Greensand.

Looking for an all natural K source to supplement my flowering soilmix, I came across greensand. http://www.planetnatural.com/site/greensand-soil-amendment.html Sounds like exactly what im looking for plus its loaded with trace minerals. But I'm wondering why i just heard of it now? I have not seen or read where anyone else was using it. So I wanted to ask if anyone uses this stuff and how much they use per volume of soil.
Yaye or naye on the greensand?

itsgrowinglikeaweed said:

Looking for an all natural K source to supplement my flowering soilmix, I came across greensand. http://www.planetnatural.com/site/greensand-soil-amendment.html Sounds like exactly what im looking for plus its loaded with trace minerals. But I'm wondering why i just heard of it now? I have not seen or read where anyone else was using it. So I wanted to ask if anyone uses this stuff and how much they use per volume of soil.
Yaye or naye on the greensand?

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Yaye on greensand. Keep in mind it takes months and months to break down (sloooowly). But it will help soil retain water. It's a good choice if you're one who composts their old soil to reuse it. If you're one that tosses your old mix and start fresh every time than it's not going to help you much.

Thanks Potsticker, that's very helpful. It makes sense too. I do reuse my soil. I dont fully compost it, but I dont want to toss out all my perlite and vermiculite. I filter out the roots and the rest goes back into the bin as a portion of the soil for the next grow.
Its not expensive, so I'll probably go ahead and get some and toss it into the mix. Any idea on the proportion of greensand to soil? This was my original mix >
32 Qts Hyponex Soil -Organic material and Primarily derived from hypnum Peat, Forest products or Compost, Sand and Perlite.
32 Qts New Era potting mix - 40% peat, 35% composted organic material, 20% vermiculite, 5% sand. This is very light like a starter mix.
15 lbs worm castings
4 Qts perlite
1 cup sand
1/2 cup lime
10 Tbls Blood meal
12 Tbls Bone meal
But it was a little too rich and I'm reusing a portion of the old stuff so I'm cutting the sand, lime, bone, & blood meal in half, and replacing half of the two soil mixes with the recycled soil.

I would just replace your regular sand with greensand. One cup sounds about right for that mix. Remember you won't really gain many benefits on you're first run so I'd add another cup (or half cup) every time you remix. The greensand you add now will be used more on your second and third run and the sand you add on your second will start breaking down for your third and fourth, etc.

I hope this helps. I'm not a greensand expert but I do use it and have never had a problem with it.

Also, you might consider azomite for trace minerals.
http://www.planetnatural.com/site/azomite.html

It's organic and mined from volcanic deposits.
Here's a typical analysis taken from the Azomite website.

I dont know if true or not but a buddy who has been growing for years told me to add a 1/2in. layer of greensand to top of soil to prevent spidermites. he says it stops them from burrowing into soil to hide. he is often full of BS so I dont take his word for much but he does grow bueatiful crops so.....

Just flipping through "the bible" and Jorge says greensand takes 4 years to break down. That's a lot more than the few months I said before. Even still, it must be better than plain sand especially if you reuse your mix.

mrmadcow said:

I dont know if true or not but a buddy who has been growing for years told me to add a 1/2in. layer of greensand to top of soil to prevent spidermites. he says it stops them from burrowing into soil to hide. he is often full of BS so I dont take his word for much but he does grow bueatiful crops so.....

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That could be true. It might be similar to Diatomaceous Earth in that regard.

potsticker said:

Just flipping through "the bible" and Jorge says greensand takes 4 years to break down. That's a lot more than the few months I said before. Even still, it must be better than plain sand especially if you reuse your mix.

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Very good to know. Thanks again. Definitely worth tossing some in the mix then.

potsticker said:

Just flipping through "the bible" and Jorge says greensand takes 4 years to break down. That's a lot more than the few months I said before. Even still, it must be better than plain sand especially if you reuse your mix.

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I know this thread is ancient, but I couldn't help it... Jorge and his self-proclaimed "bible" are mostly a load of myth-based crap when it comes to organic gardening. Jorge says you should never reuse soil because it's full of unwanted salts, pests and diseases, and doesn't drain or hold water well. Tell that to any real organic farmer and they'll laugh in your face.

SpicySativa said:

I know this thread is ancient, but I couldn't help it... Jorge and his self-proclaimed "bible" are mostly a load of myth-based crap when it comes to organic gardening. Jorge says you should never reuse soil because it's full of unwanted salts, pests and diseases, and doesn't drain or hold water well. Tell that to any real organic farmer and they'll laugh in your face.

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That's not difficult to believe, IIRC Van Patten was first and foremost a rockwool guy. Do you have a preferred organic materials reference book?