WHAT ABOUT VERMICULITE AND PERLITE FOR SOILS

[Tums]

Oh yeah, if I lived on the west coast it would be pumice over the others 100% of the time.

 

[dbonsaiw]

Perlite seems to work just fine in mixes but as people point out it is very light and tends to float. I have little experience with vermiculite but the few times I experimented with it it seemed to retain too much water for my taste.

 

[Clicio]

I use perlite in most of my mixes and my plants like it alright.

 

[Paradox]

I use perlite in most of my mixes and my plants like it alright.

MIght work fine for you being that you are in Brazil where it is hot and you have a lot of tropical trees that like moisture. It will not be a good soil component for pines that like to be on the dry side

As with so many things in bonsai, it depends. In this case. location, climate and types of tree will be all factors.

 

[ghues]

"I have used shifted perlite (<1/16th and >1/4” out, along with SeaSoil and Pumice) in the lower layers..."Could you explain this please? also, what is "sea soil"? Thanks!

Which part lol........I use sifted perlite....getting rid of pieces over 1/4” and less than 1/16”. SeaSoil is a local product that is a mixture of decomposed conifer bark and decomposed fishfarm waste. Generally in the lower layers of a pot I put more perlite than the SeaSoil and Pumice depending on species, in the upper layers I do not use perlite only the Pumice, SeaSoil and red/ black lava if I have any. As we know the colour of Pumice is “whiteish” but it doesn’t bother me.....but it does look too bright in photos.
Cheers

 

[Frozentreehugger]

No asbestos, but the dust will still shred your lungs! I usually hose it down to help wash the dust and fines out.

Not trying to hijack the thread . Or say that asbestos is safe . But most things that are used to replace asbestos . Are worse for your health . Just not officially recognized as such . The old adage be carefull
What you wish for . And we demanded that asbestos not be used anymore .

 

[Grunge_Bonsai]

I am bumping this to say I thought it would be a good idea to sift a bunch of perlite the other night. I have pretty bad asthma, so I used an N95 mask when sifting.

Even with the mask, I breathed a good amount of fine dust particles in. It irritated me quite a bit that night, but the real trouble was when I woke up the next morning. I was coughing so bad I had to take a half day out of work.

I was so scared, Googling silicosis (you might want to, as well). I seem to have recovered now a week later, but I may be lucky. May have lung damage, it’s kind of hard to gauge it.

Always, ALWAYS work with this stuff wet, if at all.

 

[TrevorLarsen]

I am bumping this to say I thought it would be a good idea to sift a bunch of perlite the other night. I have pretty bad asthma, so I used an N95 mask when sifting.

Even with the mask, I breathed a good amount of fine dust particles in. It irritated me quite a bit that night, but the real trouble was when I woke up the next morning. I was coughing so bad I had to take a half day out of work.

I was so scared, Googling silicosis (you might want to, as well). I seem to have recovered now a week later, but I may be lucky. May have lung damage, it’s kind of hard to gauge it.

Always, ALWAYS work with this stuff wet, if at all.

I just tie a long sleeve shirt tight right below my eyes and it has worked fine. I usually have it a few layers thick.

 

[Glaucus]

Adding perlite to a good potting soil or compost for growing plants, not bonsai, if almost always a good idea. It just improves aeration and drainage.
Vermiculite is more water retentive and maybe better for raising seeds.
Perlite is indeed very light. Pots are easily blown over with just soil and perlite. But if you were to use say lava substrate, they would be much much more heavier. But perlite is superior in improving aeration and drainage.

 

[Cajunrider]

Oh yeah, if I lived on the west coast it would be pumice over the others 100% of the time.

None of my non-bonsai plant understand when I said that pumice is the most attractive thing about the West coast for me.

 

[Gabler]

Adding perlite to a good potting soil or compost for growing plants, not bonsai, if almost always a good idea. It just improves aeration and drainage.
Vermiculite is more water retentive and maybe better for raising seeds.
Perlite is indeed very light. Pots are easily blown over with just soil and perlite. But if you were to use say lava substrate, they would be much much more heavier. But perlite is superior in improving aeration and drainage.

I've been using it mixed with coconut husk for pre-bonsai trees in early development in deeper containers, and it's been working great. I just need to use a little diatomaceous earth as a top dressing to keep the lighter particles from blowing away in the wind, and for moisture-loving plants, I add a little sphagnum moss to the top of that to buffer against evaporation.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

The PERLITE Safety Data Sheet link posted earlier is not functioning.

Here is a new SDS link for Perlite.

cheers
DSD sends

 

[shohin_branches]

I am bumping this to say I thought it would be a good idea to sift a bunch of perlite the other night. I have pretty bad asthma, so I used an N95 mask when sifting.

Even with the mask, I breathed a good amount of fine dust particles in. It irritated me quite a bit that night, but the real trouble was when I woke up the next morning. I was coughing so bad I had to take a half day out of work.

I was so scared, Googling silicosis (you might want to, as well). I seem to have recovered now a week later, but I may be lucky. May have lung damage, it’s kind of hard to gauge it.

Always, ALWAYS work with this stuff wet, if at all.

I do not recommend you do ANY soil sifting indoors especially with pearlite. Outside with the wind at your back and a mask on. When my buddy sifts soil for his business he wears a mask and has an industrial fan blowing the fines away from him.

I worked at the family greenhouse as a kid and inhaled a lot of that stuff. My aunt who also worked in the greenhouse with me but for many years longer now has lung cancer. Proper ventilation and PPE is important when working with soil components.

 

[PonderingSage:]

I found that perlite works like pumice if you just do 100% perlite(eg Potting-up post collection)… so It doesn’t float above other components.
Otherwise, I agree with someone who said to just top dress your mix with something heavy like lava on top.
For the most point, I find it annoying when it floats up, but if the price point is right, it could be a good substitute for pumice.