i purchased a magnificent 3 stem, black, spinach leaf aralia and a week later noticed EXTREME leaf drop.

i removed it from the nursery's container and discovered

root rot.

i lost two of the stems, but saved the third(largest) one with hydrogen peroxide and razor blade surgery.

i put it in a glass container w/ 1 layer lava rock, 1 layer charcoal and the rest is perlite.

it rewarded me with strong, shiny black leaves and is doing very well.

SO

i decided to do the same to ALL my indoor plants. went to the thrift shops and got beautiful glass containers. you can see the water level, they weigh one-third the amount of heavy clay/soil pots and grow like crazy.

there're no fugus flies or any other infestation with the perlite.

i've already had to repot (reglass) marantas and "dizzyies"

because they're growing so fast.

once a month they go outside and get "neemed", but are treated the same as you normally would.

PROS

perlite is inexpensive and can be reused over and over after being rinsed clean, glass comes in SO MANY different containers (shapes/sizes).

i pay anywhere from 35 cents to $3.00 for the glass vases.