On 03/11/2011 11:24, Emery Davis wrote:
On 11/03/2011 10:12 AM, harry wrote:
Get your builder's merchant to send you a big bag (about 800Kg) of
sharp sand. Park it up somewhere and you have a lifetime supply of
sand very cheap. Some "sand" is crushed limestone. You need to
examine it to see if this is the case..

Sand (even sharp sand) makes a bad soil additive IMHO. It makes the
soil very heavy and doesn't really increase drainage. I have tried it
and had a lot of pseudomonas problems in the sandy pots, presumably
because of water retention.

I use sharp sand in seed beds, indeed I get it from the builder supplies
in 40 kg bags. Hard on the old back...

-E
yes, it's odd how sand holds water despite the particles not being
absorbent. I guess the good thing is it can only hold so much and any
excess drains straight through. Same principle with vermiculite, which
holds more, but never compresses or becomes water logged. Great for pots
in the summer