Perlite is exellent for amending soil used for container grown plants and for starting seedlings in a soil or soiless medium. It insures better drainage and aeration which results in a larger, healthier root system.
I grow lots of plants in containers and particularly in concrete mixing tubs sunken into the ground. Buying enough Perlite for all my containers has become cost prohibitive. I have found a very good substitute.
Thick styro meat trays which have been thoroughly cleaned and scissored into half inch strips and then into about half inch squares are my substitute. An average meat tray will yield about 1 1/2 cups of these little squares. They are put into a blender with enough added water to float the squares near the top. Blending for about 1-2 minutes and then draining in a sieve will give you a nice Perlite substitute. It has the consistency of coarse sand, but very lightweight.
Note: Thin meat trays will not work. They produce an airy, snowflake like product which tends to blow away in the breeze and does not provide any real aeration benefits.
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Can you grind styrofoam packing peanuts up and use the same as meat trays?
To Ethel Gerberick
No, Ethel. Those peanuts are mostly air and would not work.
Awesome! I was looking at how to recycle styrofoam and came across this. I grow cactus and succulents and this idea is an excelent way to recycle and use it as a substitute for the perlite we use, which is not easy to find where I live.
Many gardeners are using pure perlite as a substitute for rooting cuttings, could the blended meat containers work for this?
This is okay for potted plants, but if using in garden soil, it's just adding plastic to the environment and it isn't safe.
And what do you do with the soil in the pot when the plant dies or needs to be refreshed. Don't use polystyrene (styrofoam). Publix grocery stores recycle clean meat trays, egg cartons, etc. Mail & shipping business will reuse some styrofoam packing, especially the peanuts. Try to avoid getting it to start with. I know it's hard.
Just what I was thinking rosehollowlane
Marg from England.
Perlite is currently 11.99 for a tiny bag...just out of all cost proportion. We have to find natural harmless substitutes to perlite at that price, it just makes gardening too expensive and thats before u buy grow medium, plants, seeds etc.
This is okay for potted plants, but if using in garden soil, it's just adding plastic to the environment and it isn't safe.
Styrofoam is NOT a substitute for Perlite. It is NOT a naturally occurring substance and does NOT decompose. Perlite is a volcanic glass that is mined and heated into small round spheres.
Although this sounds a great idea, it also releases enormous amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, thereby contributing to climate change. Even breaking it into chunks for pot bottom drainage is a problem, so blending is unfortunately about as bad as it could get. Please don't shoot the messenger...
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