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Shroomasta
Stranger
Registered: 05/13/02
Posts: 23
Last seen: 22 years, 8 months
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Vermiculite being phased out...Substitutes Anyone?
#635801 - 05/18/02 07:12 PM (22 years, 9 months ago) |
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Have some of you notcied that it seems harder and harder to find vermiculite at the local gardening centers and nurseries? If so then you have stumbled upon a revelation that I just recently found out about...So, it seems that finally the government has decided that our prized vermiculite is to be taken off the shelves across the country in an effort to reduce cases and instances of lung disease. As some of you konw, verm is silica based and apparently has the some of the detrimental effects of asbestos. Now that it will become harder and harder to find, I think it might be prudent to start looking for good strong alternatvies to vermiculite and maybe post and share. Input and discussion welcomed. One quick question...how many casings methods are there that don't use verm other than maybe just using potting soil, or dung, or coco coir? I guess perlite, but that contams much more easily from what i've read (although, I'm not an expert by any means). ciao
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goolag
Rx

Registered: 05/11/02
Posts: 358
Loc: Stable
Last seen: 11 years, 10 months
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Re: Vermiculite being phased out...Substitutes Anyone? [Re: Shroomasta]
#635810 - 05/18/02 07:34 PM (22 years, 9 months ago) |
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Asbestos and the Vermiculite connection is a myth as far as I'm concerned. Vermiculite is widely available around here. It just depends on where your looking etc. A lot of larger chains of stores dont like to carry it. Franks Nursery around here carries it as well as a few other garden stores. Vermiculite is Mica heated to a temp where all the moisture is zapped out and it puffs up.
-------------------- goolag
[url=http://shroomery.org/faq/]Check out
the Shroomery FAQ[/url]
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UHID
enthusiast
Registered: 03/07/02
Posts: 212
Loc: IL
Last seen: 22 years, 2 months
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Re: Vermiculite being phased out...Substitutes Anyone? [Re: Shroomasta]
#635820 - 05/18/02 07:44 PM (22 years, 9 months ago) |
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this same thread pops up pretty regularly. where exactly did you get your information? can you point us to an official source?
you can still get it here in illinois....
take care! stay safe... -bizarro
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fidget
Fungus Hunter


Registered: 03/18/02
Posts: 252
Loc: Oregon
Last seen: 2 years, 6 months
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Re: Vermiculite being phased out...Substitutes Anyone? [Re: UHID]
#635825 - 05/18/02 07:52 PM (22 years, 9 months ago) |
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Still widely availible in the Pacific NW. And still cheap...
-------------------- - fidget
"With ordinary consciousness you can't even begin to know what's happening."
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seattlekid
Stranger

Registered: 02/26/02
Posts: 87
Last seen: 18 years, 9 months
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Re: Vermiculite being phased out...Substitutes Anyone? [Re: fidget]
#636170 - 05/19/02 07:06 AM (22 years, 9 months ago) |
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i've heard the same thing from different hardware stores and nurserys. Its really odd...some seem to have no problem carrying it with others say they can't because its been pulled off the shelf. It really makes no sense to me because it seems like if it did get pulled from the shelf because of a health risk they would have done so across the entire country...not just at some stores here and there. I really wish i had a crediable source for this info but so far all i know is just from the tellings of different employes at different stores. And as far as i know to work at any of these stores doesn't require you to really know what the fuck your talking about so i guess its anyones guess.
-------------------- Life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once in a while you could miss it.
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stealth_assassin
Stranger
Registered: 05/19/02
Posts: 11
Last seen: 22 years, 9 months
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Re: Vermiculite being phased out...Substitutes Anyone? [Re: Shroomasta]
#636237 - 05/19/02 08:11 AM (22 years, 9 months ago) |
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Its easy to find from an online supplier.
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DaMigraine
Beats so hard itrequiresprotection
Registered: 04/06/02
Posts: 183
Loc: New Hampshire
Last seen: 21 years, 10 months
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Re: Vermiculite being phased out...Substitutes Anyone? [Re: stealth_assassin]
#636947 - 05/19/02 07:52 PM (22 years, 9 months ago) |
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There is a chemical company across town that has a whole bunch of bags sitting outside, if it is at around 2am, they are free to whomever can grab a few of em without beeing seen.
-------------------- I keep my posts like a bikini bottom, long enough to cover the subject... short enough to keep it interesting.
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indicaz
Lysol God


Registered: 04/12/02
Posts: 580
Loc: My Chair
Last seen: 15 years, 10 months
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Re: Vermiculite being phased out...Substitutes Anyone? [Re: DaMigraine]
#636952 - 05/19/02 07:55 PM (22 years, 9 months ago) |
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hey new hampshire is kinda close...
how about some of dem bags?
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DERRAYLD
Constructus


Registered: 05/13/02
Posts: 12,409
Loc: South Africa
Last seen: 4 seconds
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Re: Vermiculite being phased out...Substitutes Anyone? [Re: indicaz]
#636957 - 05/19/02 08:02 PM (22 years, 9 months ago) |
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Damn, hear in SA most of our garden pots or indoor plants come with vermcultie allready combined with the soil. Now I can`t say it`s good or bad because I just don`t have a clue. But if it`s used worldwide for moisture retention, can`t be that bad.
Vermicultie is a std thing here, can buy it anywhere. Except for some reason at nurseries. Very strange.
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Anonymous
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Re: Vermiculite being phased out...Substitutes Anyone? [Re: DERRAYLD]
#637233 - 05/20/02 04:39 AM (22 years, 9 months ago) |
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No problem finding here in Canada, at least in the Vancouver area.
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dirk gently
enthusiast
Registered: 08/04/99
Posts: 414
Last seen: 8 years, 8 months
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Re: Vermiculite being phased out...Substitutes Any [Re: Shroomasta]
#637297 - 05/20/02 06:12 AM (22 years, 9 months ago) |
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I posted about this a couple weeks ago. It is very true that it is much harder to find in my area than in the past years. Clearly some places that would normally stock it do not do so anymore. I haven't determined why. I finally found some at a specialized garden and nursery store.
If someone really wanted to find out about this they could call Home depots customer service or something and ask why they don't carry it anymore.
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Humidity
Mad Scientist
Registered: 04/01/00
Posts: 358
Loc: Somewhere in Northeast OH
Last seen: 21 years, 24 days
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Re: Vermiculite being phased out...Substitutes Anyone? [Re: Shroomasta]
#637492 - 05/20/02 08:27 AM (22 years, 9 months ago) |
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It is very true that vermiculite contains carcenogens and long term exposure can cause cancer. I just saw some stuff about vermicuite insulation in houses on the news. They were saying that the bad vermiculite all came from one mine I think in montana or idaho. They were saying that if you are only exposed a limited amount of time then there is a vary small chance it will affect you, but the more exposure to the vermiculite the higher your chances of it damaging your lungs. They said the government is doing more reasearch on it, but they did not say that it was banned. Some stores may have stopped carrying it because it has been given a bad rapp.
-------------------- _____________________________________________________________________________________
"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." -Stephen Hawking
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero


Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 23,480
Loc: Caribbean
Last seen: 5 months, 23 days
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Re: Vermiculite being phased out...Substitutes Any [Re: dirk gently]
#637536 - 05/20/02 08:53 AM (22 years, 9 months ago) |
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My friend bought a 4-cubic-feet bag of vermiculite online from a hydroponics store last year when the stuff was starting to get hard to find. She still has about 3.9-cubic-feet left. Buy big, buy once. Just be sure you have a place to store the stuff. A 4-cubic-foot bag takes up a medium sized garbage can.
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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blacktarropium
journeyman
Registered: 03/04/02
Posts: 95
Loc: va
Last seen: 22 years, 3 months
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Re: Vermiculite being phased out...Substitutes Any [Re: Seuss]
#637623 - 05/20/02 09:36 AM (22 years, 9 months ago) |
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i can get bags of vermiculite at anygardening store , and even home depo carrys , its like 2.15 for a bag the size of a potato chip bag
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ChromeCrow
one ancient mutha



Registered: 02/21/02
Posts: 1,887
Loc: Hoosier HELL
Last seen: 1 year, 10 months
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Re: Vermiculite being phased out...Substitutes Anyone? [Re: Shroomasta]
#637671 - 05/20/02 10:13 AM (22 years, 9 months ago) |
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i dont see em getting rid of it either, but to answer the question asked anyway. a crushed unglazed clay flower pot will work fine as a substitute
-------------------- ISO: Orissa, Malabar, z strain
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rain_angel
EnLigHTenD MiNDRancHeR
Registered: 03/14/02
Posts: 493
Loc: Next door to you
Last seen: 18 years, 5 months
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Re: Vermiculite being phased out...Substitutes Anyone? [Re: ChromeCrow]
#637690 - 05/20/02 10:28 AM (22 years, 9 months ago) |
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i noticed that it is kinda difficult for me to find down here also. ive found that most wal-marts if not all, dont carry it anymore. i had to go to lowes home improvement to find mine. small bags about 2-3 bucks, i spend about 10-15 bucks on em, so if they run out, ill be setup for a while. if you still cant find it, you should buy a large amount off line, like a post above me said, just so you can work with what you know. im interested in that clay pot idea, i wonder how that would work out? i would imagine u use it about the same?! if you could, P.M. about that, im interested in new and intriging ways  peace rain
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TeKHeAD009
Stranger
Registered: 04/04/02
Posts: 760
Last seen: 17 years, 4 months
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Re: Vermiculite being phased out...Substitutes Anyone? [Re: rain_angel]
#637792 - 05/20/02 11:23 AM (22 years, 9 months ago) |
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Yeah, for some wierd reason, walmarts, kmarts, and sears hardware no longer carry vermaculite in pennsylvania. I had to go to about 3 small privatly owned gardining stores before I found a bag that cost me like 4 bucks.
I too heard the crushed red clay pot works, smash the pieces into tiny pieces about 1/4 inch size. Use it like vermaculite.
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dirk gently
enthusiast
Registered: 08/04/99
Posts: 414
Last seen: 8 years, 8 months
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Re: Vermiculite being phased out...Substitutes Any [Re: ChromeCrow]
#638373 - 05/20/02 07:09 PM (22 years, 9 months ago) |
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crushed clay pot? hardly a direct substitute. It might work, but not with out changes.
pain in the ass to break it up into small bits too. where did you pull that idea from?
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ChromeCrow
one ancient mutha



Registered: 02/21/02
Posts: 1,887
Loc: Hoosier HELL
Last seen: 1 year, 10 months
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Re: Vermiculite being phased out...Substitutes Any [Re: dirk gently]
#638409 - 05/20/02 07:34 PM (22 years, 9 months ago) |
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dont knock it till you have tried it, can you name 1 thing verm can do, that the flower pot cant??that is besides cause cancer! its absorbs water( not as much as verm, but it DOES), releases is slowley, breaks up the substrate to avoid clumping. and its only a bitch to break up if your a girleyman.....now of course verm is optimal, but this is an acceptable substitute......*** btw *** the reddish colored ones are the ones to use.
i'll tell you what, this coming weekend, i will make a few jars using it, and snap a few pictures just to show it works. fair 'nuff?
(edited) long as no one bitchs bout a webcam pic
-------------------- ISO: Orissa, Malabar, z strain
Edited by ChromeCrow (05/20/02 07:47 PM)
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XAZIA
glitter goddess
Registered: 08/22/01
Posts: 678
Loc: oklahoma
Last seen: 22 years, 5 months
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Re: Vermiculite being phased out...Substitutes Anyone? [Re: Shroomasta]
#638423 - 05/20/02 07:47 PM (22 years, 9 months ago) |
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"how many casings methods are there that don't use verm other than maybe just using potting soil, or dung, or coco coir?"
dung is substrate...
try this
[url=http://www.mycotopia.net/teks/birdseed.html[/url]
-------------------- "Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds."
Bob Marley
Remember, EGOISM is the beginning, the source, and the root of EVIL!
http://www.fanaticus.com/pf-tek.htm
http://www.mycotopia.net/teks/hongus.html
Edited by XAZIA (05/20/02 07:53 PM)
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