Credit: www.melbartholomew.com
I have always thought vermiculite was the most marvelous natural material. Besides, it’s all organic and is a perfect addition to any good potting soil. If you’ve read my books, you know why I don’t like perlite, which most commercial potting soils use because it doesn’t crush in shipping as much as vermiculite does and it is much cheaper. But I’m willing to pay the extra price and I particularly like the coarser size. It comes in fine, medium, and coarse. The only problem with vermiculite is that is very difficult to find in the home gardening market place. Most of the nurseries and big box stores do not carry it and you have to do a lot of phoning ahead (please to not drive all over town looking for it).
As you probably know it holds water yet drains when it’s filled, just like a sponge does. The plant roots grow around the particles and take in whatever moisture they need and since the particles of vermiculite take a long time to dry out, moisture is always there for the plant enabling it to grow quicker and more healthy.
We are trying very hard to distribute our Mel’s Mix in a bag, hopefully available in all nurseries and big box stores soon. Of course in business soon can mean any number of years. It’s very difficult to get a new product into the big box stores. But we are partially successful now and hopefully on the road to everywhere.
For those who still want to mix their own Mel’s Mix, we are looking into having bags of the coarse grade vermiculite available for shipping right to your door. We are making arrangements with several manufacturers located all around the country to do that shipping for us which will cut the cost down considerably.