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RE: Richard's search for Clay



Richard J. Sexton recently posted:

> Ok, I ordered 10 pounds of potters clay to try as a substrate.
> It just got here and it's grey, not red as I thought it might
> be. Is this a big deal ? Should I send it back and get
> red stuff?

Mmmmm..... you to, 'eh? A few years ago, I bought a 10 pound bag of Red Art
Clay from a pottery supplier (I did it over the phone, sorry but I don't
remember the name of the company). I got the name, "Red Art" from material
posted both here on the APD and in the KRIB - there was also an elemental
breakdown given showing the Iron concentration. When I contacted the pottery
supplier, the lady on the other end of the phone was able to look up the
elemental breakdown of ALL of the various clays that they carried and was
very helpful in providing the information to me.

I'd suggest that you get back to the supplier of the clay that you have and
ask them to look up the composition of the clay that you bought - if the
Iron is listed as less than about 3%, you might want to try something else.
Or, alternatively (and possibly just as effective) you could add a few
spoonfuls of "Micronized Iron" (check Steve Pushak's web-site, he lists a
Vancouver based supplier who will ship you a 1 pound container for just a
few bucks) and a few handfuls of peat moss to the clay. The peat moss will
help make the Iron more bio-available to the plants. Again, check Steve's
web-site for more specifics.

James Purchase
Toronto