Hello Chris...

I've used TURFACE-MVP for years as an ingredient in the recommended gritty mixtures, and as a soil amendment.  Some oil dry and floor sweeping compounds come close as a substitute....like Napa, Floor/Oil Dry #8822.

I wonder why sieved-for-size, and graded, crushed terra cotta from recycled pottery, broken flower pots, dinner ware, bricks, and various rejects from the pottery industry have not been used in the horticultural world.  There has to be a tremendous amount of breakage manufacturing these fragile products within the ceramic industry.  If you can buy crushed stone, you should also be able to buy  crushed terra-cotta products.  I think they would have a great deal of use to gardeners as a substitute for the annoying, ubiquitous "Perlite", and slimy "Vermiculite".

Just my two cents worth.

Frank

I use it in my gritty mix, and I love it!! 

Suzi

It is an integral part of any good cacti and succulent mix, it's used extensively. I have used it on figs, citrus and other non succulent plants too. It is an excellent amendment for soil mixes to add some porosity to the mix. Having air at the roots and some water retention is critical and turface definitly helps with that. 

What they said.  :)   I use the Napa product more because I can get it locally and it's cheaper.  But Napa varies its price.  In PDX it's almost 2x more expensive than here in the sticks.   So if I was in PDX I'd use the Turface more.

I looking at the mechanics of the soil as well. How are the ion exchange rates when using fertilizers? I see that the life expectancy is rather good (near 20 + years), but how is the life regards to being used as a soil medium in place of a baseball field. How much of the actual fertilizer in being absorbed in the medium during water periods vs going straight through? What I am basically asking is how does the bulk density change once water is added and the ion charges are applied to the clay. 

Chris, I see you are an engineer.  That is definitely a question an engineer would ask, and I hope you find someone here who can get as technical as you are.  All I know is the stuff works, and works well!  I don't know why or how.  It just does. 

Bulk density when wet?  It does lose some fluff, IE packs down when wet, but once it's wet, the fertilizer is fine.  I use granulated slow release stuff.

Suzi

You asked what the experience has been with Turface, it's been very good as noted above. Then you asked highly technical questions and you must know that we are for the most part all amature gardeners. There is one member who probably can answer technical questions, send a pm to Tapla.

We used it extensively when we had a bonsai nursery. I have repotted trees after 15 years (they got root prunings in between) and the material had not broken down. It did not migrate and cause the mix to stratify so drainage remained excellent and the feeder roots were not compromised. Not answer to all your questions but hopefully helpful.

JD did quite a bit of testing with this a while back.  'Turface' search on the forum brings up his threads on the subject, along with (I think) some input from master Al (tapla).

I use bone meal myself, I love the stuff for fert, seems to be all I need.

Why is "TURFACE-MVP" not in every garden center in the USA?  What's with this company, that makes this product, and their lousy marketing strategy? 

This product should be as popular as the annoying, floating, "Perlite", and as common as peat-moss.  When I ask for this product at Garden Centers, I get the blank look.  I live in NYC and have to travel to a paint supply company in Yonkers, NY. just to buy bags of this. Ridiculous!

Frank

Gina, you make a valid point!  That stuff is heavy!  I'm happy JD is a big strong man, and he has no problem lifting those heavy bags! 

I just wonder if the manufacturers of Turface even know that there is a garden use for it!  They are focused on sports and playing fields.  Sometimes there are multiple uses for products out there, but they are sold and marketed for their biggest perceived market.

I found out by accident that CLR will take Teak garden furniture from gray to new in a nano second... with a little sanding of course, but they don't market it like that.  One of my favorite stain removers is Banana Oil based..It's called Living Colors!  Go figure............

Suzi

Gina has it right. It's not really marketed as a soil supplement. Find out who maintains your high school baseball field. You probably have a local supplier just not your garden centers. Still I am sure they are aware of this secondary market and seeming foolish not to cater to it. If your garden center wanted to order some I am sure they would be glad to deliver it.

It's not in garden centers because (I think?) it was actually created to dry out sports fields, so you find it at places that sell commercial landscape supplies, park field supplies, etc.  It wasn't originally created for gardening.

Agway is in numerous locations in the northeast. They have turface.         Angelo NY Zone 7A

SEGeo - There is a fair bit of research out there on calcined clay, which is what Turface is. There is significant variation in calcined clays depending on the source of the clay and how hot it was fired. The main effect of using calcined clay in soilless media is that, at a reasonable percentage of the mix, it increases available water and provides significant CEC (cation exchange capacity). There is a soilless media that goes by the name "Gritty Mix" that is one part each pine bark, Turface and Gran-I-Grit plus 1 tbls of gypsum per gallon. Since pine bark has low CEC and Gran-I-Grit none, you need something else. In other soilless mixes, sphagnum peat moss often provides the main source of CEC. I prefer coir dust in my mixes to provide CEC. You can grow in just calcined clay. In fact, it was the media used in some zero gravity space shuttle experiments.
http://journal.ashspublications.org/content/130/5/767.full.pdf

You can dig into the references in the above paper to learn more. Also, Ted Bilderback, IMO one of the gods of soilless media who is a professor at NCSU, has published several papers on calcined clay. Jim Owen's 2006 PhD thesis from NCSU is loaded with info. Owen was Bilderback's grad student.

At the end of the day, a calcined clay can be a good soilless mix component. After a fair bit of research, I do not include it in my mixes. A GREAT overview of what is actually important in soilless mixes is found here:
http://horttech.ashspublications.org/content/15/4/747.full.pdf

Good luck with your trees!

Just three additional points, if I may...

Weight factor: When sold in bags, "Turface" is no heavier than bags of topsoil sold in garden centers.  50 lbs. of "Turface" the same as 50 lbs. of peat moss.  It is heavier than Perlite, by volume.

Marketing strategy...Yes, I think it was originally used for drying sports fields, pooling water, etc. and not as a soil amendment.  But gardeners and plant growers use tons and tons of this product.  I can not believe the company would walk away from a very big secondary market, and not distribute this in major big box stores, and garden centers all over the USA.  It doesn't make economic sense.  Companies exist to make a profit.  If topsoil is shipped, than "Turface" can be shipped also.  It's just a matter of demand, and education.  Companies "create" a need for what they sell  by letting people know what their products do.  A few well place ads will do the trick.

Thanks for the link to the scientific side of Turface-MVP

Frank

Almost indespesible, as far as I'm concerned. I just wish they would up the average particle size by about 1/16". It's excellent as a fraction of soils in which your want is to increase aearation with minimal sacrifice of water retention, but it doesn't really do much good unless it's used in conjunction with particles of similar size. IOW, it doesn't improve the drainage or aeration of peaty soils when added to them unless it's overwhelmingly the largest fraction. Combined with particles of similar size, it preserves aeration while providing an internal reservoir for water and nutrient retention - a much better scenario than water being held in interparticulate spaces.

Al  

I have been using Turface for aquarium plants in an emersed setup for several years.  I picked it up after seeing a demonstration on hydroponic gardening and like the fact that it doesn’t mat or break down under wet conditions.  Plants seem to thrive in it. My Turface came through a garden club that bought a large bag and divided it up into more usable size smaller bags for individuals.  Haven’t tried it for figs or as an soil amendment.

So where do you buy this and how much do you usually pay for it?

Figfinatic, you don't specify your state or zone in your signature, so not sure where you can get it, but I suggest you try looking up Sporting good stores, or ask local high schools, colleges where they get their infield supplies.

Diatomaceous earth from an Auto Supply Store is a good substitute for it.  And there is always Google!

How much $?  Let your fingers do the walking, and good luck!!  :-))

Suzi

Suzi - Googling "calcined clay" or "Turface" will get you going and is a great suggestion. However, take care, diatomaceous earth and calcine clay are very different substances with very different horticultural uses. Possibly what you have found at your Auto Supply Store is misnamed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montmorillonite

DWD2.  Don't worry!  I use Turface, and travel 2 hours to get it.  That's the closest source to us. 

I read here and on garden web that many use diatomaceous earth as a substitute.  What is the difference?  Just curious...

Suzi