Also, what would be described as 1? I got a peat/perlite mix from
, but the perlite came in big chunks and there's more of it than peat moss (I think).
There are generally four main mixes:
Pure Peat moss
Pure "Long Fiber Spagnum" Moss (called "LFS" or just "spagnum" for short)
Mix of Peat and Perlite
Mix of Peat and Sand..
and various combinations of those..
personally I dont like perlite..tried it years ago, didnt see any need for it, and its ugly..
and I once tried a 50/50 mix of peat and sand..hated it..too heavy..
so now I have settled on pure peat for the main body of the pot (or mini bog) with a top dressing of pure LFS on the top..
Peat is fine and powdery..it splashes around and makes a muddy mess in the rain..
so the LFS keeps the peat neat, and it looks nice on the top..
LFS is the living moss that grows at the surface of a spagnum bog..it's dried to make the dry brown LFS you can buy in stores..and it often comes back to life when watered..
peat moss is decomposed LFS..often decomposed for hundreds or thousands of years
before it is "mined" from deep in spagnum bogs..
"peat" and "spagnum" is basically the same stuff, just in different forms..
peat is decomposed and broken-down spagnum..
its the stuff many CP's grow in naturally, so IMO you cant top nature!
I dont think there is anything *wrong* with perlite necessarily, its just that IMO there is no need for it, and sometimes fertilizer is added to it, which would be bad for CP's..
I tried it, didnt like it, and will never use it again..but thats just me..opinions vary.
Scot