crushed seashells instead of perlite?

I was thinking about adding a thin layer of crushed seashells on top of the soil for fungus gnat prevention, added reflectivity, and for added moisture retention. I did this with perlite and it seemed to work quite well. Anybody have experience with this? Need some opinions.

Interesting I've heard of people using sand for that. Try it and let us know how it works out. Oh and I'd make sure the shells were very well washed so there's no salt run off.

By the way, is your avatar really a guy with boobs? (Not meaning to be offensive but that's what it looks like to me.)

It's just a chick with abs, don't see how it's a dude.

will the plants care about the extra weight? I mean it is basically the same density as gravel.

anybody else?

that's a cool idea man

I don't see why not, you seem to have nailed it on the head, good reflectivity, good drainage, shouldn't be a issue with the plant at all as far as I would think

If I had a hoard of shells or lived close to the coast I would try this right now let me know what you decide.

We use plain old sandbox sand at our shop. half inch layer keeps all the gnats away and the plant really doesnt seem to mind.

BadAndy said:

We use plain old sandbox sand at our shop. half inch layer keeps all the gnats away and the plant really doesnt seem to mind.

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I would definitely try this if I lived near a coastal area. It shouldn't hurt the plants.
Not only would I wash the shells, but sanitize them with a very diluted bleach solution (something like 1 cup of bleech in a 5 gallon pail of water). It doesn't need to be much bleach to sanitize the shells.