Potting Soil (I know, sounds silly)

I'm about to start some early planting on my heirloom seeds with some of my plants. A thought popped into my mind.

You see, in bags of potting soil, i notice that there are these little white things in it, what are those? I found throug a little it of quick research that it's Perlite, a volcanic by-product. In some cases actual styrofoam has been used.

They say that it is used to aerate the soil, but I want to make sure it does'nt have adverse effects on plants, sorta like the whole "Flouride is good for your teeth" bs.

What I'm concerned about is that there may be some sorta chemicals in potting soil that could alter or kill my non-GMO plants.

What do you think/know?

-Lahara

These are great for assisting in holding moisture and for keeping the soil from compacting too much.

Vermiculite does the same thing, and is to assist the soil in being more productive.

Don't concern yourself, this functions much like sphagnum moss.

I am no expert but perlite is supposed to be a type of volcanic glass and helps aerate soils without losing to much moisture. Its used in many things apparently, including mortar

It wont have an adverse reaction I can assure you

I should first disclose my lack of knowledge regarding planting and commercial soil. This is certainly not my forte. With that said, I would assume that it would be in the best interest of a company to create soil that nourishes plants. Selling an item that causes damage to the very items it promises to sustain would not be a very useful business practice, wouldn't you say? I think you can safely assume that your potting soil is just fine.

I would suggest scouring the internet for organic gardening information (your mention of non-GMO suggests you would be inclined this way). There are many, many pages offering advice for maintaining healthy plants. These would be good places to start regarding the ideal potting soil, ingredients to avoid, etc. Good luck!

[edit on 26/12/08 by paperplanes]

As said Perlite is harmless, but dry potting mix can be very harmful to you.

There have been known cases of Legionnaires' disease caused by inhaling dry potting mix.

So, keep it moist and wear gloves.


PS. If you're concerned about Perlite I won't tell you how they make bulk soil conditioners...

wow, finally someone made a post about using styrofoam. I have lots of styrofoam but was always worried about poisoning my soil and ultimately me.

Eventually the styrofoam may end up in a compost pile. I don't know what happens to it, if the styrofoam bearings are broken down or left alone to condition the soil once again.

I guess styrofoam is good for 3 things: packaging, napalm and as a soil lightener, but what happens when it eventually breaks down?

Originally posted by Chadwickus
As said Perlite is harmless, but dry potting mix can be very harmful to you.

There have been known cases of Legionnaires' disease caused by inhaling dry potting mix.

So, keep it moist and wear gloves.


PS. If you're concerned about Perlite I won't tell you how they make bulk soil conditioners...

One of my sons works at a plant nursery, handling potting mix constantly, and they had an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease from it.

It's very important to keep it damp, and I'd recommend wearing a new paper face mask each time you use it. They only cost a dime each at the chemist.

After using potting mix remove and bin the face mask, wash your hands at an outside tap, then wash the tap before turning it off. When you go inside, wash your hands under running warm water with soap.

reply to post by Kailassa


Strange, I've used pottig soil dozens of times, even dry potting soil, this is the first time I've even heard of Legionares disease, what are te symptoms?

Makes me think maybe thre is something chemacally dangerous with what they'e putting in potting soil now days.

-Lahara

plenty of things can go into potting mixes, from chip bark to coal dust, your best bet for potting mixes is a quality premium mix, cheap mixes will do nothing for your plants, raise the pots of the ground and don't let them sit in water as it can become soggy and a good home for fungal problems later on.
as good as pots are, plants in a good composted soil will always do better snd seem to taste better for some reason, it mayy have something to do with trace elements that you won't find in potting mixes, most potting mixes will also have chemical fertilizers in them as well, some of these can be petrolium based.

If you do decide on the old fashioned planting in the ground technique, stay away from chemical fertilizers and stick with organic and compost, liquid fish emulsion is a very good fertilizer for vegtables as is chicken manure.

good luck with it and remember to try and use natural pest sprays like pyretherum or garlic sprays, they don't have the systemic problems associated with chemical sprays that go through the plant.
you should be able to find easy recipes on the net for organic sprays, nothing worse than feeding caterpillars your fresh vegies before you get to try them.

Natural sprays will keep your plants organic, potting mix on the other hand may not.