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Post by Gianna on May 18, 2016 15:00:36 GMT -5
This year I've been mixing in some old planter mix in some of the garden beds and liking the results. It's composed of mostly things like pine fines and peat, some sand, and some perlite. I have access to as much as I want but before I go too far, I'm wondering if anyone knows what happens to perlite as it degrades over the years?
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Post by daylilydude on May 18, 2016 19:15:47 GMT -5
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Post by Gianna on May 19, 2016 10:44:39 GMT -5
Thanks. I was wondering more what affects it had on garden soil after several years. I can't help but think it would break down since to some extent it lacks 'structural integrity'. If you step on it on a hard surface, it breaksup into a sort of powder. Assuming it does something like that over time, would that make the 'dirt' it's been mixed into better or worse? I suppose that depends on the nature of the soil it's being mixed into. Well, I guess I'm going to find out over the coming decade.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on May 19, 2016 11:47:40 GMT -5
Perlite is is almost pure silicon, so it's chemically stable - there really isn't anything that it can break down into. It has neutral pH, and doesn't supply any organic matter or nutrients. Chemically speaking, it's sand - just with a lot of air pockets. There's nothing in it to harm your garden beds. In fact, perlite is actually recommended as a soil amendment for raised beds ( www.gardening.cornell.edu/factsheets/vegetables/raisedbeds.pdf, see page 2) and has been approved as organic on the OMRI list ( www.gardensalive.com/product/perlite-a-great-way-to-improve-drainage-and-a-primer-on-what-organic-means/you_bet_your_garden, the reference to the OMRI list is near the end of the article). Any changes that happen to perlite after it goes into your garden beds would be mechanical. If you do a lot of tilling, I guess you could eventually crush the perlite into smaller bits and even grains or powder like you said, Gianna. After it gets crushed, the perlite will no longer have all of those of air pockets to hold water and air. At that point, it should function like sand. I don't know how long that process would take. However, perlite is also extremely light. I have some plants in outdoor pots in potting mix that contains perlite. When it rains (and even during hand watering), the perlite works its way to the top of the pots, and I get a layer of perlite on top. When it rains hard, the perlite washes right out of the pots. So, my pots soon have no perlite in the top couple of inches. If you get heavy rains, it might be beneficial to use mulch to retain your perlite.
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