The only perlite available locally is miracle grow infused with nutrients. I am thinking this is not so good for my organic soil? Safe to use or could it burn my plants? Thanks.
it would be counterproductive for sure. i think home depot or lowes carries other brands? i picked up some epsoma perlite on amazon for pretty cheap too..
Yah home cheapo for sure. Other places to look might be large nurseries. Or you may be able to find rice hulls at a homebrew supply store.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/THERMOROCK-2-cu-ft-Perlite-489701/202187623 2cu ft for $17. I bought 3 of these bags, they are friggin huge.
Have you checked your local nurseries by any chance? Or landscape companies, could always use lava rock by the bag for smaller amounts. Smaller pieces work well(1/2" or so), or you'll likely want to crush it down to that size. Locally the smaller pieces come in black, larger in red for myself.
So far, all I found locally is the miracle grow. It's going to be a chore finding anything else. Lowes and Home Depot only have miracle grow. I will go back to lowes tomorrow and am hoping they were just out of another brand when I looked. I asked that and the worker had no clue. Here's hoping. I looked at one nursery and they didn't have perlite. Not tons of nurseries locally. On a better note, my bag seeds popped and are going. 10 seedlings.
everyone says miracle grow perlite is bad but is .01 npk really that bad? seems more a marketing ploy than having anything actually in it just rinse it off
Had the same problem when I lived in the Midwest. Home depot only carries the mg perlite usually its weak. Used to work there I know. Best bet is a mom and pop nursery center.
There's got to be a nursery or landscape supplier nearby I've actually found a lot of things by using a google search... I type in "_____ for sale in colorado springs". That is how I found rice hulls locally. You might also widen your search parameters. Instead of looking for perlite, looke for pumice, perlite, lava rock, buckwheat hulls or rice hulls. I buy my buckwheat hulls from vitamin cottage..... Hydroponics stores? Otherwise, I bet that you could order something online from lowes or home depot and have it shipped from site to store for free.
Better yet is a Feed and Seed store, or a *Builders Supply*. Perlite is also used as a cavity insulation and 4cf bags run between $20-$25. It was just marked 'perlite', but I could see no difference between than and horticultural grade perlite. Vermiculite is also used the same way, but don't buy that. Wet
I agree, but the price is really outrageous for such a small amount. But, I don't think it would hurt anything IF you needed a small amount, like 'right now'. But, find the larger, cheaper bags before mixing any real soil. Wet
i use it. i know i could find better. i dont even rinse it, and ive never had a problem with my veggies. used it once for an organic mix on a single plant grow and i did pretty good. If you want it enough, youll go get the good kinds. if you really just want to settle youll go with the mg.
Blondie2014, the biggest challenge you will have with MG perlite is that it is generally of very poor size and quality for containers larger than 1 gallon. Once you open the bag you will see that a large portion of the perlite would sift easily through a window screen size mesh. IMO the particles of that size are not going to give you much areation quality and therefore the overall porosity of the soil will be negatively affected. However, if that is all you have access to then buy and use because trying to grow without any areation ammendment at all will not produce well. The large chunk horticultural grade perlite is the best perlite to use if one chooses to use perlite. It works great. If you can not get that then use what you can. The miniscule amount of NPK in MG perlite is of no harm to an otherwise healthy organic soil mix. Use it with clear conscious. And, if you screen out all miniscule particles with a collendar screen or a window screen frame keeping the remaining for your soil mix then you will be much better off in the growing cycle. Good luck and don't fret. It is what you have ATM. The OMRI and NOP officials won't black list you but a few neurotic organophiles might. Better days ahead. Cheers.
"The large chunk horticultural grade perlite is the best perlite to use" Heya doodlebug don't mean to be a nit-picky SOB, but this^^ is actually incorrect. Coarse perlite aerates better than large chunk perlite. It all has to do with the surface area to volume ratio. Your username is doodlebug, so I'm sure you can appreciate a good doodle lol...... this is what 1 cup of perlite looks like. Chunky and coarse, respectively: (Notice that they both occupy the same volume)
The coarse perlite, even though it occupies the same volume, has a much higher surface area. It also spreads through the medium much more evenly creating more, smaller air pockets.
A point well taken Thomas. Your screen name is well deserved! Semantics are important and especially so when one is giving advice or opinion. I believe your doodle illustrates that point quite well!