Turface - mostly for USAians, I guess . . .

. . . because I have no idea if Turface or any of its clones are available anywhere else.

Anyway . . . I went to my nearest dealer (22 miles) and bought several bags of Turface today to help repair my driveway. The soil in my yard has not dried a whit since 2 weeks before Christmas. Most of the time it's been buried under soft, mushy snow that re-froze every night. Our circular drive is a slimy, slippery mud puddle.

But several bags of turface spread over the drive seems to have helped a lot (freezing rain predicted tomorrow afternoon through Saturday, so we'll see).

Anyway, I held back a couple of bags for bonsai use (the bags were $12.50 for 50 pounds). I'd been getting Turface MVP, but he was out and I got Turface All-Sport instead, and I'm gad I did. The granules are a bit larger, and it is a nice dirt brown color. I'd recommend it over Turface MVP.

I've been using turface MVP for quite a while now and like it a lot. I sieve the 50# bags to remove the minus 1/8" particles, and I usually lose at least half the bag (volume). There are lots of pond people around here who like the minus 1/8" for water planting so it doesn't go to waste. I never sieve for a maximum particle size as what is left works well for me. I don't like MVP alone for soil - my trees don't seem to like it...but when I mix it in varying proportions and particle sizes with fir bark, granite and sometimes even dried peat (depending on the usage and tree) it works well. I fertilize pretty heavily and I don't see any buildup, and even though my local water has high levels of calcium the seasonal rains always clear it away quickly. I have wanted to try the darker color stuff but so far haven;t had the opportunity yet. I am happy to hear that the darker color is better as that is what I was hoping for. I buy 50# bags Near San Jose CA for about $7.50/bag. The stuff is indestructible unless you grind it to powder and is quite porous. So far I have been able to re-cycle it if I sieve out decayed organic particles (again minus 1/8") - and then I have been sterilizing it. I use a pottery kiln to sterilize (with computer controller and fan exhaust) as doing it inside in an oven can be smelly for several hours (I usually sterilize at 175F so that I don't burn remaining +1/8" organics). I hope this helps.

G'day Tim...

What is your source for Turface?

Pat…mounted on my trusted stead, riding off wildly in all directions…

JimLewis wrote: I got Turface All-Sport instead, and I'm gad I did. The granules are a bit larger, and it is a nice dirt brown color. I'd recommend it over Turface MVP.

That's interesting indeed! I as well, thought the all sport was finer and had been using MVP all along. I wonder if their pictures aren't as backwards on their site?

bonsaistud wrote:

What is your source for Turface?

Turface and its clones are sold in the USA under many different names.

You can find the nearest Turface dealer here: http://turface.com/distributors

You can find the nearest Mule Mix dealer here: http://www.mulemix.com/distributors.html

Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Lowes and many other garden supply stores sell Schultz products. Look for (or order) the Schultz Aquatic Plant Soil.

Terra-Green Pro's Choice is made by the same folks that make Oil-Dri, but it is a Turface clone and used for baseball infields. You can find dealers (via e-mail) and even get a sample, maybe, here: http://www.proschoice1.com/contact.html

MUCH better than oil-dri, whch can be somewhat inconsistent as relates to mushiness..

Click on the soil conditioner link at the top of the page to get more info on it.

I've used this "Schultz Aquatic Plant Soil" seemed to work fine but I can't seem to find it in larger bags. I just lucked into 2 big bags of Akadama For about $15 bucks... HOOT!

I know this topic had flown around the forum a ton of times so, please forgive my redundancy.

I have oil dry (not sure the brand as I type) I'd like to cut my Akadama with this to stretch it out. What negative(potentially harmful) ingredients should I look for on the bag if any?

-joe

I have oil dry (not sure the brand as I type) I'd like to cut my Akadama with this to stretch it out. What negative(potentially harmful) ingredients should I look for on the bag if any?

Some bags of Oil-Dri turn to mush quickly when watered. Others don't. They're very inconsistent. I know of no way to eyeball a handful and know what it will do. You have to pour a bit in a pail of water and let it sit for a couple of weeks. Good stuff will still be hard and sharp; bad stuff will have dissolved.

Some folks swear by Akadama. I've not used it.

Very good JIm, Thank you.

bonsaistud and all - sorry for the delay in replying, I just talked with my local dealer for Turface... Sierra Pacific Turf Supply located in Campbell CA just down the road from Fry's on 510 Salmar Ave. Closed weekends. (800) 827 8873 - ask for sales. Turface MVP is available for $12.12/50# bag in single bag lots. Quite a bit more than when I last bought it. I asked about a product reported to be called Turface AllSport which I have read is screened to larger particle sizes than MVP and is a darker color. This sales office has no knowledge of such a product and cannot order it. I was told there is a product called Turface ProLeague which is available in a darker brown (than MVP) and also grey, but was also told that the particle size is smaller than MVP. So confusion reigns but I guess I will stick with MVP for now. Almost all my trees are budding, very early this year (Japanese maples, Tridents, Crab Apples, etcetc.) so I am running around trying to catch up on repotting. Regards all!

Turface Allsport is sold by John Deere stores and is the same as MVP. I have had both and they are identical. You get probably 40% usuable after sifting.

timatkinson wrote:bonsaistud and all - sorry for the delay in replying, I just talked with my local dealer for Turface... Sierra Pacific Turf Supply located in Campbell CA just down the road from Fry's on 510 Salmar Ave. Closed weekends. (800) 827 8873 - ask for sales. Turface MVP is available for $12.12/50# bag in single bag lots. Quite a bit more than when I last bought it. I asked about a product reported to be called Turface AllSport which I have read is screened to larger particle sizes than MVP and is a darker color. This sales office has no knowledge of such a product and cannot order it. I was told there is a product called Turface ProLeague which is available in a darker brown (than MVP) and also grey, but was also told that the particle size is smaller than MVP. So confusion reigns but I guess I will stick with MVP for now. Almost all my trees are budding, very early this year (Japanese maples, Tridents, Crab Apples, etcetc.) so I am running around trying to catch up on repotting. Regards all!

Very true , I went the same place & asked about (all sport), sales person has no clue about it (he is a very nice guy though ),the only other thing they have in stuck was another one (forgot the name but same brand , Turface)which has a green color and same size as MVP, I checked the Turface's website , no sign of all sport there either .
Cheers Mehrdad

Well, maybe it is a newer product and they haven't updated the web site. My John Deere dealer from whom I bought 6 bags last week had about 400 bags of All Sport in stock -- and no MVP. I used 3 of the bags to dry out my soggy-from-too-much-melted-snow driveway.

And comparing bags (the partial of MVP I had and one of the All-Sport, All-spot had considerably more larger particles than the MVP; I only winnow out the dust, so I won't know how much the fines take up, but id seems much coarser to me.

I called the makers of Turface directly and spoke to a rep who told me Allsport was MVP packaged specifically for John Deere. I have noticed a great variation of particle size in both the Allsport and the MVP depending on the bag. I use the finest screen of a standard 3 screen set to sift out the fines and like I said get about 40% 1/8 inch or so particles.

by Paul Landis on Tue Feb 09, 2010 11:09 pm

I called the makers of Turface directly and spoke to a rep who told me Allsport was MVP packaged specifically for John Deere.

That's good to know. Thanks.

Paul Landis wrote:I use the finest screen of a standard 3 screen set to sift out the fines and like I said get about 40% 1/8 inch or so particles.

... and that is about what I get also. My waste (if we can call it that) get used in the garage (excellent oil dry ) but most of it gets thrown in to my growing beds.