# Walstad without dirt?!



## GFAJ1 (Oct 13, 2019)

Hello I wanna setup a walstad tank but I just can not find appropriate dirt to do that!(I am not in USA)!Can I make it without using dirt?Are there nay other solutions!

Admins I put this here move if needed!


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## DaveKS (Apr 2, 2019)

No potting soil all at stores where you live?

Where are you from?

In theory you could take some coco coir, leach it a few times to remove excess tannins, drain it, mix 1/4 worm castings and wait about a month keeping it moist in a open container, mixing a few times and you’ll have soil in end.


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## GFAJ1 (Oct 13, 2019)

There is potting soil but I can not find organic slow release potting soil!None of them say organic matter 100% as I have been told they must say!I live in greece!I also have a garden so I was thinking if I could mix some normal dirt with some organic fertiliser I have(I think it is made from bull feces)!?Thank you for your interest!


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## minorhero (Mar 28, 2019)

Does your potting soil list ingredients? So long as its natural your fine. 

Anyway you can use dirt from your garden but, you have to be careful about having insects etc come along with the dirt. You can boil it or bake it to get rid of them but /shrug its a bit messy.

Another option is to use aquasoil type substrate instead. It costs more then dirt but it will certainly work to grow plants. You can cap it or not as you prefer and it works fine as a substrate in a no filter aquarium.


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## GFAJ1 (Oct 13, 2019)

by aquasoil you mean stuff like ada amazonia and flourite?!


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## aquanerd13 (Jun 22, 2019)

Walstad without dirt = not a Walstad IMHO.


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## GFAJ1 (Oct 13, 2019)

Yeah fair enough!I mean no filter aquarium!


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## Edward (Apr 11, 2005)

GFAJ1 said:


> There is potting soil but I cannot find organic slow release potting soil! None of them say organic matter 100% as I have been told they must say!


 It does not have to say organic. 
The key components are clay particle sized minerals and humus, not manure or fertilizer.


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## TheDukeAnumber1 (Sep 13, 2018)

I'm not a dirted tank guy, but she talks about using terrestrial soils in her book. In a nutshell it says that aquatic plants seem to do well in a variety of soils and that she hasn't found any major consistent difference in plant grown in various ordinary soils.


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## nothreat33 (Aug 5, 2019)

You can't order anything online?


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Without revealing anything about your country or location, @GFAJ1, I think you could easily get great products because you're in the EU. Many of them at much more affordable prices than we see in the US or Asia.

And if you decide you don't want to create a dirted tank, there are several great shops in your city/metro area that you should check out.


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