Can i Top Dress My Soil With Perlite?

HankDank

HankDank

Well-Known Member
Im running a 150hps it seems like it would draw alot of moisture out of the soil quicker
Using a 14 inch by 7 inch tall coco lined pot
Is it ok to cover topsoil in a layer of perlite to help keep soil from drying out to fast?
Or is it fine to let the soil dry out in like 2 days and just water again?
 
RuchaYolanda

RuchaYolanda

Active Member
I've used pearlite on top before...it slowly gets mixed into the soil and seems to reflect some light...it doesn't hurt but I doubt it helps anything either.

But it is best to water once...really well...then wait for the soil to dry out.

YO
 
W

Wetdog

Well-Known Member
RuchaYolanda said:
I've used pearlite on top before...it slowly gets mixed into the soil and seems to reflect some light...it doesn't hurt but I doubt it helps anything either.

But it is best to water once...really well...then wait for the soil to dry out.

YO
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Likewise. I've done it, mainly on outdoor plants in 5 gal buckets. Doesn't hurt, but doesn't help all that much either.

Wet
 
Little Tommy

Little Tommy

Well-Known Member
The perlite will not retain moisture at all. One of the main benefits of perlite is aeration and that only works when it is part of the mix. I grow in 80% perlite and 20% vermiculite. The vermiculite helps retain a little moisture and gives the roots something to hold on to as to stabilize the plant.
 
woodydude

woodydude

Active Member
Just a few points. Light reflected from below plants causes "competative stretch". A strange phenomenon that occurs when a plant thinks another plant is underneath it competing for light so it stretches to gain all the available light. Google it, it may surprise you!!!! As mentioned, perlite on the top as described will eventually mix into the main medium and a better alternative would be "play sand" or builders sand that has been "washed". This has the added benefit of keeping parasited that live in soil away from your soil/coco. Your motivation for doing this with perlite is a strange one, wanting to stop the medium drying out after a day or so. In soil, I always wait until the container feels "light" before watering/feeding, this ecourages root growth and I learned long ago that as an mj grower, my job was to grow roots, then the roots would provide food & water for the fruit, ie bud. So I would say it is ADVISEABLE to let the soil/coco dry out before watering. I most certainly do NOT water every day. W
 
HankDank

HankDank

Well-Known Member
woodydude said:
Just a few points. Light reflected from below plants causes "competative stretch". A strange phenomenon that occurs when a plant thinks another plant is underneath it competing for light so it stretches to gain all the available light. Google it, it may surprise you!!!! As mentioned, perlite on the top as described will eventually mix into the main medium and a better alternative would be "play sand" or builders sand that has been "washed". This has the added benefit of keeping parasited that live in soil away from your soil/coco. Your motivation for doing this with perlite is a strange one, wanting to stop the medium drying out after a day or so. In soil, I always wait until the container feels "light" before watering/feeding, this ecourages root growth and I learned long ago that as an mj grower, my job was to grow roots, then the roots would provide food & water for the fruit, ie bud. So I would say it is ADVISEABLE to let the soil/coco dry out before watering. I most certainly do NOT water every day. W
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Thanks for the advise woody, im in the seedling stage, bare with me here i am new to indoor growing, my thinking was that the topsoil in which the seedling is in, is drying out under the HPS awfully fast, in less than 2 day almost as inch of topsoil is dry, i was advised to add a light layer of hydroton in top of the soil to help things dry out a more evenly atleast, seems to be working so far.

When you say play sand, do you mean the stuff that goes in sand boxes, or is it a synthetic type sand?
 
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