I use sand and like it, although I'm always open to new ideas. The weight of sand helps anchor the very light foam pots I use for my VFTs. Perlite would be too light in this case: if the potting mix dried to just moist in a polyurethane foam pot such as I use, a strong gust of wind when the plant is outside could overturn the pot and spill out the plants.
I do agree with the following, however:
[b said:
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The cleanliness of sand is always tricky. It largely depends on the source of the sand and the actual composite of the sand.
I always examine some of the sand I plan to use or buy, with a jewelers'/rockhounds' loupe to look for sand particles that are not quartz (silica). If there are more than just a few grains of other types of rock scattered throughout the sand (such as conglomerate or metamorphic rock, which will probably be opaque and not translucent like the quartz/silica) I don't use it.
One good type of sand that I have used for a couple years is Oglebay blasting sand, #20 (medium). I do wash it first to get rid of dust and some or most of the dust-suppressant coating it has (which seems more like marketing hype than fact--I've never actually seen it on or in the sand, both dry and wet, nor noticed any adverse affects from its presence--if indeed it actually
is present!).
After washing and rinsing the coarse blasting sand, I add an equal amount (by volume) of dry sphagnum peat moss to the wet sand and mix the two well before using it to pot the VFTs. They certainly seem to like the mix.
So, I don't see anything wrong with using sand, myself. One just has to be particular about the sand one uses and avoid beach, riverbed, and bagged "play" sand (which looks like river or ocean sand to me, with lots of particles other than quartz (silica)).
Silica sand is used for stripping/cleaning sandblasting in machine shops and auto body/restoration businesses, as well as sometimes on golf courses for sand traps, among other uses. It is available at some home/garden stores and hardware stores or lumberyards, and one can always ask persons in the above-mentioned businesses where they get their sand.
Just my two bits--
Steve/xscd