Horticultural Perlite by Pennsylvania Perlite Corporation

Description

Horticultural perlite is a grade of perlite developed for soil conditioning and other horticultural uses.The use of horticultural perlite has gained wide acceptance with nurserymen, commercial growers, landscape architects and florists. Perlite is a unique volcanic mineral which expands to about 13 times its original volume when it is heated to a temperature of approximately 1700°. During the heating process the mineral particles pop like popcorn and form a granular, snow-white material so light in density that it weighs only about 5 to 8 pounds per cubic foot. Each particle of perlite is comprised of tiny closed air cells or bubbles. The surface of each particle is covered with tiny cavities which provide an extremely large surface area. These surface cavities trap moisture and make it available to plant roots and to the stems of cuttings. In addition, because of the physical shape of each perlite particle, air passages are formed in the growing mix providing optimum aeration.