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Topic: WARNING TO SHROOM
FARMERS (Read 167 times) |
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rick
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WARNING TO SHROOM
FARMERS
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on: May 13th, 2002, 10:41pm
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I went to a Home Depot today
searching for vermiculite. They carry
Scotts brand gardening products. I was told
by an employee that Scotts discontinued
vermiculite as a product about a year ago, and he
didn't know why. So they didn't carry any
brand of vermiculite, which I thought was a
little odd, with Home Depot being the world's
most obnoxiously oversized (but cheap) chain of
stores on the planet.
So I
went to my local True Value, the little guy of
the home improvement stores. No vermiculite
there either, they didn't carry it at all.
So I went to this giant garden center
that carries absolutely everything plant related
under the sun. I asked three employees
working near each other if they carry
vermiculite. They all turn to me and one of
them says "No, it's not produced any more because
it causes cancer". Huh? "Yeah," says
the next one, "you don't want to handle the
stuff". Oh? "It has asbestos in it"
says the third.
I left it at
that, I really didn't want to explain to them
that I had CH and was trying to grow shrooms.
Does anyone else out there
know of this? I've found these links to
start:
http://www.vermiculite.net/
http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/asbestos/verm.htm
http://www.epa.gov/oppt/asbestos/insulation.htm
Many of the links from the EPA
will not show up on my Mac, unfortunately.
I am concerned for all out their who have
been using vermiculite to produce substrate.
It is apparently not available where I
live, but I hope everyone else takes notice of
this and uses caution.
Sensei
Pinky: Is their an alternative subtrate
that can be made into cakes for the PF Tek
method? Can you use perlite in place of
vermiculite?
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pinksharkmark
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Re: WARNING TO SHROOM
FARMERS
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Reply #1 on: May 14th, 2002,
1:21pm |
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Quote:
| So I went to this giant
garden center that carries absolutely everything
plant related under the sun. I asked three
employees working near each other if they carry
vermiculite. They all turn to me and one of
them says "No, it's not produced any more because
it causes cancer". Huh? "Yeah," says
the next one, "you don't want to handle the
stuff". Oh? "It has asbestos in it"
says the third. |
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Sigh. I thought this foolishness
had finally been put to bed. I know that certain
WalMart stores in some areas had stopped carrying
vermiculite a year or two ago because of this
rumor, but I was unaware others had jumped on the
bandwagon. Let's look at this one point at a
time.
1) Vermiculite does NOT
cause cancer. It is NOT asbestos, it is a mineral
related to mica. If you were working in a
vermiculite mine or in a processing plant,
though, you would probably want to wear a filter
to keep from breathing in a lot of it, just as
you would if you were working in a cement plant
or a textile plant or any other dusty
environment. If you are just using it in your
garden or for your houseplants, there is no need.
It's just dust.
2) Vermiculite
most certainly IS still being produced. There was
a vermiculite mine in the US that was shut down
over ten years ago because the mine contained
traces of asbestos along with the vermiculite.
But the ones at risk were the miners, not those
who bought the vermiculite produced in that mine.
The actual amounts of asbestos mixed in with the
vermiculite were extremely small. But it is a
moot point anyway, since there has been no
vermiculite available from that mine for over a
decade.
3) Even asbestos doesn't
cause health problems unless it is INHALED over
lengthy periods of time... typically decades.
Just touching it won't give you problems. Again a
moot point since scores of tests by everyone from
the EPA to the OSHA to consumer groups to ...
well, you name it... have proven over and over
again that the vermiculite sold by ALL of the
mines in the world which currently produce
vermiculite is completely free of asbestos. Not
even trace amounts. Zero. Zip. Nada.
This vermiculite shortage is a
regional thing, anyway. For some reason it seems
certain regional managers of certain big chains
have not received the news that there is NO
PROBLEM WHATSOEVER, which has made life difficult
for horticulturists, but vermiculite is still
being sold in most areas of the US. You may have
to order online if every supplier in your area
has succumbed to this urban legend. There are
dozens of online suppliers who provide it. Or,
maybe telephone a relative in another area and
get them to ship some to you.
As
for substituting perlite for vermiculite: not
really possible. It sort of works, but not really
well. Perlite will hold water, true, but it also
gives it up into the air far too readily (which
is why it is ideal for a passive humidification
system), so dehydration of your cakes is a very
real issue. Also, perlite is pure white... as
white as the mycelium itself, so it is almost
impossible to monitor the growth of the mycelium.
My advice -- get some vermiculite
shipped in and don't worry about it.
pinky
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| « Last Edit:
May 14th, 2002, 1:26pm by
pinksharkmark |
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rick
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Re: WARNING TO SHROOM
FARMERS
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Reply #2 on: May 14th, 2002,
5:23pm |
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Thanks. Sorry if that was a
false alarm then. I did find some available
online last night, and at that point I was
thinking WTF is going on  ?
I was concerned about
whether or not to trust the first link that I
gave. Thanks for the clear up Pink.
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Elizabeth
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I am me.... I am the best
ME there is!
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Re: WARNING TO SHROOM
FARMERS
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Reply #3 on: May 14th, 2002,
9:44pm |
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hmmmm.... I bought a 4 foot tall
bag of medium grade vermiculite just 2 weeks
ago... great for gardening! Also was in Home
Depot today - they had lots of vermiculite
available.
Just FYI....
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You seem to go out of your way to try to
make me feel like a complete idiot every time I
see you...and you really needn't bother. I
already feel like an idiot most of the time
anyway. |
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rick
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Re: WARNING TO SHROOM
FARMERS
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Reply #4 on: May 15th, 2002,
12:06am |
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Elizabeth-
I see
from your bio that you live in Wisconson. I
live in Chicago, so this is odd. Maybe I
just need to cross the border for a vermiculite
run.
I would think a
corporate chain like Home Depot would have some
form of communication to straighten something
like this out, but oh well. I might just
order some on line, since I trekked around the
city yesterday to find nothing.
Thanks,
-Rick
P.S. I did pick up some dirt cheap plants
for my deck there yesterday. I guess it
wasn't a total waste
 .
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