Wheels are spinning here.... what if I did a chow mix consisting of coco and peat, chunked up with hydroton and/or perlite -- then added the air??
Like you're saying cave, I think the air will make the biggest impact near the bottom (gravity, water), but I think I need to be sure the air source can drain since it might fill with runoff. Maybe just vertical tubes that run from above soil and out through the bottom with many small holes, or large holes with screens? Like columns, maybe linked like a manifold.
Waayne... thanks for posting your experiences......I'm just guessing, but maybe the reason this doesn't make a huge difference in soil is b/c of compaction? Just a thought. Maybe if I did a stone with a pocket of perlite surrounding it, placed a couple inches beneath the transplant. I sometimes find that the core of my pots is the least populated by roots (most shoots head to the sides and bottom), and assumed it was b/c of the lack of o2 in the middle of the container... noticing this is how I got to thinking about adding the stone.
