On 29/03/09 17:50, Ted wrote:
When the book calls for Horticultural grit or sharp sand. Will building
grit and sharp sand do instead ..I know it seen
ms to be frowned on but ordinary sharp sand is used on football
pitches...Wondered if the horticultural label was just to relieve us of
more money ?

Builder's sand and sharp sand are different products.

Builder's sand (often referred to as soft sand) has very fine particles
and is used by builders in combination with cement to make up a mortar
mix which might be used, say, for laying bricks. You might also come
across it in children's sand-pits.

Sharp sand, on the other hand, has larger (though still small)
particles and offers good drainage as water can easily percolate
through. For this reason it is often used in a horticultural sense to
'open' up claggy clayey soils or added to a potting-up medium to assist
drainage. Builder's soft sand will not do that.

Horticultural grit.. now what is that? Suspect that it might in
reality be just ordinary sharp sand (or similar) but which will cost you
3x the price!!

Just go to your local diy store and buy plain ordinary sharp sand. If
you are worried about contaminants then just wash it several times in a
bucket of water decanting between each wash.

Ed