Can Perilite substitue for Vermiculite?
Actually, yes you can, but the loss in overall growth makes it only advisable when it is impossible or near-impossible to get vermiculite. Perlite releases moisture – that’s why it’s used to raise relative humidity. Vermiculite absorbs and holds moisture – that’s why it’s used in pf cakes. However, experiments in the past have shown that it is possible to grow and fruit perlite pf cakes successfully – although getting much, much lower yields and success rates than with standard pf cakes. Because perlite doesn’t hold moisture well at all, and is used simply to provide a good structure, it might be better to substitute the vermiculite with something such as shredded cardboard, or similar, if vermiculite proves impossible to obtain. However, this is all more or less arbitrary, as anywhere you can get perlite, you can pretty much get vermiculite too, if you look hard enough. Growing perlite pf cakes is not to be recommended to anyone. If you’ve having difficulty getting vermiculite, try lo
