Volcanic Rock

After my first grow that finished in a 5th week whole plant chop....:( im starting to get energies for the next try! :cool:

Im trying to get perlite or vermiculite but the people that sell rocks are mentally-retarded where i live. Nobody knows shit about the rock names...they just sell *white rocks* or *red rocks*. Stupid...
ANYWAYS! This is what i can get to place in the soil mix. Do you think this little
7mm red volcanic rock can substitute perlite or vermiculite?
Volcanic red rock | Red scoria

It sais its a hidro growing medium. I dont see why it cant be a growing medium for soil. Maybe if would affect pH? And if someone has experience with it, please share it :stoned:

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Originally Posted by Kmakok

Do you think this little
7mm red volcanic rock can substitute perlite or vermiculite?
Volcanic red rock | Red scoria

It sais its a hidro growing medium. I dont see why it cant be a growing medium for soil. Maybe if would affect pH? And if someone has experience with it, please share it :stoned:

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While i;m sure it can be used for some type of growing... there just seems to be not a whole lot of info about what it really is on that link.... while both Perlite and this rock come from volcanic sources, they appear to be very different things.

Perlite is a form of glass that is formed from the rapid cooling of magma

rocks of course have a few different ways of coming to be, one of which is also from magma (igneous rocks)... but just because they come from the same source, doesn;t mean they are going to have the same... or even slightly similiar properties as a result.

the link you gave is for Volcanic scoria... this has properties more similiar to pumice than to perlite.

personally, I don;t think i'd try it, the soil chemistry is far too important to your grow to just be tossing random things into it. it might be harmless, but it might also just completely destroy your crop

Perlite typically isn;t all that hard to find... not sure where you live, but here in Canada you can get it at virtually any gardening centre, the ones that focus only on outdoor gardening i find sometimes don;t have it though... its also available at every Canadian Tire store i've looked for it... Home Depot tends to have it, but i;'ve found not all stores carry it... and i'm pretty sure i've seen it at wal-mart as well.

best bet is for a gardening centre though, they will sell it in larger bags and generally ALOT cheaper than the non-specialty stores like canadian tire/home depot/etc.

I used the bigger ones in the bottom of my pot for extra drainage. Worked fine, but you got to be able to find some perlite somewhere. Go to a God Damn gardening store, anywhere and they will have it.

Believe me ive checked many gardening stores lol
Only thing i can get is the white stones they use at outdoor made from limestone. Limestone rocks i believe they are called. Does that work? (dont thing so cause it will turn the pH down a lot)