Would this be ok as a growing medium for Hibiscus.

[davidwood]

I discovered something today that came as a bit of a shock, now for a long time I have been unhappy with the coco soil or anything I get here in Vietnam,it has been a real struggle and allways wondered why down at the garden shop they get such good results with there plants, well I find out that what I thought was soil they use isn't soil. The other day i picked it up and it felt like ash, so today i took a girl to translate and find out exactly.

Well it is ash, nearby is a factory that process rice, over here they just eat white, so all the husks and waste from the plant is stripped of and then burnt, what you are left with is this black light weight soil like looking substance.
I bought a big sack of it for 1 dollar and brought it home, I tested it for drainage and its fine. Do you think it would be good for my Hibs? and what if any goodness is likely to be in it, like I say they get wonderful blooms on the stuff they sell.
I also noticed with some of there plants they had mixed it with clay and sand.
I did ask this question on another forum and the answer I got is below, I certainly hope this is correct because like I say its been a constant struggle.

It is likely to be just fine, assuming the pH is suitable for hibiscus.

Depending on how the waste is burned, the substance may be very much like terra preta, which has many of the good properties of soil organic matter, including moisture holding capacity and a high cation exchange capacity (the ability of the soil to hold certain nutrients, but release them to plants).

Terra preta is also called 'biochar.' It's behaves as stable soil organic matter (humus), as far as the plants are concerned.
Source(s):
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/200…

[Charlie]

Rice hulls (composted, not burned) are becoming more popular as an ingredient in potting mixes. It's cheap and seems to work well. I've never used it so can't share any experience. Burned ones - well, maybe so - potash, originally derived from hardwood ash and which contains a lot of potassium, is used to make fertilizers.

I think when you are living in a place like Vietnam you won't go too wrong by copying what is working for the locals. But, you have to copy exactly what they do because details can make all the difference. You can always experiment with your own recipes, too, but I doubt you want to risk valuable hibiscus hybrids until you are pretty confident you have it right.

It's interesting, please let us know if you try it out.

Charlie

[davidwood]

Thanks Charlie, and I for sure will try it out, I am hoping I have finally found a solution to my problems, I have lost about 10cv's because of the potting mix and over the weekend the cv's I have which are just not growing will be re-potted.

[davidwood]

Well I am happy to say that growing in this burnt rice medium is doing ok. Charlie you said   ''I think when you are living in a place like Vietnam you won't go too wrong by copying what is working for the locals. But, you have to copy exactly what they do because details can make all the difference ''.
  Now I have been and done a bit of investigating and they add at a rate of 33% dried cow pats, they crush the cow manure and with the rice husks that is there soilless potting mix.

My question is do you think it is a good idea to have manure in the potting mix, is that ok for Hibiscus.

[Charlie]

David, I know that there are people out there that do this. In your situation you have fertilizer that gives your hibiscus a much more exact match of what they need than is supplied by manure. The locals probably do not access to fertilizers and need to add the organic matter to provide nitrogen. How about an experiment using some of your cuttings from one variety. Try one with and one without the manure and see what happens.

Charlie

[davidwood]

Thanks Charles, I was sort of thinking that myself, also if the manure is of the standard of the cows here it wont be up to much, I have seen more meat on a Labradore.

[Charlie]

 

Charlie