you should love chunky perlite amended with worm crap, vermiculite, and DE.
that's almost pure perlite in the 1/2 gallon above. i did put a very light topping on it that has since washed down into the medium.
my early experiments with perlite did not produce the results i wanted so i dropped it and went to turface, as you know.
the mechanical properties of the medium are more important than the composition of the substance itself.
most of our choices of hydro-type media are relatively inert.
i have found that a capillary rise of 6-8" and an air-filled porosity (AFP) between 30-40% to be ideal in the ppk device.
you can remove fines or too large particles by rinsing, sieving, or floating, depending on the material.
once you get your afp adjusted the only other consideration is cec. coco is around 70 meq/l and turface, other clays and pumice are around 30-40%.
perlite has none but the above amendments give it a substantial CEC thus turning it into a viable soiless media.
the decision after this is how much work and money you want to put into your medium.
prepping turface is a lot of work. it has an AFP of about 22% out of the bag but it can be brought up to about 35% by sieving over a regular aluminum window screen. you will lose about 30% as fines but it is infinitely re-usable. turface is bug-free as it and perlite have been processed in high temp kilns.
pumice is very cheap if you are on the west coast but filthy and will need to be sieved.
coco has too much CEC and needs the soak routine in most cases. it WILL come with fungus gnat eggs.
the chunky perlite just needs a light rinse. that's it. you could take a 3.5 or 4 cu ft bag and open the top and stab the bottom with a screwdriver, put the hose to it for a few minutes and it's done.
also, there is the weight issue with turface. bulk density of 35 lb per cu ft and it holds it's own weight in water.
that made my 7 gal containers 70 lbs each.
i really didn't mean to write all this here but it seems like it's linked to the jack's discussion because of performance differences in our choices and composition of media.
editing to show the pool with nothing but perlite. approx 13.5 sq ft of surface area about 5" deep.
then a 12 lb bag of homedepot worm poo worked in wet right out of the bag. formed a layer about 3/8" deep worked it in with a wand and pump.
about 2.5". then the same volume of vermiculite with about 10% of that volume DE. spread evenly on top and worked in slightly at transplant.
if you are not getting the results you want from jack's it is because of something else.
d9
editing again to say that if you blow up the first pic you can get an idea of the consistency and particle size distribution.
that's it, i swear to Buddha!
de
that's almost pure perlite in the 1/2 gallon above. i did put a very light topping on it that has since washed down into the medium.
my early experiments with perlite did not produce the results i wanted so i dropped it and went to turface, as you know.
the mechanical properties of the medium are more important than the composition of the substance itself.
most of our choices of hydro-type media are relatively inert.
i have found that a capillary rise of 6-8" and an air-filled porosity (AFP) between 30-40% to be ideal in the ppk device.
you can remove fines or too large particles by rinsing, sieving, or floating, depending on the material.
once you get your afp adjusted the only other consideration is cec. coco is around 70 meq/l and turface, other clays and pumice are around 30-40%.
perlite has none but the above amendments give it a substantial CEC thus turning it into a viable soiless media.
the decision after this is how much work and money you want to put into your medium.
prepping turface is a lot of work. it has an AFP of about 22% out of the bag but it can be brought up to about 35% by sieving over a regular aluminum window screen. you will lose about 30% as fines but it is infinitely re-usable. turface is bug-free as it and perlite have been processed in high temp kilns.
pumice is very cheap if you are on the west coast but filthy and will need to be sieved.
coco has too much CEC and needs the soak routine in most cases. it WILL come with fungus gnat eggs.
the chunky perlite just needs a light rinse. that's it. you could take a 3.5 or 4 cu ft bag and open the top and stab the bottom with a screwdriver, put the hose to it for a few minutes and it's done.
also, there is the weight issue with turface. bulk density of 35 lb per cu ft and it holds it's own weight in water.
that made my 7 gal containers 70 lbs each.
i really didn't mean to write all this here but it seems like it's linked to the jack's discussion because of performance differences in our choices and composition of media.
editing to show the pool with nothing but perlite. approx 13.5 sq ft of surface area about 5" deep.
then a 12 lb bag of homedepot worm poo worked in wet right out of the bag. formed a layer about 3/8" deep worked it in with a wand and pump.
about 2.5". then the same volume of vermiculite with about 10% of that volume DE. spread evenly on top and worked in slightly at transplant.
if you are not getting the results you want from jack's it is because of something else.
d9
editing again to say that if you blow up the first pic you can get an idea of the consistency and particle size distribution.
that's it, i swear to Buddha!
de
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