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OldManRiver
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Registered: 11/12/17
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Vermiculite water absorption ratio?
#27009483 - 10/28/20 11:39 PM (3 years, 3 months ago) |
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I'm pondering the amount of water to add for a given amount of vermiculite. I looked it up, and found this: http://www.sinclairpro.com/industrial/applications/absorbents/Absorbent_Vermiculite_Technical_Data_sheet
This says that vermiculite can absorb about 600 liters of water per cubic meter of vermiculite. A cubic meter is 100 cm x 100 x 100 = 1,000,000 cc or 1000 liters, implying that vermiculite can hold 60% of its volume of water. Is that about right?
Edited by OldManRiver (10/29/20 12:11 AM)
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Eminence



Registered: 07/25/10
Posts: 16,627
Loc: Richmond, VA
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Re: Vermiculite water absorption ratio? [Re: OldManRiver]
#27009515 - 10/29/20 12:23 AM (3 years, 3 months ago) |
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If you just take a standard PF Tek ratio it's 2:1:1 verm:water:brown rice flour by volume. Idk what it holds if it's only verm and water though. But it doesn't seem to be something you really need calculated though since if you add too much water you can just squeeze the excess out.
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OldManRiver
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Registered: 11/12/17
Posts: 437
Loc: Pacific NW USA
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Re: Vermiculite water absorption ratio? [Re: Eminence]
#27009523 - 10/29/20 12:36 AM (3 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
Eminence said: If you just take a standard PF Tek ratio it's 2:1:1 verm:water:brown rice flour by volume. Idk what it holds if it's only verm and water though. But it doesn't seem to be something you really need calculated though since if you add too much water you can just squeeze the excess out.
I'm working on larger volumes Of a coir/verm/manure substrate, and trying to calculate from best data, how much water to add in the process for each component. Nerdy, for sure.
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Eminence



Registered: 07/25/10
Posts: 16,627
Loc: Richmond, VA
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Re: Vermiculite water absorption ratio? [Re: OldManRiver]
#27009530 - 10/29/20 12:50 AM (3 years, 3 months ago) |
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Maybe you could start out with your estimate at a small volume, if it ends up too wet, maybe try collecting the excess water and calculate how much over it was from field capacity and apply that to a large volume of substrate.
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Pastywhyte
Say hello to my little friend



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Re: Vermiculite water absorption ratio? [Re: Eminence]
#27009536 - 10/29/20 12:57 AM (3 years, 3 months ago) |
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Verm holds 60% of its volume in water at total saturation. We can’t grow like that, would be a soggy mess. We only hydrate to field capacity or less which is far less. The coarseness also impacts it, finer grade verm holds more water than coarse will.
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OldManRiver
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Registered: 11/12/17
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Loc: Pacific NW USA
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Re: Vermiculite water absorption ratio? [Re: Eminence]
#27009547 - 10/29/20 01:24 AM (3 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
Eminence said: Maybe you could start out with your estimate at a small volume, if it ends up too wet, maybe try collecting the excess water and calculate how much over it was from field capacity and apply that to a large volume of substrate.
Good idea. I'll do that.
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RogerRabbit
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Re: Vermiculite water absorption ratio? [Re: OldManRiver]
#27009572 - 10/29/20 02:22 AM (3 years, 3 months ago) |
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Water in most cases, is cheap. Rather than trying to measure the exact amount to use, it's much easier to overhydrate and then squeeze out the excess as already said above. In fact, squeeze as much as you can out of the substrate, even to below field capacity. This will allow for faster colonization, and then you can soak/dunk before first flush. RR
-------------------- Download Let's Grow Mushrooms semper in excretia sumus solim profundum variat "I've never had a failed experiment. I've only discovered 10,000 methods which do not work." Thomas Edison
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OldManRiver
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Registered: 11/12/17
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Re: Vermiculite water absorption ratio? [Re: RogerRabbit] 1
#27011298 - 10/29/20 11:38 PM (3 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
RogerRabbit said: Water in most cases, is cheap. Rather than trying to measure the exact amount to use, it's much easier to overhydrate and then squeeze out the excess as already said above. In fact, squeeze as much as you can out of the substrate, even to below field capacity. This will allow for faster colonization, and then you can soak/dunk before first flush. RR
Thank you for the perspective, and for your contributions over the years.
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