• Do you need help identifying a 🌶?
    Is your plant suffering from an unknown issue? 🤧
    Then ask in Identification and Diagnosis.

Zeolite

kiddc

kiddc

Hey guys,

I happened to see this on the shelves when i was stocking up on my vermiculite and perlites.
Do you use it for soil amendments? Do you recommend using it?

From wikipedia:
"Zeolites are microporous, aluminosilicate minerals commonly used as commercial adsorbents"
"In agriculture, clinoptilolite (a naturally occurring zeolite) is used as a soil treatment. It provides a source of slowly released potassium. If previously loaded with ammonium, the zeolite can serve a similar function in the slow release of nitrogen. Zeolites can also act as water moderators, in which they will adsorb up to 55% of their weight in water and slowly release it under plant demand. This property can prevent root rot and moderate drought cycles."

I would love to hear from the community.
 
kiddc said:
Hey guys,

I happened to see this on the shelves when i was stocking up on my vermiculite and perlites.
Do you use it for soil amendments? Do you recommend using it?

From wikipedia:
"Zeolites are microporous, aluminosilicate minerals commonly used as commercial adsorbents"
"In agriculture, clinoptilolite (a naturally occurring zeolite) is used as a soil treatment. It provides a source of slowly released potassium. If previously loaded with ammonium, the zeolite can serve a similar function in the slow release of nitrogen. Zeolites can also act as water moderators, in which they will adsorb up to 55% of their weight in water and slowly release it under plant demand. This property can prevent root rot and moderate drought cycles."

I would love to hear from the community.
Click to expand...

Hey kiddc, can't help you with this, but I'm curious and will wait for some incoming info. Interesting question.
 
I've never used zeolite, but I ALWAYS use Oil-Dri when potting plants. I use about 25% added to the mix. It's an excellent additive for drainage and slight moisture retention
 
Don't waste your money, I have put it in my garden and have seen no improvement, I am talking 5 years of playing with it.

I bought into the hype because my neighbours listen religiously to a local talk radio station that has a weekend plant care program and every third word out of their mouths was zeolite. The host of the program was a local politican and part owner in a garden centre (that also sold.....zeolite).

today my soil is not much different than it was 5 years ago and you can not detect where any of the zeolite was, if anything, after a heavy rain, followed by extreme heat, the product caked(compacted) and I had to keep breaking it up with my garden claw.

I am currently experimenting with coconut coir and seaweed to loosen up my soil and add micro nutrients.

PS. Since the garden program host sold his garden centre and retired from politics I no longer hear the constant zeolite marketing and where once skids of the product lined the garden centre, today they only carry a few bags (I guess for those old loyal listeners).
 
As mark said +1 I add lots of sea weed as extract and used sea weed for the soil will help with water retention and make soil fluffy, some vermiculite will help also. both help to keep soil loose.
 
Too late.

cFJfPY73.jpeg


I read the bad comments here too late.
I guess i should try it anyhow, add a small amount to 2 of my pot ups.

edit: resized pic
 
.... of course, try it, this is how one learns! The information that I gave or anyone else gives is based on their experiences in their growing region.

I am glad you posted the picture, the zeolite that is available here is not powdery like yours but larger and granular like a course sand.

There are approximately 2 more months left in my outside growing season, by mid/end September our first frost creeps in and somewhere in October we will have had our first snow. The ground freezes solid and is covered by 2 - 3 feet of snow; my peppers are in pots so I bring them in the house, even now I bring my peppers in the house in the evening for protection, well, my hot varieties. The peppers that I don't really care about, usually annumm varieties can stay out on my deck but chinenses definitely come in the house if nighttime temperatures are going below 10C.

Perhaps this form of zeolite is not for my area due to the freezing in winter, the theory is zeolite is a volcanic rock that expands and contracts with moisture levels, since we have a very low humidity index, water evaporates quickly and the ground goes hard and cracks/splits in summer.

hope it works for you.
 
haha, thanks BurningColon.

Will try it for the pot up and let you know the results.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge :) I'm just a newbie planter.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top