Sorry. Sand used for propagation needs to be pure silica sand, and course-grained sand usually works better for drainage. Some sand (ocean sand, for instance) contains salt and some regional sand (like from my area) may contain non-silica material and work havoc on pH levels. Your sand may be fine, but I'd read what it said on the package to be sure.

Ah, thanks, great answer.

:-)

If you can get river sand, rinse it well and put it in a container that you can cover with clear plastic, it will work just fine.

Doesn't sand come in large size bags? Remember buying many bags of play sand when my kids were little and had a sand box...exactly what type of sand are you referring to and where can it be purchased in small quanities?

FWIW, I have used the coarse sand that comes in those tubes and haven't had any problems with it in my propagation mixes. What I avoid is the superfine beach-type sand used in kids' sandboxes; it tends to pack. Gary

@pippi21 -- I got my sand from Home Depot, if that helps.

@albert_135 -- good to know. I like grout, being a mosaicist, will go check it out.

@garystpaul and kayjones and all -- I'll experiment with the sharp sand AND the sand i have in my tubes (I'll rinse it well first) and report back.

You all are terrific on this forum. My thanks and appreciation.

We look forward to hearing of your results!

course sand is what you use, i don't know what's in the tubes, i'm thinking of using it for propagating it myself, it's very course and has tiny pieces of gravel, that's exactly what i need. what you don't want is the fine sand they use to fill in flagstone walkways, that stuff gets hard when it's wet. but your local nursery can look at a cup of it and tell you. I looked at it and it looked gravely. I'll likely ask first, but i just got a bunch of those tubes just for the sand for propagating.