Horticultural Vermiculite
Horticultural Vermiculite for gardening is ideal for seed starting & plant propagation. It provides superb aeration and moisture retention when mixed with peat, bark, or compost. It enhances water retention, binds nutrients, and facilitates nutrient exchange. Vermiculite is used as a soil amendment to promote better aeration & root growth or as a component in synthetic planting media. It’s perfect for storing begonia, canna, caladium, and dahlia bulbs before planting.
We supply high-quality aggregate vermiculite for garden or potted plants, indoors and outdoors, grading from very fine to coarse, our horticultural vermiculite can meet all-purpose organic gardening activities.
Benefits of Adding Vermiculite to the Soil
- Enhance drainage —Vermiculite for gardening acts like a sponge, holding moisture close to the roots of plants.
- Improves aeration — It loosens the soil so roots can more easily reach down and grow through the soil.
- Natural conditioner — Vermiculite naturally reacts with soil to release essential nutrients such as calcium, potassium, and magnesium.
- Slightly raises pH — Vermiculite is pH neutral, around 7.0 or so, but because of some compounds found within it, it can slightly raise pH, a plus for acidic soils.
- Better drainage — Porosity of vermiculite allows excess water to drain away from roots, this can help prevent mildew.
Available particle sizes of vermiculite
Vermiculite is commercially available in various grain sizes. The most common sizes are 1-3mm, 2-4mm, 3-6mm, and 3-8mm. For mixing your own substrates of growing media, the grain size 3-6mm is recommended. The grain size 1-3mm (or 2-4mm) can be used as a soil conditioner. Germinating seeds with vermiculite using the finer grain size.
Furthermore, there is vermiculite in very fine grain size (0-1mm). This plays only a minor role in horticulture and is mostly used in the breeding of reptiles as a breeding substrate.
Using Vermiculite for Gardening and Landscape
Vermiculite has been used in gardening and commercial horticulture worldwide since the early 1960’s to improve soil aeration while retaining moisture. Vermiculite has a high cation exchange capacity (CEC), which means that it holds on to added nutrients to feed plants, cuttings, and seeds, for faster and optimum growth.
Soil Amendment
Use around 1/3 to 1/2 vermiculite in your potting soil for containers or when building your raised beds, or improve your garden soil by adding it in the spring with your other soil amendments and compost. The vermiculite will drastically improve the soil’s aeration, allowing plants to grow much better. It will also retain the necessary moisture and nutrients to help feed the plant.
Germinating Seeds with Vermiculite
Use vermiculite alone or mixed with soil or peat for seed germination. This will allow seeds to germinate more rapidly. If vermiculite is used alone, add only a small amount of water so as not to overwhelm the seeds. Once the plants germinate, it is important to add a weak fertilizer solution. When the seedlings are ready to be planted outside, they can easily be removed from the vermiculite without damage to the roots.
Use Vermiculite for Grass Seeding
It is especially helpful when you add vermiculite to heavy clay soils with poor drainage before planting grass. Vermiculite also improves the water retention of sandy soils that dry out quickly. It adds magnesium and potassium to the soil and holds positively charged cations — such as dissolved fertilizer nutrients — releasing them to plants over time.
Before planting grass, add 3 cubic feet of vermiculite into every 100 square feet of garden space. After spreading grass seeds on the surface of the soil, you can cover them evenly with about a one-quarter inch layer of vermiculite and then water the area thoroughly to speed up germination. For very heavy clay soil, you can add even more vermiculite at a rate up to one-half of the existing soil volume.
Rooting Cuttings
Vermiculite is commonly used by those in the gardening trade to root cuttings. It can be used in various ways, either used alone, mixed with soil, or combined with bark for a soilless potting mixture. Whether used alone, or in a mix, propagating a cutting with vermiculite will promote anchorage for new roots, and speed up root growth. If you want to encourage a more rapidly rooting cutting and a higher propagation success rate, vermiculite is the preferred material to use (The Vermiculite Association).
Transplanting Plant
To transplant using vermiculite, dig a hole several inches larger than the plant roots. Fill in with a mix of vermiculite and the removed topsoil. Then, you need to position the root ball in place and fill the hole with more vermiculite and topsoil. This will help to control moisture levels and improve aeration around the roots, thereby allowing for greater root spread.
Vermiculite for Flowers Arrangement
Use vermiculite in flower arrangements by filling the vase/container with vermiculite, pouring water over it, and add in your cut flowers. This eliminates the need to change the water, eliminates spills, and keeps blooms fresh for the day.
Vermiculite for Storing Bulbs for Winter
For plants that need to be overwintered indoors, vermiculite offers an easy storage solution that will keep the bulbs or root systems in their best condition.
- First, allow bulbs or root to dry for several hours after being removed from the ground.
- Then fill a container with vermiculite and tuck in your bulbs or roots.
- Place upside down in dry vermiculite discourages sprouting midwinter.
- Be sure to cover them completely so they don’t dry out.
The vermiculite will prevent rooting, which is a common problem for stored bulbs. It has absorption properties that will keep excess moisture away from the plant without stealing any of the plant’s own stored moisture.
Vermiculite is used similarly to perlite, pumice, biochar, and rice hulls. Each has its own pros and cons, and they can be used in combination to get the most benefits. Compared to these other soil amendments, vermiculite is best for areas and plants that require plenty of moisture, as it has the best water retention. It is not as good at aerating as perlite, so for heavy soils, you should use perlite instead or in combination. Since it doesn’t break down like rice hulls, it is good if you want the benefits to last multiple seasons with a single application. Give your plants some vermiculite and grow organic for life!
Horticultural Vermiculite Manufacturer in China
Being a mineral product manufacturing company which, locates in Lingshou County, Hebei Province of mainland China, MiningValleys has the advantages of rich non-metallic mineral resources, including Vermiculite, Mica, Quartz, Granite and Marble such rock minerals.
We offer a full range of vermiculite products, such as Crude Vermiculite Ore, Exfoliated Vermiculite, Vermiculite Flakes, Golden Vermiculite, and Silver-white Vermiculite, available in a wide variety of grades and sizes. They are widely used in various fields of industry, agriculture, and construction. Horticultural Vermiculite for gardening is the featured products and exported to over 30 countries, mainly the USA, Canada Mexica, Germany, France, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, etc.
