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What is grit?

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  • Thanks for the replies and good to know that even if it is an old thread, once boosted with a new reply it generates discussion (I was not sure until,now!0
    I do use perlite in my mix but see this as additional to a grit which is more durable (as said by Pete.8). Looking at Amazon prices they seem more expensive than the bags of lava which I bought (around 12Euros for 12kg from memory) although the finer grain is about 50% more expensive.
    Regarding gravel, it is coarser than either the lava or grit.
    I shall start using the lava on a regular basis and come back with more questions if necessary!
    thanks
    ps: what was the opinion/advice on GQT?
  • floraliesfloralies Posts: 2,718
    I had a thought, could granite chicken grit be used for mixing with compost for plants?
  • LG_LG_ Posts: 4,360
    LunarSea said:
    The exact same question as posed by the OP (and also from someone in the US!) was covered in last week's GQT.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001tsdc

    About 5 min 40 sec in.
    'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
    - Cicero
  • LunarSeaLunarSea Posts: 1,923
    edited 10 January
    Thanks @LG_ , that's helpful. I was struggling to remember the detail of what they actually said other than the size difference between sharp sand, grit & gravel.
    Clay soil - Cheshire/Derbyshire border

    I play with plants and soil and sometimes it's successful

  • Thank you @LG that is very helpful.
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    I'm still not sure why you need grit. I've been gardening in France since the mid 1980s and never used it as it isn't available. Never been a problem. I prefer the colour of dark compost to grit on top of pots anyway and compost drains pretty well.

    I don't even remember it on GW on TV until Monty Don and Carol Klein started using it. Is it a fad?

    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited 11 January
    I use it mainly for long-term
    potting of Mediterranean-type plants … bay, fig etc .., they are thirsty but hate their roots to be permanently damp so a gritty free-draining potting mix is good for them. 

    MD lives in a very rainy part of the country so I imagine that he finds it important to ensure pots are freedraining to prevent water logging. 

    There’s no such thing as one size fits all with potting mixes 😊 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    Thank you @Dovefromabove.  My vigourous heavy fruiting fig tree is planted in clay. It doesn't seem to mind.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    I presume that’s in the ground tho
    @Busy-Lizzie … not in a container? 😊 


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    Yes.

    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
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