Perlite in coco

[Hempire Road]

Would adding perlite with coco hold onto more moisture for longer , in comparison to pure coco ? Just to give a bit of longer duration to not dry back? What do people reckon?

[tokenroll]

No perlite mixed at 30% and coco at 70% is the normal mix but doing so will require more watering than straight coco. I have found when runnning coco and perlite mixes it was better to use hydro nutes rather than coco specific and have it setup for auto watering to get best results. I think you may be got mixed up, vermiculite will help reain the water.

Edited August 3, 2021 by tokenroll

[Hempire Road]

Just now, tokenroll said:

No perlite mixed at 30% and coco at 70% is the normal mix but doing so will require more watering than straight coco. I have found wen runnning coco and perlite mixes it was better to use hydro nutes rather than coco specific and have it setup for auto watering to get best results. I think you may be got mixed up vermiculite will help reain the water.

Cheers mate , was just going on how it holds onto 20 times more water than it's weight (Never tried tbf) , i read somewhere. 

[BushDoctoR]

I'd hazard a guess and say that claim is because its super super light. 20 times it's weight in water isn't very much . It holds onto less water than coco but that's the reason it's used, it improves drainage

[EM Punk]

5 hours ago, Hempire Road said:

Would adding perlite with coco hold onto more moisture for longer , in comparison to pure coco ? Just to give a bit of longer duration to not dry back? What do people reckon?

 

It would have the opposite effect

Edited August 4, 2021 by EM Punk

[EarLobe]

Perlite is added to add size to the particles within the medium. Perlite, while holding water, is there to provide a break to the smaller particles that can suffocate roots and keep them saturated.

 

Perlite allows water to flow through the medium while creating large surface areas for the root to breathe. Fytocell foam is another good one allowing for a 6:4 ratio of water and air.

[wifi-user]

21 hours ago, Hempire Road said:

Would adding perlite with coco hold onto more moisture for longer , in comparison to pure coco ? Just to give a bit of longer duration to not dry back? What do people reckon?

 

Smaller pots will dry quicker

 

Try not to let coco dry out, top dressing of play sand helped a bit IMO.

 

pot size? how much to drink? how often?

[Hempire Road]

On 03/08/2021 at 9:21 PM, BushDoctoR said:

I'd hazard a guess and say that claim is because its super super light. 20 times it's weight in water isn't very much . It holds onto less water than coco but that's the reason it's used, it improves drainage

Right on, coco holds 33 times.

[Devon Cream]

Tried 70/30 , 50/50 gone back to straight coco didn’t see any benefits cost more buying the perlite and ball ache mixing it so jogged it on.    
 

  TS