Lava rocks or pumice are better then perlite. Perlite will break down sooner.I'm gonna try some of the lava rocks when my bag of grow-stones are gone.

Thanks, Jimmy!

Would you add the Orchiata bark to the mix or just pumice, long fiber coir and biochar?

I am using the Great White and molasses every other week and Foliage Pro mixed with Neptune Kelp the other two weeks.

Thanks!

I love lava rocks, but I can't find a local source for the size I want (1/8-1/4"), so I'm saving the rest of lava rocks I have for my succulents. Perlite is easy to find and cheap. Any decent nursery should have a coarse grade or similar sized one. Once I got a bucketful of super coarse perlite (>1/2"). It was way too big for me, and I ended up breaking them in pieces by hand (because I have that kind of time) until I found a better sized one at a local nursery.

As a person who has way too many left over potting mix ingredients, I'd like to suggest you make up a mix with what you already have and water it and see how you like it before you buy many different ingredients. I am actually thinking Orchiata straight out of a bag without anything added may work just fine for me (except I may add biochar). But this is only for Orchiata. Other barks I used dry up too fast.