FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

My boyfriend got me this for $12, its a 50 pound bag. I'm hoping this is the right kind, he went out of his way to buy this for me.. but I was thinking the sand was a lot .. bigger. This sand is kind of grainy.. and tiny.

..Also when measuring 50 peat : 50 pool filter sand, do you measure the peat moss dry? Or do you wet it then measure it off?

Does it state any grain size anywhere?
If not can u make a photo with some sand next to a ruler?

I even used really fine sand (normally used for leveling streets), and didnt seem to find any negative sides about it except u need to mix it with the peat really well.

As for the 50:50 story, i usually do it by volume, and my peat is just "moist".
It does not need to be that precise

Here's a closer picture with a ruler. I didn't want to open the bag up so I put it against the bag,

The stuff i use myself is a little coarser (although i have used really fine for some time without problems), i would not mind using this at all if i had it laying around, but if i would buy it myself i would go for ~3mm in grain size.

Only thing is, mixing it well with the peat might be a little more difficult, if the peat has a different grain size (my peat is pretty fine, so no problem, but if the peat is quite coarse, it might be difficult to get the sand "between" the peat evenly.

Not too sure what to do about the sand then.. x.x I just don't want to kill them or make them grow less by not mixing this sand right.

D:

i'd wait for comments of more experienced growers

happiness, I would would use it without worry.

Pool filter sand to some extent has to be pretty uniform across different brands in order to properly function in the filter.

So while I've never used that specific brand, if it's graded for filter use I wouldn't worry about the exact grain size.

Also, don't worry about "mixing it wrong", you're over thinking it. Just get some type of scoop, doesn't matter what it is, it could be a cut water bottle, or an old soup can, whatever. Use your scoop to add equal parts sand and peat, don't worry about leveling the scoop or anything, just scoop and dump in a mixing container. Now add a little water and start mixing. If it seems too dry add a little more water and keep mixing. I prefer mine to be just wet enough that if I make a ball out of it(like you would a snow ball) it will hold it's shape, but that's just how I like it based on how I plant things. You can go wetter or drier if you like because when you plant something you're going to saturate it anyway.

FWIW, I measure my peat dry so my 50/50 mix technically has a lower peat content than someone who measures it wet since peat becomes denser as it gets wet. But it's all relative and the plants could care less.