Hi Lori--I picked up some about a year ago from Stream Organics, mostly coz they are really close by to me... www.streamorganics.com Perhaps you could call or email them, and also West Creek Farms in Ft. Langley... www.westcreekfarms.com Sometimes West Creek seems to have a better range of components (good place to get bulk coir for instance). Pumice quality has apparently really gone down in the past year or so, with the closing of the mine which had supplied this area with very high grade pumice. The replacement stuff is a fairly mediocre grey substance, which I'm not super impressed with...may not get any more in future.
Thank you for your reply. How do I tell the good pumice from the mediocre pumice? I have never used it before but hear it is the best thing for fast-draining potting mixes (to grow my cycads).
Maybe others have better info on pumice...Stream told me they used to have really good pumice available, I think they said it was rather yellow coloured. The stuff they had lately was not much more than a light weight gravel...but an expensive gravel :-) Still, it seems to have rescued my sulking lewisia rediviva collection, potting them into basically pure pumice, they seem to be loving the stuff. I'm sure others have their experiences much more than mine...especially those down in Oregon where, so I've heard, good pumice is very easy to get and cheaper than many other soil components. Glen
I would think that if you cant find any, get some ornamental lava rock and smash the pieces smaller with a mallet might de a fairly close alternative. I know of 'illegal crop' commercial growers from a few years back (I was a fertilizer sales rep so I had to visit lots of garden centers and hydroponic shops;-) ), a few of them insisted on taking their potting mix such as Sunshine #4 (already has some pumice in it compared to #1) and cut in about 20% -30% coarse perlite. They swore the better drainage was essential for the plants that they were growing.
