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Substrate - greensand?
Hello all,
All this talk about substrate lately got me thinking. I am also
terrestrial gardener, and I use organic approaches. I mix my own fertilizer
concoctions, and one of the ingredients is Greensand. It is the source of
Potash/potassium. My organic gardening reference book says it's 7% total
potash and has 32 trace minerals. Hummmmm. It passed the vinegar test but
did leach a little green color. I then took a little more and added it to
water about 10 times it's volume and mixed it up. The water has the look of
green tea, a cloudy appearance, nut not muddy and the larger stuff settles
to the bottom. After 15 minutes the color further lightens to a very weak
tea, maybe if it were rinsed a little most of the color would be washed
away. But the sand was still a very dark green, so the green color is
through the sand not just a coating. And as the name implies it's sand.
Has anyone tried this or heard of any benefits/side effects from its use.
It "sounds" like it would be a nice addition to the laterite/gravel mix. I
am a little concerned that the potash may only be contained in the green
that came off during the vinegar test. But it is a naturally mined material
and is remove from the ground as "green sand".