i am adding perlite and vermiculite to my garden soil. i am just curious if this stuff would disaolve or lose its effectiveness if i added it at the end of the growing season when you till up all your plants. i want everything ready to go for next year, but not if my perlite and such are going to lose their properties by being in the ground for so long. any thoughts?
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.
