden bed for 5+ years, I can clean it and crush it if necessary.
View attachment 4327446

I am using a 65 gallon pot, was aiming for 20 gallons of aeration, maybe 25(still undecided, could use some input)
I was going to use 5 gallons of biochar, and then the rest lava rock/ perlite. I already have the 15 gallons of lava rock and about 5 gallons of perlite
Click to expand...
yeah you just gotta crush up the bigger pieces. I'd want it like 5/16" and smaller (<1cm)
 
G

Groat21

Active Member
ShLUbY said:
yup crushing is totally fine. if you have a landscape supply store near you, you might be able to find it cheaper, and already crushed.
Click to expand...
ShLUbY said:
yeah you just gotta crush up the bigger pieces. I'd want it like 5/16" and smaller (<1cm)
Click to expand...
perfect, maybe I’ll make a sieve and sift it. Or just do it rough.

Would it be better to go smaller or larger if need be? And what do you do with the dust leftover?

Thanks again
 
Mohican

Mohican

Well-Known Member
Careful - I crushed red lava rock and when the water hit the dust it smelled like concrete and solidified just like concrete. I had to pull all of my plants out of it and replant.
 
G

Groat21

Active Member
Mohican said:
Careful - I crushed red lava rock and when the water hit the dust it smelled like concrete and solidified just like concrete. I had to pull all of my plants out of it and replant.
Click to expand...
I’ve seen a lot of people say they’ve had success with crushed lava rock... did you rinse them off before putting them in soil?

I’ve also seen people on here say sometimes these “lava rocks” are actually nothing more than concrete, so maybe that was the case.

Anyways, I will make sure that’s not the case before adding to my soil!
 
G

Groat21

Active Member
ShLUbY said:
yeah you just gotta crush up the bigger pieces. I'd want it like 5/16" and smaller (<1cm)
Click to expand...
So you want everything smaller than 1cm? What about the smallest pieces and the dust, should I exclude those?

I went out for a few minutes and crushed a some with my mini sledge. Here is what I got, the very largest pieces are 2cm, most are smaller. I just didn’t want to turn it all to dust/too small!
A7D21A61-2163-4C6E-9506-357534A45F6C.jpeg
And here is what is leftover, should I rinse the dust away and toss it in? Or toss it in as is? Or just get rid of it?
0AC1508D-F473-4FEE-806E-815610886096.jpeg (Got a bit of water on it by accident..)


Thanks again, guys!
 
Dryxi

Dryxi

Well-Known Member
That looks fine man. Both the smaller pieces and the larger pieces will provide aeration either way. Smaller pieces just take up less room. You can wash the dust off it you want, I do not think it will make much of a difference either way though. No need to exclude pieces smaller than 1cm, they will still help your soil.
 
G

Groat21

Active Member
Dryxi said:
That looks fine man. Both the smaller pieces and the larger pieces will provide aeration either way. Smaller pieces just take up less room. You can wash the dust off it you want, I do not think it will make much of a difference either way though. No need to exclude pieces smaller than 1cm, they will still help your soil.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I will try to aim for the 1cm thickness, but it’s ok to have some pieces a bit bigger?

I’m going to be adding perlite to get my aeration closer to 40% plus biochar as well
 
SCJedi

SCJedi

Well-Known Member
Groat21 said:
Thanks, I will try to aim for the 1cm thickness, but it’s ok to have some pieces a bit bigger?

I’m going to be adding perlite to get my aeration closer to 40% plus biochar as well
Click to expand...
The aeration I use (GS-1 growstones) is large, about 3/4" and that works great. I've been meaning to add biochar too but keep forgetting
 
G

Groat21

Active Member
Dryxi said:
That looks fine man. Both the smaller pieces and the larger pieces will provide aeration either way. Smaller pieces just take up less room. You can wash the dust off it you want, I do not think it will make much of a difference either way though. No need to exclude pieces smaller than 1cm, they will still help your soil.
Click to expand...
And it’s fine that it is sharp/rough on the edges?
 
Dryxi

Dryxi

Well-Known Member
Groat21 said:
And it’s fine that it is sharp/rough on the edges?
Click to expand...
I mean one would prefer dull over sharp but I dont imagine it harming much. I'm sure it isn't sharp enough to cut you if you put your hand in the soil with it and nothing in the soil, worms/roots/beneficial bugs/etc., is moving fast enough to get cut.
 
G

Groat21

Active Member
Dryxi said:
I mean one would prefer dull over sharp but I dont imagine it harming much. I'm sure it isn't sharp enough to cut you if you put your hand in the soil with it and nothing in the soil, worms/roots/beneficial bugs/etc., is moving fast enough to get cut.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I don’t know how I would get them dull though, so they will have to do. Thanks!
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top