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Laterite, Flourite...now Arcillite?!




	While poking around in a local garden supply shop in my home town
in Canada, I came across a new product which sounds like yet another
laterite-like clay.  Put out by Profile, it is:

"A Natural Mineral Blend that has been kiln fired [...] will last year
after year [...] contains thousands of internal and external pore spaces
[...] holds on to precious plant nutrients and exchanges them directly
with plant roots, increasing the eficiency and benefits of your plant
fertilizer [...] is not a chemical or fertilizer, is not toxic, and has no
effect on pH [...] provides a haven for valuable microorganisms that
normally are filtered out and provides a suitable environment for fish to
lay eggs."

	At $14.99CDN for a bag probably a bit larger than a bag of
Flourite ($24.98US), it looks interesting.  What it is saying in its
advertizing, I gather, is that it has a good CEC and so on.  Sounds like
another "laterite substitute." Supposedly it merely needs to be submerged
and saturated, and then will not float or break down.
	PROFILE Professional Aquatic Plant Soil is 100% Arcillite, a
substance I wasn't able to find in any of what meager resources I had
immediately at hand.  Any soil scientists care to comment on Arcillite?  I
wasn't able to see it or get an idea of its grain size, unfortunately, as
the nature of the bag its in precludes that.
	I don't have any place to experiment with it at the moment, but
perhaps one of you might give it a whirl and report back.

		Andrew


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