Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Cultivation => Composts => Topic started by: Slug Killer on November 28, 2009, 06:12:41 PM
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My local supplier no longer sells perlite in 100ltr bags and Avoncrop have also gone bust. I have now found somewhere and thought other forum members may also find it useful. Nearly every town seems to have someone selling hydroponics equipment and supplies these days where 100ltr bags can be bought for £14.00. There are some strange characters in the shops and they do look a bit spaced out ;). I was also offered a black bag to put my perlite in but told them I grew orchids not marijuana so did not need to hide it :)
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;D ;D
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A good source of supply is always the local gardening soc shop ,where good discounts are available. ;)
Eric
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My local supplier no longer sells perlite in 100ltr bags and Avoncrop have also gone bust.
If Avoncrop are no more, who are supplying the Melcourt products ?
Eric
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B&Q sells perlite
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B&Q sells perlite
B&Q only sell Perlite in tiny 10 Ltr bags .
Small bags are available in all garden centres too in tiny bags, but not in bulk.
Eric
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I was also offered a black bag to put my perlite in but told them I grew orchids not marijuana so did not need to hide it :)
At the Market yesterday, one of our elderly vendors was asked "where's the grass man?" He was dressed in a tartan skirt - no, not a kilt, a short skirt made of a tartan cloth and gathered round the waist - a leather jacket, a little hat with feathers in it and hiking boots over bright yellow socks. Could have been the BD actually. ???
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I was also offered a black bag to put my perlite in but told them I grew orchids not marijuana so did not need to hide it :)
At the Market yesterday, one of our elderly vendors was asked "where's the grass man?" He was dressed in a tartan skirt - no, not a kilt, a short skirt made of a tartan cloth and gathered round the waist - a leather jacket, a little hat with feathers in it and hiking boots over bright yellow socks. Could have been the BD actually. ???
;D ;D ;D
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Eric,
I get 100 litre bags of Perlite and Vermiculite from http://www.gardendirect.co.uk/
They have several different grades.
re. Bark : Melcourt list local suppliers on their website: http://www.melcourt.co.uk/
Hope this helps,
Giles
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The point I was making was its far cheaper from your local hydroponics shop than buying from the likes of B&Q (10ltr £5.00) or gardendirect which is £20.00 plus postage. So if anyone is stuck for a supplier, just search out your nearest hydro store.
I know Ashwwod Nursery does stock some Melcourt products but if you want potting bark you need to ask for the shop manager as its not on show (Tony).
Avoncrop closing is a pain as the other big suppliers for Melcourt Bark are BHGS but they deal in bulk and wanted to charge £40 for delivery of 4 bags of bark. Avoncrop charged £10.
David
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Eric,
I get 100 litre bags of Perlite and Vermiculite from http://www.gardendirect.co.uk/
They have several different grades.
re. Bark : Melcourt list local suppliers on their website: http://www.melcourt.co.uk/
Hope this helps,
Giles
Thanks Giles.
I have no problems with Perlite, but have always used Avoncrop for bark products in bulk.
Eric
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I was also offered a black bag to put my perlite in but told them I grew orchids not marijuana so did not need to hide it :)
At the Market yesterday, one of our elderly vendors was asked "where's the grass man?" He was dressed in a tartan skirt - no, not a kilt, a short skirt made of a tartan cloth and gathered round the waist - a leather jacket, a little hat with feathers in it and hiking boots over bright yellow socks. Could have been the BD actually. ???
Well, not if BOTH socks were yellow, Lesley.... BD's socks never match..... ::)
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LBS polythene sell perlite in 100 ltr bags and will deliver. Follow link and request a catalogue as most goods not listed on website. 100 lts about £12.
http://www.lbsbuyersguide.co.uk/polythene-film.html
Mike
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I was also offered a black bag to put my perlite in but told them I grew orchids not marijuana so did not need to hide it :)
At the Market yesterday, one of our elderly vendors was asked "where's the grass man?" He was dressed in a tartan skirt - no, not a kilt, a short skirt made of a tartan cloth and gathered round the waist - a leather jacket, a little hat with feathers in it and hiking boots over bright yellow socks. Could have been the BD actually. ???
Oh Lesley, I hope you took a picture, I want to know if the vison in my mind is close to the reality!!
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No Maggi, I didn't, sorry, I was busy with something else at the time. I'll keep a lookout though. We do have some weird and possibly wonderful sights there each week.
You're right Maggi, not the BD as both socks WERE yellow and DIRTY which I'm sure you'd never let Ian's be. Likewise his skirt needed ironing. I think he'd slept in it most likely for the previous week so I apologise for thinking Ian might be so unkempt and to you for imagining you'd noyt have done his laundry and ironing carefully. ;D
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Does anyone else find that Perlite makes it extremely difficuilt to spot the Vine Weevil larvae? I have stopped using it entirely just so I can easily identify the little devils when I am repotting !
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I also no longer use perlite (except for making lightweight concrete!), but not really because of squiggly worms which fingers crossed I don't have. Its just too light and too messy, also a little too crushable for my taste.
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I also no longer use perlite (except for making lightweight concrete!), but not really because of squiggly worms which fingers crossed I don't have. Its just too light and too messy, also a little too crushable for my taste.
Us Orchid growers would certainly not want to be without it.
Eric
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squiggly worms [vine weevil larvae]
Vine weevil larvae are not squiggly. They are at best extremely sluggish animals and most of the time move not at all.
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They squiggle plenty when I'm picking 'em out of pots, Rodger!
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I also no longer use perlite (except for making lightweight concrete!), but not really because of squiggly worms which fingers crossed I don't have. Its just too light and too messy, also a little too crushable for my taste.
i also avoid it strenuously, mostly because its just so darn ugly! and insists on coming to the top, even through stone topdressing...
question--does it show when you use it in hypertufa?
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It can look quite nice in concrete. It certainly doesn't float away! It depends what look you want. For example, you can make it nearly invisible with a cementy wet mix giving a smooth surface, or it will be quite prominent in a drier mix where it is allowed to stay at the surface.
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It can look quite nice in concrete. It certainly doesn't float away! It depends what look you want. For example, you can make it nearly invisible with a cementy wet mix giving a smooth surface, or it will be quite prominent in a drier mix where it is allowed to stay at the surface.
i guess i'll need to compare some formulas; but that's a subject for another thread...lol
the weight reduction would be a huge plus, i'd think...
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They squiggle plenty when I'm picking 'em out of pots, Rodger!
They also squiggle enough to tempt chameleons to zap them! ;D
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They squiggle plenty when I'm picking 'em out of pots, Rodger!
They also squiggle enough to tempt chameleons to zap them! ;D
You guys are going to have to stop giving your weevils those nutritional supplements that enliven them.
No more vitamin primula.
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I collected over 100 in a strawberry tower a few weeks ago! I have drenched the nearby pots with Provado, but not convinced it is anywhere near 100% effective! These evil weevils don't seem to touch my orchids (touch wood) which are in 80% perlite (or 80% perlite/Seramis mix).
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I use what I think was Ian Young's recommended method when repotting - of dribbling the old compost into a tray and them any weevils roll down the sides of the conical mound of compost and can be spotted easily and picked out. The trouble with Perlite is that it also rolls down the sides and looks very like the blighters themselves. I find that my hens appreciate vine weevil larvae much more than bits of Perlite.
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We can get large bales of two different brands of horticultural perlite here. One I prefer over the other as it's coarser, but it can be difficult to find. The various farm supply places usually carry the one I don't like.
So thank you, Slug Killer, for the suggestion that I look into hydroponic supply places for my perlite. Good idea, one that I hope will bear fruit.