A blog for lovers of succulents and cacti


Review — Garden Pumice (General Pumice Products)

Pumice is one of the best soil additives to use when planting succulents and cacti. It absorbs and holds the right amount of water and nutrients, while creating space for aeration and fast drainage. Pumice can be better than perlite as an additive, because it doesn’t have the same tendency to separate out of the soil and float or rise to the top during watering.

Filtered / sifted Consistent in size

I got 1/8″ garden pumice from General Pumice Products, but they also have it available in other sizes. It’s been sifted for uniform size and consistency, which is ideal for use in soil mixes and when using small containers. There was some dust as a result of the stones rubbing together from handling. It is usually unnecessary, but you could rinse it off before using it in clear containers.

Pumice can be an ideal potting medium for terrariums or planters that don’t have drainage.

Useful by itself, or as a soil additive.

This tiny succulent was in worse condition and nearly dead before switching it over to pumice. I can actually see that I’m not leaving the roots too wet. 

soil pumice mix

For most of my potting needs, I typically add 1 part pumice for every 1 part cactus palm and citrus blend soil. I’m sure this pumice will also work great when I start making gritty mixes for cacti and lithops.

Used as top dressing

It can offer higher contrast, making some plants and pots more visibility appealing. It also adds a little bit of weight to help keep small shallow rooted plants in place.

Available on Amazon when I couldn’t find it anywhere locally

After reading other blogs and watching YouTube videos touting the benefits of pumice I went to hunt some down. I had looked for garden pumice at the usual big-box store garden centers, and checked several small nurseries, but none of them sold pumice. I read pages of reviews for pumice from different suppliers—because that’s the kind of guy I am—and General Pumice Products was one of the highest rated. All the previous purchasers gave nothing but positive feedback. With General Pumice Products I got exactly what I expected, top notch on quantity and quality.

Affordable and Shipped quicker than expected

The pumice wasn’t an Amazon Prime eligible product, so I thought I’d be waiting at least two weeks for delivery. Even without free shipping, the 15 lb. bag from General Pumice Products came out to about the same price as much smaller bags from other brands. I was stoked when it showed up in just 6 days, especially when the original shipping estimate was 10 days—I had plant’s that I’d removed from their pots in order to deal with root rot and fungus before I ordered, and it showed up right on time to get them back into the pots.

I highly recommend this product if you are looking for pumice for succulents and cacti. I got it on Amazon here.

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