Hi all, just wondering were do you get your preferred propagating sand from?

any particular brand?

or DIY recipe?

Use any landscaping or bricklaying sand. River sand is ok but bricklaying sand has varying size particles and does the job well.

I use Nepean River Sand (I suspect that this is a Sydney thing as the Nepean is a NSW river) which is actually a bricklayers product and has various sized particles. I get a 20kg bag for $5 at my local Mitre 10, only annoying thing is it tends to need to be seived and washed, but it's good for the price.

dose the bricklayer / landscaping sand come in grads, or is it one fits all? I am based in Melbourne at the mo hope my local hardware shop carries something like this, and I prey to god it doesn't come out of the yarra...
sieved and washed keeping the bigger bits, sterilization?

Yeah keep the larger sized stuff I don't usually sterilise, but it is recommended.

knowing what microwaves do to food nutririonally, wouldnt this have the same effect on the soil? stupid question i know.
i might try steaming mine when i do it

Microwaves heat water vapour by agitating it with radiation in the low GHz until it gets hot. Your sand should be cleaner and tastier when it's microwaved, but I wouldn't advise eating it. Soil particles could get burned if "cooked" for too long - don't overdo it!

Nutrition content is not a concern while germinating seed initially, its a nice haven for cacti roots to get air and water once planted.

I'm fairly positive the main aim of the sterlisation is to kill the bugs right... Well some bugs have this nasty habbit of forming cysts that protect them over the harsh times.

Steaming would probably get the soil to 100'C but the subsequent condensation would probably just encourage the bugs if they survive.

You're probably better getting a seed raising mix or following a soil sterlising guide - I read one on here the other day.

I baked my sand at quite high temperatures for quite some time. This makes sure that cysts etc die.

Though I am quite convinced my sand is free of parasites anyway

thanks for the tip, was the sand dry before you put it in the oven? how long did you bake it for?

The sand was dry yes - but it was plucked from the side of a river bank. It was baked in a roasting dish (haha, don't tell the misses ) for around 30 minutes until golden brown then placed in the sunlight for UV to do the rest!

Because it's not silt or clay, the heat won't cause any transferral of nutrients or change the structure. The drying out process kills live bacteria, seeds, etc and the heating past 100'C for over 5 minutes (preferably 30 minutes) should destroy the possibility of cysts.