Alternatives to Perlite for soil aeration?

[X15]

Diggin all the great advice here!
I too like to use Rice Hulls but I have always had to order them, and I’ve been trying my best to not go that direction.

So lately I’ve been experimenting with what some stuff from the garden.
Sunflower shells (the birds do most the work if given a catch area).
Daikon Radish seed shell (pictured below)
Buck Wheat hull and sheath (fast growing)
Chai seed grown out and harvested for the stems. can get some pretty nice Fractured pieces if dried.
Catnip Stalk dried, chopped and fractured.
Those are just some of what I’ve grown and processed in different ways. Just some ideas.
Tried..
Heat treating to remove some organic matter or Meat that’s left.
Seasoning in some Finished compost.
Just dried.

(chopped up in the ol lady’s food processor bc she sure As hell ain’t been using it lol)



I feel like the possibilities are endless, esp if you have a garden You can work with to find new solutions.

 

[AllStuff420]

Many experienced gardeners believe that Styrofoam can be used in place of perlite. However, it must be the correct type of Styrofoam, and there are serious environmental concerns to consider.

 

[Three Berries]

Hemp stems?

 

[Switcher56]

Many experienced gardeners believe that Styrofoam can be used in place of perlite. However, it must be the correct type of Styrofoam, and there are serious environmental concerns to consider.

sorry... there is no place for Styrofoam in the ground IMHO

 

[St. Phatty]

sorry... there is no place for Styrofoam in the ground IMHO

Actually, it's better in the ground than above ground.

The primary threat that turns Styrene into nano-plastics is - UV light - The Sun.

Have any Cannabis growers done any tests using styrofoam as a primary growing medium in a hydro or organic setup ?

 

[CrushnYuba]

Are we talking real styrofoam (polystyrene)? Or just some kind of foam. There are degradable foams like packing peanuts made of plant polymers. And then foam made for growing like Oasis foam. I love Oasis. Best clone medium hands down but it crumbles to easy to be used for drainage.
But i thought about using polystyrene and it would work as a medium but end up being a terrible idea. At first i figured, why not. We just put it in landfills anyway. Might as well recycled it and give it purpose. It would be fine in potted contained situations. Then i thought of the whole cycle. People won't grow with that same medium for life. Eventually they will move, or changed mediums or whatever. What do u do with that fish tainted media? You can't just there's it in your garden or lawn or woods. You bring it to a landfill and it just eats up more space with all that media. At least if the foam was buried by itself it would use less landfill space. And what are u gonna do? Pick through the dump to get it?

And as far as the plant based degradable polymers.. the mined volcanic rocks are just too cheap, effective, and good to put back into the earth to think about replacing. Perlite, lava rock, pumice. Horticultural pumice is just so good i don't know why it's not the standard. It's no more expensive then perlite. Doesn't float, doesn't get crushed. I guess it's a little heavier but it's not shipped by air.

 

[goingrey]

Are we talking real styrofoam (polystyrene)? Or just some kind of foam. There are degradable foams like packing peanuts made of plant polymers. And then foam made for growing like Oasis foam. I love Oasis. Best clone medium hands down but it crumbles to easy to be used for drainage.
But i thought about using polystyrene and it would work as a medium but end up being a terrible idea. At first i figured, why not. We just put it in landfills anyway. Might as well recycled it and give it purpose. It would be fine in potted contained situations. Then i thought of the whole cycle. People won't grow with that same medium for life. Eventually they will move, or changed mediums or whatever. What do u do with that fish tainted media? You can't just there's it in your garden or lawn or woods. You bring it to a landfill and it just eats up more space with all that media. At least if the foam was buried by itself it would use less landfill space. And what are u gonna do? Pick through the dump to get it?

And as far as the plant based degradable polymers.. the mined volcanic rocks are just too cheap, effective, and good to put back into the earth to think about replacing. Perlite, lava rock, pumice. Horticultural pumice is just so good i don't know why it's not the standard. It's no more expensive then perlite. Doesn't float, doesn't get crushed. I guess it's a little heavier but it's not shipped by air.

Styrofoam floats in water so I think that will be a problem.

It can be recycled where plastics are recycled and made into underpants and whatnot. No need to fill up landfills with it.

 

[RandyCalifornia]

Worms aerate the soil pretty good for me. Indoors I just add worms and feed them organic inputs on top. Outdoors added organic matter will attract them usually.
I can't stand perlite and haven't used any for years.

 

[St. Phatty]

If anybody knows of a lab that can investigate/ soil to measure the amount of nano-plastics present, I would love to hear it.

Ready to submit samples and spend $$.

What kind of equipment do they use to assess plastics content ?

 

[Plookerkingjon]

I know that when I'm going around to people's properties and doing estimates for arboriculture I see a lot of sunflowers AKA dandelions that have massive tap roots I didn't learn how to grow cannabis I learned how to grow perennials annuals biannuals cultivars Etc away before I had an interest in cannabis anybody worth their salt in the ground can tell you dandelions are indicator of compacted soils if you can get dandelions to sprout in your medium you ain't going to get a better aeration device than a Tap Root from a dandelion, but what do I know I avoid stores nutrients and bottles and the lunacy that is 80% of the Cannabis Market nowadays have a good day

 

[exploziv]

Altrough they are related I never heard of dandelions being called sunflowers. Theyuaually grow on Ca def soil and dissapear as the soil is improved..

 

[Three Berries]

So with the LECA do you reclaim it and reuse?

 

[Three Berries]

White clover is excellent and doesn't get too tall/big. Adds nitrogen to the soil too. Bees love it.

 

[Plookerkingjon]

Altrough they are related I never heard of dandelions being called sunflowers. Theyuaually grow on Ca def soil and dissapear as the soil is improved.

Yeah I see we grow them up here and use them for everything from antioxidants make wine out of them etc etc etc, but they are most certainly sunflowers

 

[Plookerkingjon]

White clover is excellent and doesn't get too tall/big. Adds nitrogen to the soil too. Bees love it.

All clover that I've seen red and white are super beneficial... I think out of anything that we're discussing right now the thing that needs to be more appropriately allocated and pumped throughout everywhere our pollinators and bees . prefer red over white if I'm Fair but how ironic that at least here in the East Coast people are running out to the pharmacies running out to grab medications and if they researched clover as long as it's not growing in like lead paint chips super beneficial for them to take to decongest but what do I know I was raised by people that taught me to live off the land and be self-sufficient I haven't been into a hydro store since 2016 so I don't know I'm just shooting from the hip I guess

 

[exploziv]

Crimson cloveris even smaller than white..

 

[Switcher56]

... also keeps the weeds down especially dandelions, but enriches your soil with nitrogen.

 

[herbgreen]

Crimson Clover is.... Great!

Living mulch, Pollinator , Rodent discourager, soil aerator, and small jungle for any insects to crawl through before they get to your plant

Use it patch up your lawn....

Its a beneficial plant!

 

[exploziv]

yea, and spreads quite easy. only problem is probably hard to get rid of it once estabilished.. but would not be a problem in a mixed lawn or pasture.

 

[Plookerkingjon]

If a Lawn isn't edible this day and age it's a f****** waste of space