Soils and layers
Pea gravel
Reusable
Round, smooth gravel that holds no water. Drainage.
What the simulation uses
- Holds water
- 5 % by volume
- Water it keeps after draining; the rest runs down to the drainage.
- Pore space
- 40 % by volume
- Room for air and water between grains; low means roots suffocate when wet.
- Weight
- 1450 g/L
- How heavy a litre is.
- pH
- 6.5 to 8 pH
- How acid it keeps the soil.
- Mould risk
- none
- How much fresh food it gives white mould; high-risk soils fuzz over in the first weeks.
- Nutrients
- none
- Plant food it brings.
- Presses down to
- 97 % of its loose depth
- How far pressing can pack it, keeping its weight.
Description
Rounded natural stones of five to ten millimetres. Water runs straight through, though the gaps can hold a small reservoir at the bottom. It is very heavy for its volume, and some gravels contain lime that raises pH.
Also called pea shingle.
Estimated, where sources were thin: porosity_pct; water_holding_pct_by_vol; air_filled_porosity_pct measured values not found; packing-theory estimates.