Lava Sand, Red, 8 lb by Soil Mender

I have not had a chance to use yet, but I have a friend that uses it and her Christmas cactus are still blooming

I used this as part of the recipe for Dirt Doctor's Sick Tree Treatment/Amending tender plant's root zone: Mix Lava Sand (2 parts), Greensand (2 parts), Zeolite (2 parts), Cornmeal (1 part), and Dry Molasses (1 part). I poked holes down to the rootzone with a spike and funneled the mixture into the holes. Then applied a foliar monthly (Medina Garrett Juice Pro). This worked well on plants that suffered the winter freeze. Everything is growing and looking green again.

I originally purchased this product to make heat packs. When I got the first bag in the mail, it had a smell of manure and other horticultural implements. First we tried to wash it out, but it never would come out then we realize the very poor manner of rocks and gravel and dusty sand making up this bag. My only alternative was to use it as the advertised product and I poured it over the surface of my outdoor potted plants. These plants had been absolutely ravaged by the local squirrel population, but that stopped the second I threw this stuff on them. Several months have passed since, and no more squirrels have shredded my desert roses trying to bury their acorns. All the other plants around them without this stuff are still being torn to pieces, so I’d ordered more just to test my theory about having something that will finally keep the little jerks out. Strange turn of events, but I thought I’d share my pros and cons.

Great product

Love love this lava soil for my Plumeria plants. Have used it before but couldn't find it till I went into Amazon. It dose help my Hawaiian plants as well as other plants.

The bag was literally 90% gravel and 10% actually sand. The gravel wasn't even close to sand size. I shifted the supposed sand through a 1/8th inch sieve and and 90% was 1/8 or bigger. Ended up crushing the rest myself using a sledgehammer with some paver bricks in a 5 gallon bucket. Save your money, buy a bag of lava rocks from a garden center for around $5 a half cubic foot and crush it yourself. You'll end up with a lot more at a 1/6th of the price they charge for.

The rock dust is easy to apply and it is high quality crushed rock.

I wanted "sand." What I got was the following: 1lb 06 oz granules (marked yellow) 0lb 10.4 oz rocks (marked purple) 0lb 15.4 oz big rocks (marked blue) 6lb Sand (marked red) This means approximately 2 lbs of my 8 lb bag was not sand. So 25% of my order was not at all what I wanted. Also, I used 3 different strainers to get these damn rocks sorted out. I can't tell you how many sharp little rocks I stepped on during this process. I also did it by hand. I hope this breakdown of information is helpful to someone.