Didn’t say it was optimal, just said it could be done. Plants grow fine in coarse sand, roots grow right through it unimpeded. Extremely fine silty sand might compact but regular coarse sand won’t. Think builder’s sand. There’s a million better options but it’ll work fine. The media in hydroponics really isn’t important as long as it gets irrigated enough. You can grow in pea gravel, Napa floor-dry, turface pro, lava rock, just about anything that’s mostly inert, really.
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I definitely agree with you on that. I guess I was just thinking that non-inert, chemically reactive sand would yield the best results in terms of growing results, because you’d have the ability to more easily match mineral conditions of the region the plant came from. There’s no reason you can’t do this with soil, either, though… so, the benefit isn’t intrinsic to sand. I just think they’d get the most out of the experiment if they used chemically reactive sand and chased the pH and nutrient issues that arise. I think there is the potential to have some really spectacular results growing a landrace or heirloom from a region of the world with mineral laden, sandy soil and trying to recreate that sands mineral composition
I guess I think the chemical component of the experiment is more interesting than the porosity side of the house.
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Not an experiment if there’s multiple variables.
Those varieties just tolerate local conditions because the plant is extremely hardy and polymorphic. They’ll grow bigger, grow faster, and yield better product under ideal conditions every time.
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This is something I’ve wondered for a long time. There is a lot of ‘bro science’ surrounding some of these concepts, especially when you talk to the local growers. I’ve often wondered if plants flourish in some locales in spite of local conditions instead of because of them.
Though, wouldn’t local conditions automatically be ideal conditions if the local plants evolve in a manner tailored to said conditions?
edit: It was Jamaican growers, originally, that got me interested in the idea that the mineral composition of the soil/sand could somehow imbue the plants with almost metaphysical properties. It isn’t something I necessarily subscribe to, but I find it interesting.
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Not necessarily, no.
A carp can live in water more polluted than other fish, but does that mean it needs pollution to thrive?
No, it’ll be bigger and healthier in better conditions.
A drought tolerant plant does just that. It tolerates. It isn’t ideal.
If I take seeds from a dry plain in Afghanistan and grow them in 5.8pH DWC, the product will be much better than that grown in 8.0+ pH sand.
The whole concept of terroir is sorta flimsy.
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It almost been 5 months had you done this grow yet?
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silica and extra chars to post
Sorry! I just could not resist…
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It was successful!
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