Why experienced gardeners refuse expanded clay: the best option for drainage

In the past, this was a fairly common picture when flower growers, in addition to soil in flower beds, also collected expanded clay at construction sites.

This material once proved itself as an excellent drainage for indoor plants. Now it is easier to buy it in a store, but experienced gardeners do not even look at it.

Expanded clay has almost no disadvantages, but there are more practical materials. We will tell you what is better than "light stones".

Is drainage necessary?

Not always. Sometimes it is enough to drill a couple of holes in the bottom of the planter and you can fill it with soil. If you can’t do without drainage, then before you go for expanded clay, find out about alternative options.

Advantages of expanded clay

It is a light and cheap material. It does not conduct heat or cold, copes well with excess moisture, and does not rot.

Alternative materials

If necessary, you can even use broken bricks, crushed stone or pebbles, coarse sand, and even foam plastic chips.

But there are no such pronounced advantages as expanded clay. For the most part, these materials are heavy, and, what is worse, they lack heat-insulating properties, which means they conduct cold and heat. If you fill a pot with such compositions, the roots can overheat or, conversely, overcool. Another disadvantage is that they cannot improve the quality of the soil.

Which is better?

This is why experienced gardeners prefer more advanced compositions, such as perlite or vermiculite.

Perlite is a volcanic rock, and vermiculite is a layered mineral. They not only solve the problem of excess moisture, but are also used to loosen the soil.

As a result of their use, not only moisture but also air exchange improves. At the same time, the materials protect plants from temperature fluctuations.

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• flowers
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• 1 February 2023

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