50/50 mix sea soil/perlite?

I'm going to be planting some more seeds soon and was wondering how many of you would recommend a 50/50 perlite mix. I will be using Sea Soil. Has anyone used sea soil before? I am using an LED light which doesn't quite dry out my pots for a few days so I was thinking a 50/50 mix would help the drainage and allow me to water a little more frequently without worrying about root rot.

regd87 said:

I'm going to be planting some more seeds soon and was wondering how many of you would recommend a 50/50 perlite mix. I will be using Sea Soil. Has anyone used sea soil before? I am using an LED light which doesn't quite dry out my pots for a few days so I was thinking a 50/50 mix would help the drainage and allow me to water a little more frequently without worrying about root rot.

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Sounds like a good deal man I'm just wondering if its high in salts ? but other then that I'm reading a lot of good shit about it lets see how it is in a couple of weeks let me know bro

probably wouldn't have to water it much anyways since it contains some forest wood chips in it cuz wood soaks up water right?

Perlite is totally non-nutritive and doesn't hold nutrients either, so if you use a lot you will most likely have to use more fertilizer.

Just out of curiosity, why do you want to water more frequently?

I tend to steer in the other direction. If I can go 3-4 days without watering my flowering plants, I'm stoked...

Personally, I think using more than 25-30% perlite in an organic mix is just wasting space in your pot that would be better filled with peat moss, compost, and other ingredients that add nutritional value. Overwatering is a non-issue once you learn to water based on how heavy your pots are. A quick tip of each pot to feel its heft is all it takes to decide whether to water or not.

The more they drink the faster and larger they grow. Thats why coco yields good. it can't hold enough water like peat. So the plant drinks as much as it can while it can. I have a buddy who does drip system with 5 gal grow bags filled with only perlite. He gets pretty big yields. but its still hydro and bottled nutes. If thats what you go for then go the coco route.

I like to water only once a week or once every 4 or 5 days too.

Makes sense. I always thought of the "feed/water as much as possible" as a relic from drain-to-waste passive hydro systems where the medium tends to hold little moisture and dry out quickly (like straight coco or coco/perlite mixes). Who knows...

I run supercoco in large containers and it dries out within 5 days. I think if your pots take too long to dry it means your plants arent drinking the water fast enough, I like plants that drink fast because they are usually big and healthy. Wet roots could rot due to lack of oxygen in the soil. Its safer for 3 days or less imo. Although grass and flowers seem yo grow pretty damn good in the rainy season but thats outdoor and this is indoor container gardening. I usually feed 1-2 gallons too never more than that. I look for a lil run off to make sure I got them good enough. I use the lift technique as well.