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So...perlite is no good.

Hello!
I've just read the topic aboit soil, so many of you prefering sand to perlite. But what is wrong with perlite?
 
and perlite is just too crumbly i think, and algea, and it's just not attractive.

since this is in the drosera forum, i'll go ahead and say that i grow almost all my drosera in a 2/1 sand/peat mix and not on the tray system.
 
Realy Clint? @\1 sand\peat thats very sandy! I mean 1\1 is a nice sandy mix that looks like it`s predominately sand. And yyou don`t use the tray system? Don`t the plants dry out real quick?

Oh and perlite has been known to leach toxic chemicals and it`s ugly and downright expensive compared to sand!
 
i tried it with 1/1 and 2/1, the 2/1 grew better for ME in my conditions. and i dont use the tray system because i'm scared of anareobic areas (sp) besides, i also tried the 2/1 in a tray and out of a trey and the drosera out of the trey had more dew, however i never let it get dangerously dry.
 
Ok,I let my tray dry out and then I put 1 1\2 in. of rain water in. Do you wash your peat? And if so do you use the "floater" or the "sinker" peat? Or a mix of both? Personally I use the floating kind I wash it twice and then hang it up in a hanging basket where the rain will drench it until I use it. I use the "sinker" peat for less sensitive plants such as Sarracenia,and Dionea,an Nepenthes(often times with neps I just use the old soil from repoted plants and mix amenamints in with this).
 
i don't have a preferance for floater or sinker (ooh i sound so dirty), i just use it all. i "sterilize" it in the microwave though and let it sit in the rain for a month or so.
 
*shudders* you realy need to wash it! You know how much calcium compounds there can be in unwashed peat? The anerobic bacteria in a bog turn carbon dioxide into calcium bicarbonate(or something like that) and so you need to wash it to rinse these minerals out. I use a modified version of Williams method and it works very well. I have noticed much better growth on plants grown in washed peat vs. plants grown in unwashed. I heard something about unwashed peat haveing 2,000ppm. of minerals in it!
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When the excepted level is only 100 or less. This may not hinder some plants like mexi-pings but it sure will damage Drosera(with the exception of D.linearis since that species likes more alkaline media anyhow). So your parents,and friends may look at you weird for sticking your arms in a bucket of peat moss and water mbut I say wash your peat! Join the muddy armed peat washing gang and reap the benefits of increased plant growth,less or no algae,and just plain peace of mind!
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Never thought I would be in a discussion form with impassioned debates about soil media! Kinda strange when you sit back and think about it objectively. Anyways, yeah, perlite floats, turns green, and has that nails on chalkboard quality about it. Open tray has been a subject of debate in another topic. To me it is a logical artificial way of mimicking nature, since all plants are getting rained upon and the water leaches into the ground, washing what ever impurities there might be. I, too, belong to the muddy arm club. Haven't tried nuking my media yet, but it might be viewed as a grossout factor, since the family likes to re-heat food and "Hot Pockets".
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  • #10
"Muddy Arm Club" I like it. Yup: old peat is sweet, new peat is beat (or can be).

Drosera don't HAVE to sit in tray water, it's just convenient to have them so. I always let the trays stand dry for 1-2 days. Pygmy species seem to appreciate drier conditions especially.

Perlite has it place. I use it with the Petiolaris species, combining it with some laterite and LFS but in general reserve it for the less wet crowd of plants since it seems to support algae growth in wet conditions. I don't like the way it floats either and I do suspect it absorbs salts although I have never tested this.
 
  • #11
So...if it crumbles and grows algae, an plant competitor/enemy, why is it used in gardening at all? Wha's good about it that nothing else can do?
 
  • #12
It is readily available and really not very expensive(though it is if you compare it by weight instead of cubic feet, or compared to the right kind of sand via truckload). It keeps the soil fluffier than sand, while providing drainage. The white silica sand I have around ehre is very fine. I may talk to a pool place today and check that route out.
If people could find pumice by the truckload, like Dean Cook can in Oregon, I imagine a lot of people would go that route.

Cheers,

Joe
 
  • #13
Perlite is fine for some things but has different properties than sand. So they act differently in the mix. If you use horticultural grade perlite there is no risk of the perlite being toxic. The algae issue is because the perlite acts like a sponge and holds moisture but also allows a large surface area with lots of oxygen so algae collonize it rapidly, particularly the parts that are sticking up above the rest of the potting mix and able to allow better gas exchange.

Peat is generally fine to use although you may get a batch that is high in minerals for some odd reason. So it doesn't hurt to soak it and flush it just in case.

Tony
 
  • #14
I use perlite and having good success with my plants... when I tried the sand thing they looked like crap. could have been the wrong sand I rekon.
 
  • #15
Perlite is a great aerator, but LFS can also work like that if your silica sand is too fine it's put into the mix in "chunky" form.
 
  • #16
[b said:
Quote[/b] (jimscott @ Oct. 11 2004,5:19)]Never thought I would be in a discussion form with impassioned debates about soil media! Kinda strange when you sit back and think about it objectively. Anyways, yeah, perlite floats, turns green, and has that nails on chalkboard quality about it. Open tray has been a subject of debate in another topic. To me it is a logical artificial way of mimicking nature, since all plants are getting rained upon and the water leaches into the ground, washing what ever impurities there might be. I, too, belong to the muddy arm club. Haven't tried nuking my media yet, but it might be viewed as a grossout factor, since the family likes to  re-heat food and "Hot Pockets".    
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Oh they shouldn`t mind. I mean I put peat in the fridge,freeze worms in the freezer.....Lol. How any of this is "gross" I just can`t say. Hmm....I guess grossness is in the stomach of the beholder
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. I also drain my gastric fluids in public,unfortunately it looks like I`m peeing on the parking lot because it`s often of a yellow hue and the tube comes out of my shirt right above my shorts(although the actual incision is about 3in. above my navel)
 
  • #17
My moms always bugging me about that I guess I emberass her???
 
  • #18
OK, this-is-bad. I have never washed my peat before
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I know...don't scream at me...

Perlite leaches toxic chemicals and absorbs salts? Why didn't I know all this in the first place...I am never going to use it again...

Maybe that is the reason some of my seeds wouldn't germinate...could have decreased the health of my plants as well holy cow...
 
  • #19
I wish this perlite leaching toxic chemicals would die a fast death already...

Horticultural perlite is safe and does not leach toxic chemicals. It MUST be horticultural perlite. If you buy cheap industrial perlite then it could have all sorts of stuff in it.. but then so would just about any potting mix you got from a chemical factory.

Perlite does not absorb salts any more than any other item in the potting mix. Perlite acts like little sponges so any salts in the water will usually end up in the perlite because it pulls the water to itself and evaporates the water off the surface (high surface area = increased evaporation). Which leaves salts behind. If your using quality potting mix and water then the salt issue is mute since there should not be much minerals dissolved for the perlite to concentrate. By the way.. it only happens to the perlite that is sitting on the surface of the mix where it is exposed to air.

You don't have to wash your peat. I don't.. Sphagnum peat by nature should be fairly pure. After all if the water the peat was soaking in was bad then the sphagnum wouldn't be growing there in the first place.

Tony
 
  • #20
I only wash out my peat to get it to "run clean" note that when it is dry, you can wash it and the runoff water will be extremely murky. Running water through it I 'think' helps to cleanse it a little. Of course, all of the water it will be recieving from our almost daily watering schedule will certainly rinse it!
 
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