Observances of Perlite in Monterey Cypress Grow Out Pot

[Firstflush]

I have been growing out this Hesperocyparis Macrocarpa out a few years from a seedling. It was up potted from a standard 1 gal to and 8x10” ~2 gal a few months ago. To try and mimic its native habitat soil of sandy, rocky, gritty and fast draining I experimented. I was not going to mix up a full inorganic batch of soil due to cost per volume and the fact that we are in the desert here in CA and need some water retention.

I ended up using a cactus/CA natives mix with maybe 40% perlite added…medium particle size. Previously, I had not experimented with perlite at all with any volume and since I have a big bag I wanted to try something new.

My observations:
You get an initial puddling on the service. As the pore space gets saturated, in a few seconds, the water heavily flows through the 8” deep pot. Based on this, I can imagine in 1-3” deep bonsai pot would drain almost instantly. It does float away, so it must be mixed in.
The approximate soil volume of 2 gallons is dry in 3-4 days. I would say that is very good drainage for that amount of volume. All together, I am very happy with this thrown together mix.

Lots of fines in the mix, but it appears I have good drainage and aeration based on the above.

Do you think the root growth/division will be slowed down due to the fine grained material.

 

[Eckhoffw]

I would say your mix should do just fine.
Is it the best?
sorry, not much help

 

[Firstflush]

Oh I’m sure it’s not the best, but I was pleasantly surprised by form and function.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Likely. Pore space decreases whenever there are differing sizes of constituents in the media.

How much… only time will tell. Despite mixing, perlite tends to float every time one waters. Things should sort out in a month of watering.

How much? Try this.Water a specific amount of water and collect the runoff now. Try again in a month and two months a see how the data matches up.

Cheers
DSD sends

 

[Firstflush]

Interesting….the drainage has gotten better over the past few months. Everything has settled in.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Good!

My bet is the perlite has floated, except for the parts trapped by the roots, and the constituents have sorted out. The amount of sorting also depends on much vigorously one waters

I've noted happens even when potting my azaleas in nursery mix, except the fine roots of the azaleas tend to traps more particles then most other trees.

Cheers
DSD sends

 

[Firstflush]

So you think the buried perlite has lifted up, because it floats, opening up the pore space.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Its a thought, sorting of particles soils I believe is very well documented. Especially if you are like me, inclined to water vigorously and long.
We have a very talented member @markyscott who wrote a really interesting thread on media, pore space et al that was turned into a BNut resource a couple years back.
See the first here
The second, the reference sheet here

Hit the Download button on the upper right corner to access these information. Hit the active link in the discription to go to the actual thread.

This information is a must read. I read through it every winter, just for fun.... being a recovering science teacher.

Cheers
DSD seends

 

[QuantumSparky]

.... being a recovering science teacher.

Hopefully you didn't just suddenly quit teaching science, you need to make all your required Deco stops before you can come to the surface of non-academia

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Nah. It was my third career.
Retired once again and hung up my shingle and went to Fiji for 30ish dives on a really nice lifeaboard. Did all my deco stops via Nitrox mode on computer there
Cheers
DSD sends