Thanks, Lynn. I was awestruck by how much variety Alan has. The ordering process isn't glitzy or "modern", but he sent exactly what I asked for and pretty fast, too. If I recall, the per-packet price was very reasonable.
He even had detailed instructions for germination, including types and timing off startification.
I wish I could give him acorns! I did give him a good review here. It couldn't hurt if other people who think he's good add their comments to our Vendor Recommendations.
http://garden.org/reviews/view...
Thanks for the information, Rick R!
>> a mix that is approximately three-quarters mineral
>> all different aggregate sizes. ... Varying particle sizes is best.
Good to know!
>> Granite grit ... sometimes it comes with an excessive amount of fine particles and rock dust. I use a regular window screen to sift the fine stuff out.
When I got the #2 GRANITE chicken grit, it was immaculately free of dust, sharp and irregular. Perfect. But I agree that you have to remove the dusty fines and fine sand or wind up with no air in the soggy mix.
I wish I had something coarser than window screening (24 mesh?) I want it for for de-dusting bark fines.
Hardware cloth 1/8" mesh is too big - I want to retain 0.1" grains and fibers, in fact fibers as thin as 1 mm would be good for me, especially if they are longer than 3-4 mm. Say, do you ever worry about plant roots finding the endo-mycorrhiza they need, when we start them in mixes without much or any real soil? I keep looking at bottles or packets of mycorrhiza but they are expensive and don't stay fresh long.
Looking Fafard 52 up, I don't see that it has mycorrhiza added.
