Napa Oil Dry part no. 8822

Extreme fines could be the fault of shipping and handling. The bottom row of bags under the weight of two pallets on top bumping up and down for 2000 miles could alter the finished product.

I sift mine and get maybe 15% small stuff with little dust. It doesn't seem to break down into sludge (3 years in use so far). I only wish it would be brown or dark gray.
 
Huh....

So, what does that mean for use as bonsai soil?

I did notice I can break wet Optisorb between my fingers, with some pressure. Can you not do that to NAPA 8822?
 
Adamantium said:
Huh....

So, what does that mean for use as bonsai soil?
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Well, one thing for sure is that it breaks down sooner and is not as hard. What I am not sure of without doing more research is what if any the calcining process changes with regard to properties such as CEC, water holding, insect and fungus prevention etc... That's why I said now we can argue about these factors.
 
You probably missed my edit. I can actually crush this Optisorb between my fingers when it’s wet. That doesn’t seem like it bodes well.
 
Well, it's full of water! LOL! Stuff's like a sponge it holds it's weight in water. I love Optisorb but it's just not quite big enough.
 
TN_Jim said:
I would bet there is a natural way to stain an ancient diatom
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I would imagine it could be stained with sumi ink? I have not tried it, but I know it works with sphagnum moss.
 
milehigh_7 said:
Okay folks, just got off the phone with the peeps at EP. NAPA 8822 is a "non-calcined" (not fired) product. That makes it a different beast than Optisorb, Axis or many of the others. Now we can argue about what those differences are! You are welcome!
Click to expand...
I know one of the characteristics of Akadama that Ryan likes is that it is NOT a fired product. Unfortunately I can't remember now why. I'll have to go back on his stream on soils that he did a few weeks ago. I thinks that's where he mentions it.

Having said that, there are a number of people here that use the NAPA 8822 product. I don't recall any of them mentioning a problem with it breaking down. Maybe the fact that it is not a fired product really doesn't matter.
 
milehigh_7 said:
Okay folks, just got off the phone with the peeps at EP. NAPA 8822 is a "non-calcined" (not fired) product. That makes it a different beast than Optisorb, Axis or many of the others. Now we can argue about what those differences are! You are welcome!
Click to expand...

To calcinate DE you fire it. This takes the fossilized mostly silicate diatom, and gives the silica a more crystalline structure. It may be harder, but it may be more brittle as well.
I wasn’t aware that natural DE has trace amounts of aluminum too, which may lower pH to some degree over time.
Evidently, fired DE is way more dangerous to creatures. Breathing/consuming powdered glass.. non-calcinated, not so detrimental perhaps.
This may be why @sorce had a worm kicking in a tree with, if I remember right, was in 100% napa DE

just curious thoughts, not damn geochemist
 
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