Description:
Perlite is siliceous volcanic glass engendered from volcano eruption, it is named for its distinctive concentric cracks that is similar as pearl’s. Perlite ore includes perlite, obsidian and pitchstone. After heating to high temperature, perlite expands into the new style light weight material. It’s non-toxic, odorless, fireproof, heat insulating and sound absorptive, and also with low heat conduction coefficient, stable chemical property and application in wide temperature scale, etc.
Function:
Perlite is a soil-free growing medium that has helped to add aeration to soil mixes for years. It's created by air-puffing volcanic glass to create an extremely light and porous material. It has one of the best oxygen retention levels of all growing media because of how porous it is.
Its weight can be a downside in certain hydroponic systems where water interacts directly with the growing media, causing it to shift around and wash away. Because of this, perlite is rarely ever used alone – typically it is mixed with coco coir, soil, or vermiculite ;
Main Properties:
Item |
Index |
Bulk Density |
40-120kg/m³ |
Moisture |
≤0.5% |
Thermal conductivity |
≤0.22W/M·K |
Color |
White |
SiO2 |
73.64% |
AL2O3 |
12.09% |
K2O |
3.94% |
Na2O |
4.14% |
CaO |
1.04% |
MgO |
0.07% |
Fe2O3 |
1% |
Less on ignition |
3-5% |
Size |
1-3/2-4/3-6/4-8mm |