Packing Peanuts?

[sonorajeep]

An old timer told me to use packing peanuts instead of perilite to save money and its supposed to hold water better.You crumble them up of course. Anyone heard of this? I already transplanted two plants into bigger pots with the packing peanut mixture.

 

[ptg701]

If you are going to use packing peanuts, be sure to use the environmentally destructive Styrofoam ones.

If you use the bio-degradable ones made from vegetable starch, they will dissolve the first time they get wet.

 

[TorturedSoul]

An old timer told me to use packing peanuts instead of perilite to save money

Around here 4-cubic foot bags of perlite go for ~$13. If you mix it into your soil at the rate of 30% it gives you 100 gallons. IOW, $13 worth of perlite is enough for 20 5-gallon buckets. Well, more than that since people often leave an inch or so unfilled. Do you grow a LOT?

and its supposed to hold water better.You crumble them up of course.

That part makes sense, because perlite isn't for holding water - it's for promoting drainage. (Which is good because cannabis likes well-drained soil.)

 

[sonorajeep]

I usually grow outside, but this is my first inside grow. I live pretty far from a big town, more than an hour away, so if I forget to buy something then I gotta get creative or order it online and wait. Thats why I have alot of packing peanuts because I forget alot.

 

[TorturedSoul]

I do like the recycling aspect.

 

[lingus]

I usually grow outside, but this is my first inside grow. I live pretty far from a big town, more than an hour away, so if I forget to buy something then I gotta get creative or order it online and wait. Thats why I have alot of packing peanuts because I forget alot.

And you forget alot because.......

LOL

 

[bucktoothal]

I use to do this. What I did with the soil was compost it. It became a hassle to get all the peanuts out of the soil. I now just use the peanuts on the bottom of my pots so I can get them out easier. I use cat litter now just the basic stuff with no additives. works gr8 for me so far.