# Laterite instead of clay



## Big-Ken (Apr 30, 2012)

I am almost done mineralizing my soil and I am planning to use laterite instead of clay and I'm not sure if you use the same 5-10% of your soil like the clay, I have searched and found nothing. Anyone with experience using laterite I would appreciate your input


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Laterite is a type of clay, formed in tropical regions where most of the mineral nutrients are leached out by rainfall. Typically, laterite has firm, solid structure like soft rock or gravel, and is the major (only?) ingredient in SeaChem's Flourite.

It shares a high CEC with other clays, but not the fine particles of the pottery clay recommended for MTS. I don't know if this is important or not. I've mixed it with MTS and used it as a cap for MTS with good results.


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## Big-Ken (Apr 30, 2012)

I would assume with the high Fe content and high CEC ability it would be as good if not better than red clay, albeit considerable more expensive, the only thing I see you would be missing is the binding ability of the clay to help everything settle out when disturbed


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

Crush it up into a powder and mix it in the same volume as the potting clay. I've used it instead and it works just fine.


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