Anybody using ALPACA poop?

And what might be ways to substitute for vermiculite in Ecuador? There is no such thing here, but maybe their common empty rice hulls will suffice to create more air in the soil ...? I'm new and overwhelmed!

Wow, Alpaca poop, that is probably some good stuff. I don't know for certain but if it is fresh I would put it in your compost pile and let it compost for quite a while before using it. If it is already aged, and I don't know how long it would need to be aged for, then you might be good to go. However I will defer those more experienced to confirm my hypothesis.

Please note that I am not advocating using other than MM in most situations. However, if you can't get all the ingredients you have to do the best you can.

As for vermiculite substitutes, rice hulls will absolutely work, but you will need more of them. If you search the posts you will see pics of vermiculite to give you an idea of how big it is. The prebagged mix, which is not MM, that I use has rice hulls and it does aerate the soil and help keep in moisture. It is not a perfect solution, but if you can't get vermiculite then I would say to use it. I am guessing that it would still be a 1/3+1/3+1/3 mix.

You will get a lot of good advice on this board. Everyone is very friendly and helpful. Good luck on your garden!

God bless

Jennie

That is too funny! I know lots of people are totally freaked out by snakes, but if they aren't poisonous I don't mind them too much. We actually have one, maybe two in our yard that we've named Victor and Victoria. Victoria is the larger one, so we assume maybe the mom. Victor is a little baby garden snake that I scared when starting weeding this spring. Instead of panicking I ran into the house to get my camera and spent the next hour trying to get good pictures of this little snake. All he wanted was to get away from me! If I could get Victor to take up residence in the strawberry box that would be great, but I don't think it will happen.

CasaEncantada wrote:And what might be ways to substitute for vermiculite in Ecuador? There is no such thing here, but maybe their common empty rice hulls will suffice to create more air in the soil ...? I'm new and overwhelmed!

Here is a link to a thread that started off talking about Alpaca Poo!

https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t4076-what-is-your-most-thoughtful-gardening-gift-ever

TC

We have a couple of llamas and their poo is in rather high demand. Unlike ruminants such as cows that have messy "leavings", llama and alpaca poo is in pellet form and very easy to work with. Even better, they leave it in piles which makes for easy gathering. I have never burned anything when using it fresh. Having said that, I like to compost it first so it is clean smelling and more sanitary.

If you let the pellets sit very long, they will get dry and hard (well, in dry, eastern-Washington they do). I have a pile right now that are in a big garbage can soaking in water to re-hydrate them so I can add them to the compost pile. You can also make a "tea" with that water and use it on your plants.

Lucky you to have access to alpaca poo. I hope it works out well for you!

Elaine