The benefits of pumice in gardening.

What is Pumice?

Pumice is a great soil amendment to use in your garden for moisture regulation and aeration. It is a mined, igneous, volcanic rock product. It is created from volcanic eruptions, making the magma frothy. If it cools rapidly, the bubbles will become trapped in the resulting rock.

Unlike other volcanic rock products for the garden, like vermiculite and perlite, it is ready to use straight out of the earth, no industrial treatments required!

It is understandable to wonder what is Pumice used for when gardening and how to use it properly. This mineral rock is very common, but who would think to use it for planting and gardening? This unique stone is a favorite and has many uses and a lot of history.

During this blog, I will dive into what this stone is and how to use it in the garden. You will learn about the many ways you can use a Pumice stone and where to find them! These decorative pieces also spark color and shine into your yards!

Advantages to Adding Pumice to Your Garden.

Pumice contains very few trace minerals, and does not break down. Instead of adding nutrients, pumice improves soil structure.

Loosens heavy soil. It also keeps the soil from compacting, even when laden with water, thereby improving aeration.

Improve drainage in any kind of soil, and prevents soil from becoming waterlogged even in heavy rains or excessive irrigation.

Fine grained and retains excess moisture within its porous structure. It acts like a sponge, holding water until the plants need it. Then it releases that water steadily into the soil. Its unique structure can reduce your garden’s watering needs by up to 35%.

Pumice is also useful as an attractive, long lasting, and beneficial mulch.

How to Use Pumice in the Soil?

Adding as little as 10% pumice to any garden soil mix is enough to see the benefits.

For succulents, use this for up to half of your potting soil media.

You can use it straight out of the bag, or you can saturate it with nutrients and beneficial microbes first, a process called activating or supercharging. To activate your pumice, simply soak it in a nutrient solution such as compost tea for at least 24 hours before mixing it into your garden soil.

Comparison to Other Soil Amendments.

Perlite, vermiculite, biochar, rice hulls, and coco coir all are used for similar purposes as pumice, and they each have their advantages and disadvantages compared to pumice.

Pumice is slightly heavier than perlite, so it won’t float to the surface of your soil over time.

It is just as good as perlite for water-sensitive plants like succulents and cacti.

Does not retain as much water as vermiculite.

It also doesn’t decompose like coir and rice hulls do.

3 Ways To Use Pumice In Your Garden

There are more than three ways to use Pumice in your garden and plants, but the three ways listed below are the most common and beneficial to plants!

How do you mix pumice with soil?

1. Decoration

Although these stones are common, they are still beautiful! Want a nice decoration that adds a pop of color and sparkle to your life? You should not be afraid to decorate your home and yard with Pumice. I recommend adding it near your planters to add the sparkle.

Since the stone is smooth, you can also decorate it with paint and drawings! Always use a brush though that you won’t use again with any other material. The sharp shards and minerals in the rock sparkle and are great if you want to add this shine to your own home. Even in cactus pots, the beauty shines through.

2. Fertilizer

Still interested in knowing What is Pumice Used for When Gardening? Not only can you decorate your home and yard with pumice, but you can also use it as a fertilizer. There are a lot of nutrients in this one rock that are perfect for plants that require well-draining soil!

You can either make your own fertilizer out of the stone or simply buy a product in the gardening section that uses high concentrations of Pumice. It is important to know What is Pumice Used for When Gardening, since it is a versatile volcanic stone with lots of uses!

Is pumice good for vegetable garden?

You can either purchase the rocks or a processed fine powder. Either way, they both have high concentrations of magnesium, potassium, and iron. The fertilizer though does not work right away, the stone needs to break down into the soil to provide the roots nutrients.

3. Compost

Do you have a compost system and don’t know What is Pumice Used for When Gardening? You are in luck, you can use this mighty stone for compost! For example, if there are any leftover in your home after a large project, you can add them to your compost bin.

These stones break down easily and once they break down, secrete various minerals and vitamins into the compost. This makes a strong fertilizer that you can use in your plants or gift away to other gardening friends.