Thanks for the tip! I will!
It’s worth trying. I only use the stuff once for rooting, then add it to my potting soils.
used to buy mine on amazon. think it was u line brand. when allowed to dry out and cure, worm castings are pretty lightweight so bigger bags arent very expensive. i have 2 med totes in the front room for the worms. my wife doesn’t even know they are in there as its also my grow room and she never goes in there. i also grow mealworms and tropical wood roaches for my chickens. no smell or noise. open the worm bin and it just smells like dirt. after a week of feeding veg scraps ill feed them chopped cardboard / newspaper. sometimes ill give them some chicken feed. really gets them going in there. its like worm crack. 
i only harvest the castings in the spring and get about 50lbs of castings but if i did it every 3 months like they recommend, id get 4xs as much. i don’t feed them heavily so i can get away with not harvesting as often.
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its the same problem here but I’m very rural . good thing they put in a TSC in town otherwise id have to drive 60mi. to get even a bag of soil. no one sells compost here and it takes forever to get good compost outside. now i have the 2 chicken coops, i should have a steady source once their manure/ straw has a season to break down.
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My bag of DE arrived.
FloorDry oil absorbent (DE) 25 lbs was $22 at Amazon but $8 at Truevalue Hardware with free shipping to local store. The pieces are about the size of rooting perlite so should work well for rooting cuttings and potting soil mix.
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Yes ;looks good. Some remove the powder first to make sure it drains well if using an open system. You can root in an open system or closed using DE. I myself just use it. I might clean the bottom of the bag. But I use as a soil amendment too, so once bag is half gone it is used for my container mixes. I need to mix up about 100 more gallons of potting mix this year.
Hey thanks for the tip about true value, that is a lot cheaper. I just ordered 3 bags.
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shipping is a killer for me here at $40. napa has it at $10 and i have a store in town to pick it up. we used to have a true value but they got bought out. better than the $17 a bag at O Riellys,
We used to have a True value 1.2 mile away it too closed. But the store I order to is 3 miles away, so free shipping. I got 75 pounds for 25 bucks, great deal! I will use all of it too. I may need more…
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Hey Drew, I was reading this thread again and wanted your opinion on using DE to root currants and grapes. Have you tried that or only figs?
Do you think it is probable it would work as well as rooting figs?
A friend sent me Titania black currant, and 3 different grape varieties that I need to start rooting. I appreciate any advice!!!
@BG1977 Did you “fix” your problems in the end?
If had some rot/fungus problems with seedlings/cuttings in the past to.
What helped for me
-bottom watering. Keeps the top few cm less saturated.
-more airflow. Stagnant air also seems to promote rot/fungus
-“inert” media (soil) like coco-choir and perlite.
-“airy” media. (flufy, mixing in perlite. or high quality peat)
-as a temporary fix. Spraying/watering with a light hydrogen peroxide soloution. (0.3-0.03% worked for me)
-sunlight (uv)
-good bacteria/fungus to outcompete the bad ones. (mature compost worm castings etc)
@Drew51
I am curious. I read your info on DE. i can’t seem to find the non powdered DE in the EU though 
would love to try it out.
How does it differ/compare to stuff like pumice/smal lava rocks or perlite in your opinion?
@KSprairie blackcurrant and grapes root quite easaly 
as an experiment i dug a hole in my garden till i hit groundwater. (to see how much it fluctuates during the season.) I trew in a branch of blackcurrant, it rooted and stayed alive the whole season in the hole in the ground.
If you prune stuff from the ribes family around november-february (courants/goosberry’s etc) you can stick the prunings in the ground and they are rooted come spring.
Your a bit late for that now. Although if you have enough just sticking it in the ground might be worth a try.
You could also root them in boxes in coco-coir inside.
I use the compressed dry “bricks” of coco-choir. The 600 gram bricks need exactly 2.4 liters of water to get to the right moisture content. You want to add just enough water. If you squeeze a handful of choir as hard as you can in your fist. 1 or 2 drops of water should fall out. No more. It feels almost dry. but is perfect for rooting stuff.
I use plastic boxes, move all the choir to 1 side. Slightly pat it down so it stays there. And horizontaly stick my grape cuttings / cutting+grafts in there.
On the picture the coir is spread around. But when rooting it is all bunched up on 1 side of the box (bottom on the photo).
i keep them around room temp (17-21 C ~62-70 F)
2-3 weeks and you got “explosive” rooting
Like on the below picture. The callous/roots actualy split the grape cutting open like a banana
you could also use a auxine rooting hormone. (rooting powder/solution. But young willowshoots in water also works. Or if heard cinamon or honey, have yet to try those last 2 though). For stuff like grapes and ribes it’s not usualy needed. It can help though.
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Thank you for the pictures and detail @oscar. I wasn’t expecting the currants, it was a nice surprise. I have had success in the past rooting currants directly in the ground as you have described, but I believe I did that in the fall and they leafed out in the spring.
I saw Drew’s post using the coarse DE for rooting figs so was curious about that as a medium.
I do have some coconut coir so I will try rooting some in that. Thank you!!
I have rooted currants, although I think soil is better, plan potting mix I use for currants.
I never have rooted grapes I’m afraid.
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It is sold as oil absorbent. Look in places that sell auto related items. Some are made with clay, some are 100% DE. The clay will work too probably, but I have never tried it. It’s a great soil amendment in pots to help stay moist longer yet provides good drainage.
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Thanks Drew!