Besides water and soil, are there any other materials that you can use for rooting plants in? I'm doing an experiment so they can be kind of wacky materials.
Neither perlite or vermiculite will dissolve by spring. So its a great time of year right now to till them in. Neither of them actually dissolve, but in time ( many years ) they will break down. They don't add anything to the soil other than to help improve drainage. Happy Gardening.
I prefer adding soil amendments that have an organic content, like leaves, straw, compost, newspapers, lawn clippings, etc.. Perlite seems like an expensive soil additive. I didn't know you could still buy vermiculite, I thought it was mostly banned now because it has asbestos in it?? Well, maybe it's available where you live. Both perlite and vermiculite are/were used in potting soil, where the soil goes through regular cycles of being watered and then drying out. I suspect, though, that when they're in your garden, they're going to fill up with water, and then stay that way. Organic material does the same thing, costs less, and provides nutrition, too. For those reasons, I wouldn't use either perlite or vermiculite in my garden soil. Get some leaves, compost, manure, straw, newspapers, etc., and rototill them in now if you still can, and your garden will be fine by spring.
