Reddit reviews AMACO Low Fire Moist Terra Cotta Stoneware Clay, 50 lb, Red No. 77
We found 1 Reddit comments about AMACO Low Fire Moist Terra Cotta Stoneware Clay, 50 lb, Red No. 77. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
50 POUNDSGreat for crafters and expressionists of all agesLow-fire earthenware clayBlend resists cracking, shrinkage and warpingFires at 06-5 to a color ranging from terra cotta color to darker red-brown
Initially I used Crayola white air-dried clay with coconut coir mixed to a sticky consistency. For me, this required adding too much water to actually get the clay to mix so it had to set about three days to dry and become less sticky and more form-able. Then I added a little more clay to get something that holds together. I would recommend adding too little clay and gradually work up to minimize the clay. These seeds were primarily collected locally on sandy soils, so I don't think they are really clay-adapted. I would guess it was about 1:2.5 or 1:3 clay:coir. I wanted a soilless mix to make sure no weed seeds piggy backed on the mix.
The second mix I have been playing with (not pictured) is coir and amaco terracotta:
https://www.amazon.com/AMACO-Moist-Terra-Cotta-Earthenware/dp/B0044SET3S/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=terracotta+clay+amaco&qid=1571232106&sr=8-1
I used the same process to make the mix, but I needed way less clay it held together much better. I also added about 2% bonemeal and 1% hot chili powder to stop animals eating seeds:
https://www.amazon.com/Rani-Indian-Natural-Ingredients-NON-GMO/dp/B00307EMRC/ref=sr_1_43?crid=10YQX29F7L65K&keywords=chili+powder&qid=1571232218&sprefix=chili%2Caps%2C329&sr=8-43
​
Once you have the mix, I pulled a chunk of clay about the right size (tried to get 2-4 times the diameter of the seed) flattened, put the seed in, and rounded up. For rarer seeds, I did single seeds per ball. More plentiful seeds and species with poor germination got doubled or tripled up. For ultra tiny seeds, I just kneaded them into a lump to get evenly dispersed and made smaller balls from that, e.g. rattlesnake master, leadplant. For everything posted, I dried them about three days to harden them up and scattered them! For a few odd-balls like Great Solomon's Seal (not pictured), the ball was not dried completely since the seeds cannot survive being dried. Scattered while still slightly damp.
Have fun!