These little balls were from a large bean bag that had its life ended after some 12 years of use and abuse.  I experimented with it at a proportion of 3 styrofoam to 1 of potting soil mix.  it holds no water, much less than perlite does.

All my cuttings did well in this experiment by comparison of my other methods. It also worked well mixing some into the gallon pots also.

I will try again. If this works, no more need of mining for perlite for me!

What you think?

Those do provide air for sure, I would be very cautious in potting outside because they also dehydrate very quickly , once the pot is warmed up from the sun. It can fool you  and you would end up very dry soil. But if you are in cooler country it will def work because it will prevent overwatering.

Grasa,
I really appreciate it when you find us more earth friendly choices.
Thanks

What material are they made from? 
I doubt that they would be food grade and I wonder if the chemicals would leach into the soil and be taken up by the plant?

Well, I have to research a bit more, although, I know that many other materials are mixed into the store bought soils, such as vermiculite (asbests) and people throw garbage, plastic and whatever in their compost bins... those go to a plant and ground up and mixed in soils that people buy the truck loads for their gardens.

I only use these as an experiment and it did help my roots not get sogged. I do not intend this to be a mass production rooting method, nor I intend this to be a model for others. 

I see that they do not break down. I recycled some huge planters given to me, perhaps with plants for over ten years. whomever potted those, used huge blocks of styrofoam at their bottom, perhaps to fill some of the space with lighter material.. and after moving all the soil.. there they were still with original format.

Biodegradable or not, I don't think they harm the plant anymore than 'sluggo', gnat control poisons (gnatrol, etc),  chemical fertilizers, etc. or would they?

I value all input about it.

WOW,   as long as that stuff is going to be with us we might as well use it in the ways that are least harmful.  I would think in pots is better than in seas and water ways, or melting it.   Did they know the life of styrofoam when it was introduced?  Don't you wonder why it's use was not restricted? 

• Paper Bag: 1 month
• Cardboard: 2 months
• Wool Sock: 1 year
• Tinned Steel Can: 50 years
• Aluminum Can: 200-500 years (But if recycled, it can be reused within 6 weeks!)
• Disposable Diapers: 550 years
• Plastic Bags : 20-1,000 years
• Plastic Jug: 1 million years
• Glass: 1-2 million years
• Styrofoam: 1+ million years

I think I saw that million year old plastic just sell for a ton on ebay....

Wow if it doesn't breakdown for 1+million years, that will make a lot of landfill sites given the rate we are making it.
Maybe re-use is not a bad idea as long as it is not leaching out toxins.  

I've seen some wholesale growers use styrofoam instead of perlite, mostly as a cost saving measure. To my knowledge it performs the same role as perlite in aeration, but not quite as well since it is not as porous. For your purpose though, looks good!

Personally/professiomally, I wouldn't see a problem using it in a rooting mix, but I would hesitate to use it in larger containers and definitely wouldn't use it in ground since it can separate and rise out because it is so light and non-porous (especially after a hard rain). There may be slight chemical leaching since it is essentially plastic (oil), but I wouldn't expect it to be much different than using plastic pots and so forth.

I think Styrofoam provides a very good aeration. But I have never researched the toxicity it might provide.

I used these and they worked great.  These beads are small, less than 1/4 inch in diameter.

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/Bag-of-Beans-Bean-Bag-Fill-in-100-Liters/1018371960?Keyword=bean+bag+filling