Joint compound as fertilizer/conditioner

Any reason why joint compound can't be worked into the soil to add in nutrients, like calcium, or as a way to control the ph of the soil? I have about 3 lbs of the stuff from a previous drywall project and didn't want to toss it out, when I could toss it on the compost pile or toss it in the dirt to break down.

Reply to
Eigenvector
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I can say that old gib board is reprocessed to get the gypsum out of it & then sold as a soil amendment.

rob

Reply to
George.com

Reply to
dr-solo

Here is the URL for an MSDS page for drywall compound.

It's mostly gypsum, here we buy that to add to our soil. It depends where you are and the condition of your soil whether it would be good or bad. In any event, nothing bad will happen if you mix it in with the soil.

Reply to
Charles

Oops, forgot

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Reply to
Charles

its sold by the gram round here, or the bullet, not the pound.

rob

Reply to
George.com

You're kidding me! The smallest amount I can buy is about a pint....

C
Reply to
Cheryl Isaak

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"The compound is a complex combination of water, limestone, expanded perlite, ethylene-vinyl acetate polymer and attapulgite."

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"EVA is one of the materials popularly known as 'expanded rubber' or 'foam rubber'."

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"It is one of the types of fuller's earth." "Until 2003, it was the active ingredient used in Kaopectate,"

Reply to
cat daddy

I appreciate the links, I actually already knew what it was made from, but it was how those ingredients interacted with plants that I was unsure of.

Really the EVA is the only thing that concerns me, but I wouldn't expect it to be a large amount of the joint compound. Perlite is another potential problem, don't have any real knowledge of that stuff and what its good for.

>
Reply to
Eigenvector

about the EVA portions, but looking at the concentrations they're far too small to matter in the amounts I'm looking at.

So what is Perlite good for anyway? (so far as plants are concerned anyway)

Reply to
Eigenvector

Perlite's the easy one.... It's probably not expanded in joint compound, but it is a common ingredient in potting soil. If you're determined to use this stuff, fill your bucket with water for a thin slurry and let it sit overnight. Skim off anything that floats and that may get rid of the vinyl/plastic/rubber crap. But, I wouldn't bother.

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"In horticulture it makes composts more open to air, while still having good water-retention properties; it makes a good medium for hydroponics.

Reply to
cat daddy

Nothing much. It is used in potting mixes to open the mix, to let air down with the roots. It's a high volume, low mass filler.

Reply to
Charles

I didn't read the other replies yet, but I can deduce it is a reference to "joint" compound being the stuff which gets rolled up in rolling paper.

Reply to
jangchub

snipped-for-privacy@sakajawa.org expounded:

No, V, joint compound is used in wallboarding, it's what you smooth over the joints (yet another reference! ).

Reply to
Ann

thats a heck of a lot of oil. You'd need a BIG knife.

rob

Reply to
George.com

I can be so naïve..... C

Reply to
Cheryl Isaak

Well I know that! But the double entendre was too hard to resist!

Reply to
jangchub

tee hee. Actually, I haven't smoked a joint in decades. The stuff they have now would probably help me OD. They've really perfected the product.

Reply to
jangchub

Hey, naive is a good thing. I wish I was. Unfortunately, I can't unring the bell of life.

v
Reply to
jangchub

What makes this all so funny is that DS managed to stretch hard enough (pre cast) to put a hole in the wall. Which I now need either mend myself or hire someone to do the job and I was thinking it would be a clever use of any scraps if I really could compost them...

C
Reply to
Cheryl Isaak

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