Soil and perlite

Hello, im currently doing a windowsill grow and need to know how much perlite to add to the soil and do i add it in layers just at the bottom or at the top?

Thanks

I buy potting soil with it already mixed in, i've read people use 10-50% perlite mixed together with soil/coco. You want to mix it all together, not layered. it's for helping with drainage keeping the medium light.

BB84 said:

Hello, im currently doing a windowsill grow and need to know how much perlite to add to the soil and do i add it in layers just at the bottom or at the top?

Thanks

Click to expand...

If you use a lot of perlite you may want to layer just an inch of soil on top to prevent floating perlite though.

Thanks, i shall mix it in. Ive got one seedling just starting off in john innes number 2 soil with no perlite (worked ok last year) ive got john innes no 1 for next plant and perlite. No 1 says its to give seedlings a good start so thought it worth a try as my plants dont reach much over 1 ft anyway

The potting soil I use, Black Gold 0.05-0.0-0.0 appears to have a large amount of perlite in it, I noticed my plants appear to grow better/healthier with it compared with a previous brand without much perlite in it. The soil seems to not get as compacted over time with watering. I believe the theory behind adding perlite is it holds air pockets which gives the roots more oxygen which they like. I came across this article about perlite which explains why it's beneficial.

BB84 said:

Hello, im currently doing a windowsill grow and need to know how much perlite to add to the soil and do i add it in layers just at the bottom or at the top?

Thanks

Click to expand...

Learning curve I am experiencing with perlite . I just got through switching to 90% perlite , 10% coco coir fiber. I thought I could just run some water through the pot to water plants or to flush the pot . Boy , was I wrong .

Typical learning curve mistakes I suppose . I found out that it is better to think of almost all perlite , as flood and drain .
Now I realize to water my plant I need to fill the water all the way up in the root zone , all the way to the surface , and leave it way for about 5 minutes to give the plant enough time to drink water . It also takes about 5 minutes of perlite submerged in water to soak up water into each particle of perlite . Same thing with feeding the plant nutrients or flushing the plant pot . You can't just run nutrient solution through the plant pot to flush feed the plant . You have to fill the plant pot all the way to the surface and let it sit there submerged for about 5 minutes , and then drain the pot . Some thing goes with flushing a pot that has a plant in it . You have to fill it up with water for about 5 minutes and then drain it .

After a white my 10% coco coir might flush out and then I might try to water the plant with small amounts of coco coir fiber , hoping the fiber content can slowing go back up to 10%.

The reason I switched to 90% perlite is because I always watered my plants in soil too much and rotted my roots . Also , my plants grow faster in 90% perlite . I guess it is the same thing that I am doing as Flood and Drain techniques .

I guess I am learning the hard way , that it takes time for a plant to drink or take in nutrients , and also that it takes some time for perlite to absorb water .

I have tried the method you are using , and I was still getting root rot , so I gave up on that and went all the way up to 90% perlite . Eventually I will begin small tests using 100% perlite .

Hope that helps
Mistakes are natural and it might take me 100's of attempts to learn what I need to learn and to be happy with the method I am working on .

Halman9000

You re probably talking bout automatics? If you go for around 3-4 gallons soil medium use at least 25-30%. Helps for less compaction of the soil as mentioned above and aerates the soil faster which is what you want even in an organic grow. Not mandatory but advised especially if you re starting fresh as watering can be much more of a bummer than anyone would think it of. You dont need luck just observe and learn. Goooo

From Halman9000 To Halman9000

So as Biden would say : "Here's The Deal Man" , or " Come On Man " .

So , no matter how much Coco Coir percentage you mix with Perlite , If your pot has big holes for drainage on the bottom and the sides as I do : The Coco will slowly flush out but no perlite flushes out ( At least with the pot drainage holes that I have in my pots ) , if you flush your pots like I do . no matter what you Perlite percentage Coco Coir mix you use , you will have to keep adding Coco mix occasionally to your pot when you notice the pot seems too lite after watering and flushing .

So I noticed that my pots that had more Coco Coir in it , my plants were growing better with more Coco Coir than my pots that were it was almost all Perlite . So now , when I flush my pots , and I notice the weight of the Plant feels too light when hoisting in my hand to feel the weight . At this point I add enough Coco Coir to cover the top of the pot container , with a inch of Coco Coir and then water it good . At that point you should notice the pot weighs more after watering . Now compare the weight to plants that are growing faster and happiest . At this point my plants feel twice as heavy after watering than plants that are almost all Perlite . So now I am getting a feel by looking at the top of the growing medium , that if I only see Perlite , then I need to add Coco . Even if I grew in 100 % Coco Coir , I would have to add Coco Coir periodically , because I would be losing some Coco Coir after each flush . I flush from the top down , and I guess if you were a bottom feeder , that the loss of Coco Coir would be slower .

I simply observed the plants that have about 30 % Coco Coir made the plants grow faster and Happier and developed much bigger leaves in general , But at least now I know that much , and also know that since I flush my plants the day after I feed them nutrients , then I need to add about an inch of Coco Coir to the top , to replace the Coco Coir I lost from flushing the pot . The Coco Coir I add on top , works itself down towards the bottom , when watering the pot from the top ,

Either way I have developed a feel for how heavy the pot should feeling after watering .
Plus I think I read somewhere to Coco Coir works as a PH buffer and prevents root rot when compared to all soil .
Maybe someday I will try a mix of soil with Coco Coir , but for now I will feed my plants with liquid fertilizer with no soil in my medium .
.
Also if you increase your Coco Coir from the top and flush it down into the perlite , you might have to top feed the pot with some more fertilizer or you might get some faded oxygen burn marks . That is what happened to me , and after adding some liquid fertilizer to the top and water is down into the perlite coco mixed , it turned a little more green and happy again . My fertilizer is an all purpose fertilizer that has primary , secondary and micronutrients , plus good fungus , good microbes , compost , seaweed kelp , plus red and brown worm poop plus chicken poop , and all kinds of minerals I have never heard of . I am way to ignorant to have bottles of nitrogen or bottles of potassium or bottles of phosphorus or any other single malt fertilizers . The only separate fertilizer I do have is Calcium Nitrate mixed with magnesium . I also have a bag of Amino Acids ( two amino acids is all it has ) . So because I lack knowledge to buy individual bottles of single nutrient , I use my all in one fertilizer .

I do not like using real soil anymore because it attracts insects and I always get root rot .

Halman9000 Says as Bugs Bunny would say is: That's all folks , exit stage right .

If you want a stretched and spindly plant that won't produce much bud........grow it in a windowsill.
Good luck.

In the container under the pot I am adding some hot sauce which gnats don't like .-

Tip - small gnats can get through a screen in a window , so if you crack your window to let some fresh air in , you might be inviting a lot of baby small gnats into you indoor garden ,

Halman9000