Alternatives to Perlite for soil aeration?

[flylowgethigh]

Why not add vermeculite to the drainage mix? It has a pretty high CEC.

 

[CrushnYuba]

Vermiculite is to hold water. Not for drainage. Haven't really seen its ideal usage in a potting mix. Really just mushroom cultivation.

 

[xerb]

Craigslist is your friend! Look in the free section for lava rock. Take a friend and fill your pick up.
It is almost always available and the best part is the price - FREE !

Put a few shovels full of the lava rock down on your driveway and a piece of plywood on top.
Rollover this with your truck to make smaller pieces.
Do not forget to put the plywood down or it will eat your tires up pronto.

It may be heavier than perlite, but it is better in containers as it will provide a more stable base for your trees.

XERB

 

[wvkindbud38]

I've used this Promix and Ocean Forest around a 5:2-5:3 ratio, and add around 25+% perlite, I really go for around 30%. Then of course your dolomite and a few goodies. When I used to use only Ocean Forest I'd mix some greensand, regular sand, and 30% perlite or so. I love both mixes. Once you figure out a mix you grow nice plants from you will kinda play around until you get it dialed in and mixed up good. I use alot of 5gal buckets to grow in and will sometimes put about a inch or so or gravel or perlite in the main bottom. Id use straight Ocean Forest if I was rich lol, but I've started using that ratio of Promix especially outdoors because of the amount of containers I usually do. But I did used to go straight OF indoors with 30-40%perlite and the dolomite and few other things. I used that mix for 10yrs and grew many beautiful indoor plants. I like some micro, great white, plant success worked great, also used Myko about 3yrs ago outdoors and it seemed ok. But if you can afford Great White or Plant Success there good. But I've been using this Promix/OF mixture almost five yrs and love it. I've not been adding anything to my soil mix. But I use Mikrobs complete line in my nutes and ferts and like that. Sorry to ramble guys. There's alot of tricks you can pick up on here at icmag lol!!!

 

[BarknPunkin]

I have heard that Horsetail Rushes are able to take up silica. Might this be in soluble form? Would it be released if the plant were composted? Given the shape of the stems, they would make aireation until they decayed. Does anyone have experience with this as a soil amendment?

This is a very thought provoking thread.

 

[chilliwilli]

Horsetail has soluble silica in it so composting might work. But horsetail(Equisetum arvense) can sprout from tiny root segments so if u don't want it to grow everywhere in your garden take care that everything has broken down complete.

 

[flylowgethigh]

Vermiculite is to hold water. Not for drainage. Haven't really seen its ideal usage in a potting mix. Really just mushroom cultivation.

I guess the term confuses me. I added vermeculite to the soil I up-potted my misfit and midget plants into, and also use a layer on top of the SIP bed. The plants seem happy and the looks of the bed without green perlite is better IMO.

I like the coarse stuff.

 

[TanzanianMagic]

Hi Cvh,

"I'm looking for alternatives to Perlite for soil aeration and to give better structure to the soil. Preferable something I can find around the house/garden or in nature."​

Hemp bedding - it is slow to decompose, and will take up and give off moisture. Pet stores have it. Alternative you could make your own with this year's crop and a shredder/woodchipper.

It also has all the microbes and spores on it that are compatible with cannabis. I usually have ink caps or Coprinopsis atramentaria growing from hemp bedding.

 

[goingrey]

Is using LECA (hydroton) not considered organic or how come this obvious choice has not been mentioned once in the 14 pages of the thread?

 

[exploziv]

I find it to be useless bulk in soil mixes.. But very good in hydro set-ups. Just my opinion, tho! I don't think it's too porous, just the outside surface might have some nice texture to hold some nutes and water and maybe even soil life. But to me it's not worth adding it overall.

 

[goingrey]

I find it to be useless bulk in soil mixes.. But very good in hydro set-ups. Just my opinion, tho! I don't think it's too porous, just the outside surface might have some nice texture to hold some nutes and water and maybe even soil life. But to me it's not worth adding it overall.

I always add LECA to my soil mixes. A lot of it, like a third of the volume. I find it excellent for aeration and drainage, and it also prevents the soil from compacting too much. I'm so used to it that I have trouble watering plants in mixes that don't have it correctly..

Not just my opinion but more like the general consensus. From Wikipedia:

LECA has uses in agriculture and landscapes. It can alter soil mechanics. It is used as a growing medium in hydroponics systems since blended with other growing mediums such as soil and peat, it can improve drainage, retain water during periods of drought, insulate roots during frost, and provide roots with increased oxygen levels promoting very vigorous growth. LECA can be mixed with heavy soil to improve its aeration and drainage.

 

[exploziv]

Nice to know! I feel like less perlite or pumice could be used for same effects, with less bulk. But if it becomes a good part of the growmedia, yeah I agree it's great for hydro. Just not see it used as I use perlite, at 5-15% for drainage and aeration. But good to learn there is some permeability and water exchange there..

 

[goingrey]

Nice to know! I feel like less perlite or pumice could be used for same effects, with less bulk. But if it becomes a good part of the growmedia, yeah I agree it's great for hydro. Just not see it used as I use perlite, at 5-15% for drainage and aeration. But good to learn there is some permeability and water exchange there..

Perlite works well by all accounts. Where I live it is just much more expensive and not as readily available as LECA so the choice has been obvious. Also there are some HSE concerns with perlite which is what I thought was the reason for this thread but I see now that the OP was looking for something that's free. Answers my earlier question, LECA might be cheaper but it's not free.

 

[dirty-joe]

From Page 1,
Below is a list of suggestions from this thread.
I see the leaf mold is not in that list.
It fluffs up the soil really nicely, is good also for water retention, and has a ton of minerals (well maybe not a ton).

I can't stand the look of that perlite, styrofoam looking crap, esp. in gorilla, not to mention it really only does one thing, compared to leaf mold doing three things.

Leaves collected in the fall are good to go the second following spring (18+/- months).
I rake them up, put on a tarp, and drag them to the garden area, run over them with the lawn mower, which kind of blows them where I want them. I'll turn them once the following spring. The next spring they are good to use as an additive. One more year after that they are completely composted.

 

[Cloneman]

I use Plant Magic soil supreme here in the UK, absolutely love it for seedlings, very airy. They use Fytocell Foam in it
Here's there blurb

Are you looking for a product that will have a positive impact on the environment? Fytocell Foam is 100% biodegradable and harmless to the environment, so you can be sure that you are not harming the planet when you choose this product. What’s more, it is also excellent at retaining moisture with a great aeration rate.

Don't know where you would source it though, but its a thought

 

[Bruja1234]

Worms and earthworm castings.
Bruja

 

[pjlive]

To me, perlite is more about drainage then airation. If your number one goal is not having to buy it.. Rice hulls are a replacement if they are available in your area. They grow rice here and they leave the hulls out for people to take at no cost. But that could be unique to my area. They pretty much behave similar to perlite. Over time they break down and become part of your fluff. I like to Use lava rock, but you would have to buy it from a landscaping company. 50$ a yard.
I like the suggestion of using crushed brick. May behave similar to lava.
I think a good soil texture is equal parts compost, drainage, and fluff. Perlite, lava rock, and rice hulls are drainage. The fluff would be something like peat, coco, or fir bark. You have to have the fluff to keep your soil from compacting and staying airated.
You could get pine bark fines for free If you figure out how to source It. Use it as your "fluff". Landscaping/soil Companies get It from saw mills and sell It to consumers in soil mixes.

In addition to rice husks, I've been seeing more use of peanut husks as well. Some are amending whole, some crushed or grated. Clean, of course, with no salts present.

 

[CrushnYuba]

I bet peanut shells work pretty well. Unfortunately they grow peanuts in the southeast so I'll never get a chance to try.

Worm castings are NOT an alternative to perlite! It's like damn mud. It's damn heavy. It's not drainage. It holds a ton of water

 

[Petrochemical]

Hi guys,

I'm looking for alternatives to Perlite for soil aeration and to give better structure to the soil. Preferable something I can find around the house/garden or in nature.

The rule for me is that it needs to be something I don't have to go buy (or trade).

The reason is that this year I want to try to grow without having to buy anything from the gardenstore.

I'm currently busy with starting up my wormbin and what I read online and also the guys here on ICMag seem to say. Is that it might maybe be possible to grow in pure Vermicompost. But that soil compactation/aeration might be an issue.
(Check the thread here: https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=359129)

I think I have read somewhere that some guys were using small river pebbles. And I have once seen a picture of some commercial organic soil that looks like they added small pieces of broken up red clay construction bricks.

So anybody any idea what I might can use?

(Rice/grain hulls aren't sold/traded in my country.)

Thanks for sharing.



Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

Update:

Below is a list of suggestions from this thread.

I rinse out pistachio shells and use those

 

[xet]

Dispersed soil is what we do not want. "How to flocculate dispersed soil" is where to find solutions.