Alternatives to Perlite for soil aeration?

[wasgedn]

yep lava rock....
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but floating comes only if you not layer.....i water just water and layer fert and stuff

 

[risasdemaria]

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Stratiolaelaps scimitus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypoaspis_miles

 

[Chunkypigs]

Anyone try Turface?

 

[Rab.C]

could you use cork ?

 

[mrghost]

could you use cork ?

This has been suggested in this thread. I use cork in my living organics soil mix and am pretty happy so far.

Cork doesn't hold water very well, so air can fill the pores instead. This allows aeration and increases drainage.

I haven't noticed any downside so far.

 

[St. Phatty]

If you're looking for something lightweight -

doesn't Char fill the bill ?

I have access to loads of OLD madrone, which breaks up into little bricks, like Jenga bricks.

That's also nice & light, but I figure Char is better.


Also if someone put small wood cubes in their soil mix, does it have too much Carbon, so it needs Nitrogen to compensate ?

 

[Cannavore]

Worms and rice hulls

 

[art.spliff]

Yes wood chips are high in carbon 30:1 or + I think little twigs and branches have more bark which is different lignin. Wood chips need to be composted for a year or more with or without nitrogen before becoming compost or soil. Or turn it into charcoal first maybe. Bark chips work as a grow media but I haven't tested conifer bark chips or earthgro $4 per 2 cu. ft. bag groundcover bark with or without screening, lime and perlite for cannabis. Living soil beats inert media in cost and performance it could be a matter of perception.

 

[CrushnYuba]

Wood leaches nitrogen as it breaks down. I have seen soil companies selling "nitrofied" wood products. It has to be compensated for. Bark breaks down slower then wood. Bark fines are a good grow media. Can be used as a substitute for peat. It has a similar acidic ph. When equal parts bark fines (acidic) and equal parts compost ( alkaline) are used, it leaves you with a neutral ph. But bark and wood is fluff, not drainage.
1/3 fluff
1/3 compost
1/3 drainage (lava rock, pumice, perlite)

 

[Cvh]

Thanks to all for sharing into this thread!

I have compiled a list of the suggestions shared so far (and also added it to the Op post of this thread).

If anybody has some more ideas then please do share. Thanks.

Charcoal / Bio-Char
Construction bricks/shingles/roof tiles (crushed)
Cork
Glass products
Gravel
Lava rock
Marbels
Nut shells (pistachio, walnut,...)
Oat meal
Pebbles
Permatil
Pittmoss
Pumice
Rice hulls
Sand
Sea shells (mussels, beach,...)
Straw bedding
Tree bark
Turface
Vermiculite
Worms (Living)
Zeolite

 

[OrgrO]

Coco coir chunks/chips work great in my peat/coco organic mix.

 

[MtnGanj]

Coco coir for sure. I also like fired red clay pieces but if it is ground down to since it can swing PH temporarily.

 

[nahual]

growstone GS-2

 

[ukgrowzor]

Buckwheat hulls - 100% natural & organic, adds more, adds more silica and carbon into the soil than perlite or pumice. Microbes love them for food and homes and help build a more diverse fungal network. I can't find any negatives other than they can be a bit pricey. I don't know how long they would last in the soil, I am using them this year so will find out.

 

[Cvh]

^Thanks for sharing.
I added it to the list at the first page.

 

[mrghost]

Buckwheat hulls
Rice hulls
Kork Granulate

 

[Cvh]

Awesome picture. Thank you for sharing this.
Is this your typical aeration blend? How do you like it?

 

[mrghost]

Awesome picture. Thank you for sharing this.
Is this your typical aeration blend? How do you like it?

I've been using cork and Rice hulls for a while (really happy with the cork). The Buckweat hulls are a new addition but they seem to make things very fluffy. For this mix I used about:

30% old soil
30% compost
10% worm poop
10% Rice Hulls
10% cork Granulate
10% Buckweat Hulls

+

Growkashi
Azomite
Seabird guano
Kombucha
Biochar
Mycorrhiza
Beneficial Bacteria

So there's a lot of material to allow aeration and tons of microbes + worms and other soil life.

 

[flylowgethigh]

I want to clear up that the red in some bricks is that way because the clay is red. Bright red. Until the clay is broken up with organic matter it is a pain in the azz, because when moist it compacts.

Here is the picture about the commercial organic supersoil I was talking about. It looks like they added pieces of clay construction blocks for aeration.

(The red color is the result from the baking process to turn clay into bricks. Ceramic.)

I guess my best option are sand/pebbles as others suggested (thanks a lot guys ). And maybe also pieces of Ceramic.

Anyone else have any ideas/suggestion?

View Image

 

[paradoxlost]

I really like scoria. Its super porous, so its very unlikely going to get clogged with OM or clay or anything else. Also its high in Mn, which most of the time is lacking in a cannabis grow. Just scoop that shit from the bottom of the bag.