Vladimir, is that what you use to make gritty? I've tried everywhere, even a restaurant supply company lol. I purchased this yesterday which I thought was closest to 1/8, but I had a lot of waste with the turface and grit.

Mary

That is what I use to make gritty. More than half is excessive.

The bug screen material for window screens/door screens is available at hardware/Home Depot type places (aluminum will hold up better) -you can make a sifter with a wooden frame or anything similar.

For small batches if you're in the mood to work slow, a simple screen type colander (veggie drainer/pasta drainer) works for me- just do a little at a time.

"hardware cloth" is also available at same/similar stores- comes in 1/4 at smallest maybe? In between I don't know because that's the size I'm targeting ;)

I did make a a frame for the insect screen and the 1/4 in screen. The insect screen just basically took out only dust for the turface and grit. So I went in search of 1/8 hardware cloth, but couldn't find it anywhere. Then I tried a restaurant supply place for a colander and found the one in the above pic. The problem was that I lost so much of the turface and grit. I'm thinking then that the insect screen should be ok.

This is how I make gritty mix:

· 1 part uncomposted pine or fir bark

o screened
through ½” to remove large pieces then

o through
1/8" to remove fines

(OR Repti
Bark w/o screening)

· 1 part Turface MVP

o screened
through window screen to remove fines*

· 1 part Gran-I-Grit (grower size) or #2
cherrystone

o I do not
screen

But some people screen
through window screen to remove fines

· Osmocote – per manufacturer's instructions

*about 40% of Turface will be lost as fines

Thank you Vladimir. That's perfect!!! I just bought some more turface and ordered the grit. Can't wait to make up a proper batch!

For turface and grit a window screen is enough. You do not need the 1/8 screen for that. They do do not break down as quickly as bark. So, for gritty, the bark should be between 1/8 and 1/4.The bark component is a smaller fraction than 511 and so it needs to "match up" with the rest.

So far I have not been able to locate a 3/8 screen for the 511 and so I use the 1/2 inch screen. In 511 the bark is the major component and so a bit of the bigger material is OK since we also have a bit of the finer material (less than 1/8) in there.

I do not screen the grit either but some recommend at least washing it. I usually skip that though.

Turface differs from bag to bag and so you may see a lot of fines in one and not the next one. I would say 20-30% is lost when screening through the 1/16 screen. I use those for seedlings, cuttings and some other projects like hypertufa.

Such great advice and very helpful..Thanks to all..

Just don't forget to add 'gypsum' if not using Foliage Pro)

I bought gold-sifting pans from amazon. They are sturdy, come in a variety of sizes, and fit on top of a 5 gallon bucket.

eBay. Test sieves.

I got tired of fighting with the window screen fabric and poorly spec'd garden sieves. Just never was really pleased with the experience.

Took a couple weeks hunting around, to find something I liked, that fit my requirements. Mine are stainless steel mesh and sides, full height sides (3" mesh to top), and I managed to find a bottom pan and lid, to make a set out of it.

#10 - 2 mm / .0787 in. instead of window screen, for calcined clay / Turface.

#8 - 2.36 mm / .0937 in. for calcined DE, granite grit, pumice, etc.

#4 - 4.75 mm / .0187 in. upper gritty mix size limit.

The nice thing about the #10 is, I use it to rinse the aggregate after everything is sifted. I sift into bins, not buckets. Also, I sift the fines out of the gypsum or lime, and add the coarse calcium in after the aggregate has been rinsed.

The #10 is more coarse than window screen, but too fine to use for everything, so I only use it for the Calcined clay and calcium. The #8 is just a hair more fine than Al's recommendation, but it's so close, and seems to work for me.

I definitely recommend folks try to find used 12" test sieves. Makes this work so much more satisfying. Definitely makes the rinsing easier.

Pics. The gritty mix shown is inorganic - no bark. A variation by Penfold2: 3/3/4, calcined clay, calcined DE, Gran-i-grit.