Zeolite in Cypripedium mix

[Stephen Vella]

Does anyone have good or bad experiance in using Zeolite in their potting mix?

Is it as water holding as seramis or better?

cheers

[John Aipassa]

Stephen,

No personal experiences myself, but studies shows that zeolite can take up water up to 70% of its own weight. Seramis does a better job and can suck up more than its own weight with water. Dry Seramis weighs 380 grams per liter, but completely soaked it weighs 800 gram per liter.

Zeolite is mostly used in agriculture as a slow releaser of fertilizer which it sucks up greatly. In combination with its water retention abilities therefore beneficial in dry agricultural areas. I don't know if Seramis has the same benefits when it comes to taking up fertilizer.
Our Wageningen University did a test with potatoes growing in soil enriched with zeolite in which fertilizer was added. The crop was 11% higher than the crop growing in a non zeolite enriched soil. Although significant the University said that it was only one field test, so several more needed to be done to conclude a pattern.

Best,

[Anthony Darby]

Anyone compared this with perlite in grams per litre?

[Maren]

One would have to find it first.

[Stephen Vella]

John thanks for the information and interesting to hear that seramis does have some benefits when compared to zeolite. I too have recently heard that its used in fertiliser mixes in helping to increase the cation exchange when applied to playing fields and garden situations.

Its been used in a green roof here at work with other ingredients but rely on constant timed irrigation. Zeolite was chosen because of its high water holding capacity and cation exchange and also it wont blow away or decompose like bark fines or perlite would.

It looks to be another ingredient that can be added in a garden soil to help with drainage and hold water, like seramis but seramis isnt so available in Australia.

Anthony I haven't weighed perlite to compared but I do notice it high water holding capacity but dries out too fast in my climate and so needs to be revisited when watering but works well when mixed with bark fines or coco peat with some sand as a general mix.

cheers