Could someone please explain the differences between these two things to me? Are they interchangeable? What are the benefits of each of them? I haven’t been able to find vermiculite in stores and it was recommended for starting my daylily seeds. Thanks for your help!
Vermiculite v. Perlite
Vermiculite is very fine granules. Very light too. Looks a lot like sand only doesn't weigh anything. Perlite is much larger, more porous I think, and also very light. It will be very white colored. Both absorb a lot of water and let it out slowly to plants, cuttings, seeds, etc. Perlite is usually mixed into potting soil whereas vermiculite is nearly always used alone. Some people say that vermiculite gets slimey after a while but I have never found that to be so. Woody cuttings are more apt to be struck in perlite I think. Seeds are most often started in vermiculite then moved up to potting soil in greenhouse settings. I bought vermiculite at a garden center many years ago and still have a lot left.
Perlite is a synthetic product where as Vermiculite is a mined product. Both respond and provide the same success. Back in the old days of where I live Libby Montana mined Vermiculite and it was full of asbestos. Today (I hope) they have eliminated that issue. I use Perlite.
As far as I know, the only way they have dealt with the asbestos issue is to import it from Africa, instead of using the Libby mine. Perlite is a mineral, too. It's a kind of volcanic glass that's super heated until it expands, forming the tiny pores that hold water. Vermiculite is heated that way,too. I always wondered about the etymology - verm means worm in Latin, maybe the little holes formed when it's heated have something to do with it.
Oh thanks claypa. I assumed wrong. I do not use vermiculite. I see the Libby mine disaster every week in the newspaper.