Perlite or sand?

hey is perlite or sand "better"?whats the difference bout it?
thx

go to www.sarracenia.com
click on the faq
there is a lot of info on that stuff all you have to do is navigate to the right faq

There is a little bit of controversy using perlite, but I prefer it to sand. I have used it for years in non-cp potting soils.

I would not breathe in the perlite dust if you can help it. Here is a pro-perlite link:

Perlite

i'm a perlite person but its starting to get me frustrated useing it so next year i'm gonna try out sand .

Perlite floats in water, and can be messy if you need to submerge plants, or water from above.

i use both for most of my cps, but for a few there are some exceptions

wow, I'm a perlite fan, I love using it in my terrarium, but I never flood my terrarium due to my irrigational system I have so the still water will collect on the bottom, I'm working on adding a pump, so dat the still water will be pump back up and automist every 30 mins and so, but using sand in my terrarium is hard, because the sand is too fine, as in not "coarse" leaving the sand to go all the way to the bottom, perlite floats and stays on top. My layers in the terrarium cosist of rocks, pea gravel, activated charcoal, lf sphagnum, and my potting mix, if my potting mix will be sand, the sand sinks through the cracks of the rocks and destroys my drainage layers. and to Dave S. hm...i'm worried a little about my health, I breathe in so much perlite dust when I'm making my potting mix.

I am not a perlite fan and I am yet to try sand for cps.

Travis

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (DKiM128 @ Aug. 11 2003,05:52)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">and to Dave S. hm...i'm worried a little about my health, I breathe in so much perlite dust when I'm making my potting mix.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
The dust can get into your lungs and cause respiratory problems. I learned this recently at a CP meeting and I have since taken precautions while repotting plants.

What I do is tuen on the exhaust fan and mix my soils up in front of it. This way any perlite dust get's sucked outside. You could probably put afan behind yourself and have it blow the dust away form your potting area.