Thermalite Blocks

[rogo]

I wonder if anyone has tried growing plants in these blocks. They are the kind used for interior walls, seem to absorb lots of water and are very easy to shape using a hammer. They may work like tufa blocks and would be cheap and easy to buy.

[brianw]

Thermalite blocks might be quite variable, chemically and in structural strength if weathered. They contain up to 80% recycled material. In houses they shrink over time, although I am not sure why, if it is just drying or a chemical change. I guess you can just try them and see how you get on.

[Palustris]

Since they are designed for interior use, they are not frost proof. So when they get wet and freeze they have a tendency to break up into smaller pieces. We have found left over bits of them in various places in this garden and over the years those bits have broken up into gravel  sized stuff.

[Maggi Young]

Ian has used  old broken breeze blocks very successfully to landscape trough and says he sees no reason why it would not be possible to  grow plants in thermalite blocks.  We understand that these vary in water resistance  and  so may differ greatly in how mush the plants are able to obtain water whn planted in a drilled block- but it must be worth trying - and funto see what happens.