Expanded Shale/Growing Media

[Adam Blanton]

I wanted to give expanded shale a try for my growing medium. I know TXI has a plant in/near the DWF area so I figure there have to be some places in and around the area that carry shale.

Anyone have any luck finding some around the Austin area? I've tried Natural Gardner, they usually have it in bulk but have been out of it for some time and have no ETA for their next shipment.

Just curious if anyone has has any luck finding some nearby or has any suggestions, please let me know!

Thanks!

[Rick Op]

It's $110 a yard in Houston, and $63 in Ft Worth so you could expect to pay something in between. 8-)

Hang in there, it's worth it. I like how it gets "lighter" when submerged, each flood cycle giving the worms wiggle room.

 

Texans, we can start a list in this thread...

 

HOUSTON SW: Living Earth, Richmond  281-342-6113

[Adam Blanton]

Rick,

 

Thank you for the info!

 

I've got family in Houston and Dallas, if I can't find any here I'll grab some next time I'm visiting!

 

 

Rick Op said:

It's $110 a yard in Houston, and $63 in Ft Worth so you could expect to pay something in between. 8-)

Hang in there, it's worth it. I like how it gets "lighter" when submerged, each flood cycle giving the worms wiggle room.

 

Texans, we can start a list in this thread...

 

HOUSTON SW: Living Earth, Richmond  281-342-6113

[Martin Ridge]

Closest I have found is Houston @ 100/yard. Dallas has it for 63/yard. I have been looking to make a trip to pick up a yard. If we can get a few people together we might be able to have a larger delivery placed near us and defray the transportation cost. I have a small outfit that could get it delivered just west of Bastrop on Hwy 71. Let me know who would be interested and I will get price per yard to their location.

[Rick Op]

Good idea. You could stick a mention in the Buy/Sell pages here and maybe get some more input. Would seem a shame to truck up from Houston what was trucked down from DFW (and that transport already in the price!).

 

The product I got did need some screening to remove the smaller bits - but those are still excellent soil amendment. If you can't get it pre-graded at the source, put the fines up for sale after you fill your growbeds. About a 3/8 to 1/2 inch screen is pretty good in my experience.

 

Rick

[Eldon Stanford]

i went the tanl show in dallas . there other plant in texas the make expandshale 1  is vitalearth resoures in gladewater  tx   2 other ill  find after idig  other supplers  after digin thru all literature that have to to dig thur there # is [903] 8452183 . i live in austin also we might to buy aload from them and have shipped to my  ranch in hutto in bulk and pallets

[Martin Ridge]

I have a guy looking into the cost for there rockshop to carry the expanded shale. I hope to stop in and visit with him first week of sept. I will let everyone know what I find out. Thanks Eldon for the heads up. look forward to hearing from you too.

 

[Adam Blanton]

A small update for some Austin area suppliers:

 

I found some bagged expanded shale @ the great outdoors for $10/40LB bag. The shale was much smaller than I expected and we ended up using it around our yard and in some potted plants.

 

Natural Gardner has the bagged EX Shale for much cheaper, however they appear to be the same small sized pieces that the great outdoors had. Last time I checked, they still had no ETA for the shale in their bulk section.

 

I ended up putting hydroton in my media bed for now and it's working out well. If anyone does find a vendor that has shale at a reasonable price and size I'd still be interested for future projects. I haven't been looking quite as much since I filled up my bed with hydroton.

[Sandy Mathieu]

 

The correct size of the expanded shale is the larger 3/4" material. We buy it by the truckload then sift out the small stuff and sell it 100 lb bags for $25. This stuff is used for special road construction, so most landscape suppliers do not carry it. We are located in the woodlands area of houston. We have several grow beds running with the material. Here is a link to the product with a picture.

http://www.greenlifeaquaponics.com/aquaponics-grow-media-expanded-s...

[Martin Ridge]

I now have a local Bastrop rock supplier willing to buy a 36 yard truckload. The size is 3/8" to 1/2" sifted @ 125.00 a yard. He is holding the order until I give the word that we have interested parties in the area @ this price.

[RW]

For those in the DFW area and possibly beyond. I called TXI and spoke with an understanding salesperson. Good news is they have 1/2" shale. They sent me a sample and it's exactly what I'm looking for. Bad news is they need to sell a big quantity to make it worth their while. Wanted to sell me 10 yards - although i could probably talk them down to 5 yards. Another requirement was they could only deliver to a commercial address with room for an 18 wheeler.  I going to try talking to Living Earth to see if they're interested. I could use 1 yard. Anyone have connections in the area with a commercial address this kind of quantity could be delivered to and want in?

[Rick Op]

RW said:

For those in the DFW area and possibly beyond. I called TXI and spoke with an understanding salesperson. Good news is they have 1/2" shale. They sent me a sample and it's exactly what I'm looking for. Bad news is they need to sell a big quantity to make it worth their while. Wanted to sell me 10 yards - although i could probably talk them down to 5 yards. Another requirement was they could only deliver to a commercial address with room for an 18 wheeler.  I going to try talking to Living Earth to see if they're interested. I could use 1 yard. Anyone have connections in the area with a commercial address this kind of quantity could be delivered to and want in?

Good to have a quantity identified - the Houston aquapons have been talking to TXI/DiamondPro for a few years now, and while the TXI "TX Dept of Transportation Grade" expanded shale seemed like just the thing, we knew it would take a BIG order to get some diverted from the "Highway Aggregate" stream.
Rene is usually who answers the phone in Dallas for TXI for the DiamondPro (turf and soil) inquiries.
I am not in your area, RW, but anyone considering a mass order can count me in for AT LEAST two yards of 1/2 inch graded. And we are gaining enough numbers that almost any tri-county area could probably work up a 10-yard-or-more order.
This is what 5 Yards of Expanded Shale looks like, Un-Graded. It turns into I guess 3.5 or a bit more of Aquaponic-graded media, plus some nice soil amendment (and/or part of a superb container growing mix)...


Close Up...

[Norman]

I would take a couple of yards.