After calling a garden centre who tried telling me that perlite and vermiculite were the same (though I was sure they had very different properties) I decided to research. Thank you so much for your very watchable video and clearing that up!

I thought I knew all about perlite and vermiculite because I did quite a bit of research, but this video gave me so much new information. Thanks!

I’m studying plant nutrition and root development at the moment your info has been absolutely great thanks

Vermiculite is also anti-fungal properties, making it good for potted plants. It is often mixed with perlite and peat moss and used to make a sterile, non-nutritive substrate for propagating cuttings.

i start my own seeds so the vermiculite tip is a great one. I also use MI Gardener seeds

Wow! Thank you for this video! I had no idea the differences in perlite and vermiculite and when to use them!

The compost suggestion is spot on. Even mulching compost on the surface seems to reduce compaction underneath (probably from protecting the soil and stimulating microbial life). Just something we've noticed at the community garden.

I have been growing many plants for years and I never knew there was such a stark difference in applications between the two! So much of what you spoke of in the video will be helpful to me, from plants having picky medium requirements to reducing fungal gnats. Thanks a bunch

Luke I agree with you 100% on your last tip. Adding vermiculite to the top layer of your plant starts works very well. I grow hundreds of plant starts for my customers and it's crucial to not have fungus gnats using vermiculite on the top layer is very helpful. Very original, I am not sure if I've ever seen a vermiculite versus perlite comparison.😎😎

Very nice video and thank you. Just need to say. Perlite actually does a great job in clay soils. While you are correct the large particles will float. Finer particles can and do blend very well with clay and provide the desired benefits over the long term. I'm a manufacturer and research is being done and has been done. Agricultural grades are available but you have to call a manufacturer.

I was just mentioning to my husband that I wanted to get some vermiculite this weekend. I’m still new to germinating seed so having my ideas confirmed like this is a confidence booster! Ty!

Found your channel in 2015 and still here, still learning alot from you. Really appreciate you. God bless.

I always thought they were interchangeable, and only added vermiculite to my potting mix. Thank you for this info! ❤and congrats on hitting 400,000 subs!❤

My basic potting mix is two parts coir and one part coarse vermiculite. Coarse vermiculite has excellent drainage properties, while fine vermiculite does not. Coir by itself has pretty good drainage properties, too. For succulents and cacti, which require more drainage, I add gravel with particles ranging from one to four millimeters in diameter. Nothing finer. The reason I use gravel is that succulents tend to be top heavy. Their leaves and stems are ninety percent water and are usually very thick. If you have a plant over a foot tall, this means that the center of gravity will be six inches above the pot, and usually off center as well. If you have a jade plant that is always toppling over, you know what I mean. Using gravel puts weight in the pot and lowers the center of gravity of the plant and gives it better balance. I avoid perlite for a personal reason. When I was about 13 years old I bought a set of cacti in 2 inch pots. When I got them home, I found that I could not water them. The surface of the soil was stone hard and impervious to water. What had happened was that the green house had used a soil mix that was (I would guess) three parts fine perlite to one part peat. As the plants were watered enough perlite had floated to the top to form a layer about five millimeters thick. By itself that would not have been so bad, But our local water is very hard. over time As water evaporates from the soil surface, it leaves behind a crust of calcite crystals. Calcite crystallizing around perlite granules form concrete. That's how we make lightweight planters. There was a crust of very hard concrete about 5 mm thick over the top of each pot. By the time I chipped all the concrete away from the plants, they were so seriously injured that they couldn't be saved. To a thirteen year old in nineteen sixty, that was a big loss, And I've had a sour taste about Perlite ever since. To be fair, I've bought thousands of plants planted in perlite since, and I've never seen that happen again. Addendum; I have stopped watering my plants with tap water. Instead, I run my water through a reverse osmosis/deionizer filter. This gives me water with O ppm TDS. I have been doing this for three or four years now and my plants love it. You may have heard that watering plants with distilled or purified water is harmful to plants. I can tell you from direct experience that it is not true. The reason is that by the time the water passes through the soil and reaches the roots of my plants, it is no longer pure. It picks up fertilizer and other compounds from the soil as it passes through.

Thank you SO much for this wonderful, concise explanation of perlite and vermiculite, especially since--like you said--zillions of web sites claim that they're interchangeable when they are NOT. You do such a great job of explaining them and I give you my heartfelt thanks!

Luke this is just a GREAT video- so informative & helpful to us novice or semi-novice gardeners Thanks Heaps Cheers Denise - Brisbane Australia

I'm genuinely surprised you haven't reached a million subs yet. With the professional grade quality of your vids I thought for sure you would already have a million subs! I have no doubt you'll reach one million soon!

Wonderful information, Luke! I love how detailed you are in the way you teach. Thanks!

I had heard of both and seen them used but I had no idea really what they were and why they were used. This is extremely useful, thank you.

This was very helpful. Sometimes I don't know what I don't know. With that, I greatly appreciate finding those who share their knowledge desiring others to succeed.

Great information! I purchased a tower garden where the seeds were placed in rock wool with holes and vermiculite was given to put over the seeds. Now I know why thanks to you!

This is one of the best explanations I have found on these products. Thanks for taking the time to share what you’ve learned

“Pound-for-pound, this has way less weight...”. That’s some miracle soil amender ya got there!

You did very good explaining the difference in those products. I use peat and vermicalite in my containers and raised beds along with my compost. Perilite is very good for sticking cuttings it makes wonderful root systems.

Thank you for this explanation. You have saved me a lot of time, energy and money! I really appreciate understanding this.

At last a very clear explanation about the difference between perlite and vermiculite. Well done!!

I was mixing both in with my seed compost now... I shall mix in the perlite and sprinkle the vermiculite. Thank you for this really useful info. :-)

great idea to use the vermiculite on top of the seeds. I am going to give it a try.

And yet another excellent video. Awesome job Luke. You've got a knack for doing this! 👌

These are always ur best videos in my opinion. Ur very good at splaining! ❤️

I used perlite in my cactus type pot in my house. I used 1/3 perlite, 1/3 peat Moss and 1/3 Potting mix. Everything in the pot is doing AMAZING. I have a few small cacti and a plant called purple passion that went from a sad plant in a tiny pot to a literal jungle of what are almost vines growing everywhere! The only thing that didn't survive is 1 type of the 2 kinds of orchids I planted in the pot.

Luke, great topic. I don't think I've seen as good of an explanation of the best uses and differences between these two products. Thanks!

Thank you so much. You seem like a very trustworthy source of information, and a good guy overall. I can see why you have almost a million subscribers.

Extremely well done video. Very informative. I consider myself an experienced horticulturalist having earned a masters degree in agronomy. Truthfully, I learned quite a bit from this video. Many thanks!

Thank you so much. I had taken a class years ago at our local botanical garden and I remember it taking forever for them to say what you said in this video. You Rock!!! ❤😍❤

This is really good information. We use both, and in different applications. The addition to our garden really helped with the quality of our seed starts and transplants!

Very well said. This is a very accurate video. He does his research. I live in an area with Clay soil. Only thing that helps is compost. Works like a charm over time.

Your explanation is much better than I got on a comparison at a website. It defined them but never got to the comparison of uses.

Absolutely brilliant and well communicated knowledge. Thank You for your patience! Perfect! I already had perlite on the way via Amazon for potting soil and this is spot on.

Good to know, I learned a lot and can correct my own thinking now. Thanks! Appreciate your channel!

Great vid! Thank you for all of the information! In the square foot gardening method, the developer recommends nearly 1/3 vermiculite for the soil mix and I wondered why. This answered my questions.

Brilliant! Clears up the muddled ideas I had about those two. Thank you!

Thank you! Great video and so much info. I will definitely be getting both of those to use in my potting and seed starting mix.

Wow, thanks for the information I only knew the white stuff was usually in potting mix

I'm loving your channel! I've just tried perlite for the first time on some Frangipani seedlings, they loved it. 👍🌱

That was THE MOST Clear Informative/explanation on the mystery of Perlite and vermiculite! Thank you!!!

Thank you for the information Luke!! This has been extremely helpful as I’m trying to start a raised bed and container growing area for my parents in Houston and wondering how to stay ahead of the heat waves 😎

I'm just about to plant carrots and was worried about germination...I'm totally going to try vermiculite. Thanks for this information!

I am definitely going to put this on top of the soil in my potted plants. I normally use 3 to 4 drops of alcohol in a quart of water to water my plants with and it kills any fungus gnat larvae but it's a constant battle and sometimes the plant doesn't like the alcohol either. So thanks so much for the info. Love your videos. Just placed an order for seeds from your website. I can hardly wait till they get here. Keep up the good work.

What a great video. When I saw your title I panicked because I was talked into a HUGE bag of vermiculite today at a nursery and I just came inside after10 hours of potting and adding this to my whole container garden. Thank goodness I did the right thing. I had no idea about this helping deter fungus gnats. I learned so much from this video!

One of your best vids. Tons of facts that I didn't know. Thanks man.

I did use perlite for growing palm seeds >> But not any more !!! Still learning and here I go again !! Thanks for the video !!

Wow. That answered many questions I had regarding this topic. The part about adding vermiculite on top of the soil for young plants, trees, to prevent fungus gnats was very educational. I added some vermiculite to my small forest trees immediately after seeing this clip. Thank You for sharing your Knowledge.

great explanation of the two materials. I usually like to toss vermiculite in my seed starting or potting mix but do not use it in huge amounts. I like vermiculite to store dormant bulbs or overwintering tubers - works great dry & stored in containers with lids & holes for air.

Starting my first seeds (ever) this weekend, this was timely!

I like to use vermiculite for leaf propagations (added to peat) and perlite to help with drainage in potting mixes, although I really prefer pumice for that because it doesn’t float to the top of the soil over time, unlike perlite. Never thought of vermiculite as a preventative for fungus gnats, I’ll have to share that with my customers. Great video!

That you for explaining the difference between vermiculite and perlite!!! I recently brought into the house herbs to use during winter along with some tropical plants and was worried about bugs and water retention in the pots. I will add a layer of vermiculite to the top of each pot. Have learned a lot from your videos! Thank you and Happy Holidays!

Thanks for the info! I've been using a soil blocker to start my seeds this year, which is great for eliminating plastic seed trays, but the blocks do dry out a bit. Vermiculite may help!

Thank you so much for this! I did not know this. The information on fungus gnat prevention is especially welcome.

So I'm one of the dummies that thought they were the same thing... no wonder my raised beds dried out so much last year... (currently putting vermiculite in my shopping cart...) Thank you for the knowledge you share!

You have me excited to get going, great video and thanks for sharing.

This is fantastic information! I really needed to learn this because I'm about to put in raised beds.

THANK YOU for his information! You kept me from wasting my time and money by adding perlite to my clay soil.

Great information. Thank you for explaining the difference between vermiculite and perlite, I had tried that 'Mel's mix' in the raised beds when I first started. I guess I never really understood what I was doing I just followed the expensive recipe. Since my original gardens, I have moved to a clay soil area. I am going to try just adding compost and peat moss to the existing soil. The core gardening method has really helped keep the moisture levels up so far.

This was a great video. It was entertaining yet at the same time educational.

Good info on these. This has really bern needing a clear explanation for a long time. Sharing with my gardening neighbors. I do have one caveate that needs to be added regarding vermiculite when it's wet vermiculite smashes down into a mush and super easily so it looses those impirtant qualities needed as a potting soil amendment. Bummer I know, but it's a good reminder to not get over zealous when we press the soil down. Better to only lighlt tamp it or even allow it to firm up through watering from a mister or bottom watering system when vermiculite is present otherwise it renders it useless. I found the difference in retail seedling mix vs ProMix and other professional mixes to be night and day. Whitney farms, a company that was large local company producing soil and potting soil amendments and media had the best seedling mix on the market. I have to hunt for it now or make my own. One more note regarding clay if I may. We here in the Willamette valley and Columbia River Gorge region have two types of clay, the less common one is the real sticky type that doesn't drain well. The other is one whose structure forms columns and drains pretty well, though not quickly enough for some things. Raspberries can grow well in it with no problem. Woody herbs not too well. The soils class in college mentions sticky clay is what responses to the gypsum. The other type can be amended using a recipe the growers at Joy Creek Nursey hust outside of Portland discovered and still recommends today. 2" of 1/4 minus crushed rock (any kind of rock...so pumice, granite, etc). FYI if folks are wondering, the minus means the rock has been washed of fines that are good for making the clay into bricks. Anyway...2 to 3 inches of best grade compost you can afford and mix that into the top 6" of soil. It makes a huge difference, and those sharp edges of the crushed rock actually aid in an increase production of feeder roots. Mulch with compist or wood chips, not bark chips to continue building the health of the soil, and for those Medeterainian woody herbs use oyster shells. (Living near the coast has it's benefits) Please forgive my hyjacking. Just sharing in addition may benefit someone. I am always learning something knew and did from your video today too. Thanks for being sovgeneroys with this information Luke.

Congrats for 400k subscribers! That’s a lot!

This video was super useful. Thank you for explaining this. I really like your channel.

Thank you so much for such an educational video clarifying the differences

great explanation of the two! I learned a lot by reading the square foot gardener, but you explained way more. Next year I'll remember to find finer perlite for my starting mix. I had trouble last year and I think that was partly why. I'll also cover seeds with vermiculite like you just showed. another great video! Thank you!

Thank you Luke, I’m going to go back and try again with my failed celery starts and cover the seed with vermiculite on top of the soil! Maybe they will germinate after all!

Good video friends. Thanks

Best video about perlite and vermiculite. Learned so much.

PERcolate W/ PERlite! I could never remember which one allowed for better drainage until now! You clarified a lot of questions. Thank you! Might I add a suggestion and correct me if I'm wrong ... a layer of vermiculite could be added to the bottom of flower pots to act as a water sponge to help prevent potted plants from drying out.

This was incredibly helpful, thanks Luke!

Where I live we have very clay dirt, and so to get it lighten up and workable I added a lot of Pete moss and then I also added some potting mix. So after all that it became great place for me to do my gardening. It no longer got hard as a rock in the summertime, plus it took a lot less water.

Fantastic explanation. I needed a refresher course!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. I didn't know some of the applications for vermiculite. I have used perlite in my raised beds soil mix before but not vermiculite. Totally gonna use when planting my carrots!!!

Good video explaining the differences. I just built some raised bed and I am fixing to mix up a super soil to add to the beds. I bought both perlite and vermiculite to add to my mix.

This was awesome and I think prevented me making some mistakes as I am planting daffodil bulbs.

I am so glad you cleared that up for me!

I really found your video very interesting and I learned a lot about the difference between vermiculite and perlite. Thank You!

I use both for amending my potting soils. Works great.

I had to purchase those things but wanted to make sure what their uses are, gets confusing between the two. Now my doubts are clear. Thanks for the video 👍

I love these videos. I subscribed. And, I can't believe Nev from Catfish is teaching me about gardening.

Thank you for those excellent information, I appreciate, Ferdinand

Excellent info, I use both in my raised beds.

Thanks Luke. My seed starts got "crusty" in my indoor heated garden room and I believe vermiculite will be a good solution.

I’m a new subscriber. And I have to admit that it took me three rewinds towards the end of the video to really concentrate on how vermiculite would help reduce fungus gnats. I was busy watching you. Haha. Kidding but not kidding. Useful video for me! I really like getting down to some scientific basis behind general explanation and I found it here. Thanks a lot.

Luke, you had me cracking up at 10:41! 😂😂😂 Sometimes dogs just want to get a word in! Thanks for the info. I never knew the difference! Cheers from zone 8a! 🌞

Thanks for the info. I had no idea what vermiculite was for.

Great video. I use vermiculite to start with my lemon seeds this year and it worked great.

Wow! Thank you!!! I live in the high sandy windy desert of Northern Nevada. Over the years I have put a lot of $$ into trying to make a “soil” including what we call Nevada Black Gold... aka, local aged cow manure. I use raised beds & after years have finally got a decent “soil”. And Huge bags of bot perlite & vermiculite. Thank you for explaining the difference AND usage of both. Always enjoy watching you & even tho we’re in different areas, I do. Learn a lot from you. I’m a little behind lol but stil enjoy. Have a great day. Nevada Mema💖

Thank you for this timely video!

Fantastic information ,I wish I saw this before I was doing an assignment regarding these two in my horticulture class 😂

Really great information for this newbee gardener!! Thanks muches!

I used compost to get rid of one patch of clay in my garden and it worked wonderfully.

We use both vermiculite and perlite in our seed starting mix. Works great to keep seedlings get going.

Thank you! Will definitely have to try vermiculite to prevent fungus gnats.

Great info thank you !!! I would love to see a video on how to amend different types of soil!!