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If I was to add perlite to lighten it up, what proportions would I use?
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I would guess that about 1/7-1/8 perlite would be plenty.
I mixed some up over the winter out of coir, earthworm
castings, and perlite, at 5 parts coir, 1 part earthworm
castings, 1 part perlite. Using it in newspaper pots, that
was easily enough perlite for good drainage, aeration,
etc. (The coir drains pretty well on its own, anyway.)
It could actually use another part earthworm castings
in there, 5-2-1 instead of 5-1-1. In newspaper pots,
equivalent to a 3 inch square pot that is 3.5 inches tall
and wicks water away from the potting mix, they dry out
fast at indoor temperatures under lights. I have been
needing to water every 3 days or so. This could be a hassle
if one were bottom watering a lot of seedlings in individual
pots. (Damping off is not going to be much of a problem,
though, with pots that dry out in 3 days.)
They also have looked like they could use a little more nutrition
than what is in 1/7th earthworm castings. Making it 1/4
earthworm castings would hold water a bit longer, too.
Potting up into plastic pots instead of newspaper pots changes
how fast they dry out quite a bit, remembering last year where
I had around 90% of the seedlings in newspaper pots and just
a few in 4 inch plastic pots.