What is Perlite?
You might have noticed a bunch of popcorn-like rocks inside a bag of Growers High Porosity. That’s perlite.
What is perlite? It’s simple, really.
Perlite is volcanic ash that has been spewed from a volcano during an eruption. These clumps of ash fall back down to earth in chunks of volcanic glass that explode into pieces upon contact with the earth.
After it is mined and super heated, the glass chunks pop like popcorn, turning them into white, lightweight rocks. So what purpose does perlite serve in a blend like High Porosity?
All About Aeration
Perlite is most commonly used for its aerated properties. Due to how its created, perlite is super lightweight. During the heating process to make it, tiny air pockets are created in the perlite rocks. These air pockets are great for oxygenating root zones in soil.
Regular soil is the easiest option to add perlite too, as it is quite heavy and can become compacted, which perlite prevents. Some organics like peat moss or coco mulch can and will also compact, which is exactly why Growers High Porosity contains perlite.
Can I Grow in Just Perlite?
The easy answer is no. Perlite has little to no nutrition of its own, which makes it very difficult if not impossible for a plants to thrive in perlite alone.
For this reason, perlite is best used as an addition to your soil blend. But if you want to skip all the fuss of mixing your own blend but still want the benefits of perlite in an awesome medium, Growers has you covered. The High Porosity blend contains the perfect mix of peat, coco and perlite for an aerated mix that still holds the perfect amount of moisture.