Is this an effort to reduce perlite dust for greenhouse workers? To keep costs down? At first thought, I figured the bits were probably waste material from the production of styro cups or coolers, but isn't styrofoam "trash" easily recycled back into the manufacturing process? If so, they're probably charging about as much for the bits as their primary product. Although I have a negative opinion at the moment, I would be happy to see this as a positive if someone can explain the benefit.

Your thoughts / info?

ZM

dry media filled flats with seed .. or emerged plants

that by the ton of containers ..

there would be a significant weight difference ...

just making up numbers.. but a semi truck full of plants weighing 1000 pounds less.. on the long haul ...

pure unadulterated speculation

ken

You should think of perlite as a contributing amendment.

Perlite is a natural product and provides benefits, styrofoam beads are litter. No, it has nothing to do with a miniscule difference in weight in trucks bearing floral products. It has more to do with a soil manufacturer's profit margins.

Watch out for this stuff, especially if you buy a lot of annuals, which I don't. I got these plants at a large store whose name starts with L that most people have near them. Please don't berate me for not shopping at my local mom & pop garden center. I did exclusively that for years when I lived where there were some. The one here is closed. I was at L's to buy a water heater, and grabbed this flat of pansies as in impulse. They were on clearance for $5.99.

I wasn't comparing styro to perlite as an amendment, just wondering why the substitution had been made. Although I'm not a fan of perlite, I understand its' popularity in hydroponics and container culture. All of my container dirt gets put in my compost pile eventually, and I don't like looking at the white bits on the ground.

Thank you for contacting me regarding the plants that you purchased. I apologize that you are upset because you found bits or pearls of Styrofoam in your potting mixture.

We are aware that Styrofoam pellets along with perlite and vermiculite are some of the items that are often added to the soil mixture for aeration and water retention. This is a common element in most potting soil and especially potted plants or flats of plants. I will document your concern for review by appropriate management.

If there is anything else that I can do to further assist you, please let me know.

lowes is a hardware chain .. not a nursery ...

i am impressed they bothered to reply ...

ken

ps: we will know we have succeeded in enabling you.. when you move on from bigboxstore.. and start mail ordering .. and i will bet my shiny penny.. that you will not get Styrofoam from such ... lol

When I'm interested in something out of the norm, I'll visit the locally owned garden centers or consider mail order.

But I do have to ask Purple why she was buying pansies at this time of year, in her location. ;-) Instead of in October or November, I mean.

Well, they were on clearance for $5.99. That's not a bad price for a whole flat.

The pansies I bought last Feb. did great until late summer, and I got much more bang for my buck out of them than a lot of other stuff, like Dahlia tubers. The violas I bought in Oct. are blooming like crazy.

Chiding me for shopping there or critiquing what I bought or when I bought it won't change the fact that somebody high-up in corp office in the gardening department is spreading these falsehoods as fact. Just wanted to alert the people who shop there (wearing scarves and dark glasses to hide their identity) to the situation. If you don't care, that's fine, move on. If enough people complain, they might stop doing it. Now that you know, you might be able to help someone who's wondering why their plants are struggling, or why their dirt is full of styrofoam.

Now one of my pots has 3 diff Coleus, a Caladium, a Dahlia, violas, snapdragons, pansies, sweet potato vine, and an Alternanthera.

The styro-pansies are not doing well, always wilty.

Don't know why the Caladium is burning. It was fine last year.

That interveinal necrosis could be a nutrient deficiency of a specific element. Some possibilities are phosphorous, calcium, sulfur, and manganese. A tiny diluted dose of a soluble nutrient formula that contains a complete range of macro and micro nutrients might be appropriate. Several over-diluted doses over a period of time are better than a single strong dose. Sometimes too much can be worse than too little.

Another possibility could be insects, such as leaf hoppers or thrips. A close inspection of the underside of the affected leaves with a magnifying glass might be in order.

ZM