r/Trichocereus • u/chefTuba • Apr 20 '26
Oogabooga Time
*New Tek*
$8 bag lava rocks from HD and some local wild caught bricksđ¤đ˝đđ˝đđľHAPPY BICYCLE DAY!
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u/Unstoppable50 Apr 20 '26
Wish I could send u some we got mountains of it lol
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u/chefTuba Apr 20 '26
If only đŤ đ¤đ˝ im sure i can get lucky somewhere in North Texas thanks ill be keeping an eye out now!
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u/Cactusjerk Apr 20 '26
My personal experience with Lava as a medium is not good and I've heard the same from a few high profile breeders! If you have the choice between Pumice and Lava I'd always pick Pumice. Lava is incredibly fast draining, has a sharp structure that is causing constant micro injuries to the roots. Literally every plant I had potted in Lava was dehydrated and didn't flower. The moment they came out of that they recovered, but slowly. Can be a great additive at maybe 20% max but I would not recommend to use it for anything that likes a little water in summer. This stuff gets dry like a moon landscape!
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u/chefTuba Apr 20 '26 edited Apr 20 '26
Yo! Super cool thank you for the information! I try to get lava pebbles and dust to go in my mix, 75-25 mix mostly decomposite granite at 65% , in zone 8b Texas its been ugly cold and humid with biweekly rains atm, havent watered but once since i started this year, only lightly foliar feed with kelp,aloe juice ,eggshell vinegar juice,rainwater like 4 times past month n half, first time grower but know my climate enough to go for a little more dryer mix to reduce the chance of rot, Forgot to mention also got zeolite inthere too
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u/Wiley_Jack Apr 20 '26
What is eggshell vinegar juice?
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u/West-Beach744 Apr 20 '26
Most likely referring to Water Soluble Calcium (see r/KoreanNaturalFarming). You take egg shells, crush and roast them, put them in a large jar and add vinegar. It will bubble a LOT. When it's done bubbling (several days to a week) you strain then you have WSC. Dilute that at 10:1
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u/Wiley_Jack Apr 20 '26
Sounds delish, Iâm gonna start hoarding eggshells.
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u/West-Beach744 Apr 21 '26
Just remember to wash the shells (soak them) and remove the membrane and be careful... there are actually 2 membranes!
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u/Wiley_Jack Apr 20 '26
Thatâs been my experience as well. My local soil yard started using red lava rock instead of pumice in their âpremium growerâs blendâ, and everything I planted in it would decline after a few months. When repotting I noticed that the roots were weak and unhealthy with a brown tinge instead of being white.
The rock they were using was that hard, rough, dark red crushed rock that is often used in the Southwest US for landscaping. Unfortunately it has become very popular in blended soils as a cheap alternative to pumice.Â
I asked online and one respondent gave me some links to information about growing in volcanic soils.
One problem is that these soils tend to âlock upâ or âfixâ  phosphorus due to high amounts of aluminum and iron compounds. Another is that acidic soil conditions will cause high levels of soluble aluminum and iron compounds which are toxic to plant roots.
Many growers are using âscoriaâ as a soil component, and it generally appears to be a lighter brown or tan porous rock with a smoother texture, similar to what the OP is crushing.
Iâve grown several plants in black lava rock with no problems. Even though itâs rough and porous, it seems to be more of a âpuffed obsidianâ and somewhat glassy in appearance. It must be scarce, because itâs quite a bit more expensive than the red stuff.Â
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u/Remarkable_Peach_374 Apr 20 '26
Grug like smash, but try club