Hon, everybody would rather have a straight answer. But we've all had to make our mistakes, and we've all learned to use the search feature on the forums. People get a little tired of answering the same questions from newbies over and over again. If you run a search on something and still can't find the answer, then it's cool to post a question.

Oh, and perlite comes from volcanos. You don't have to worry about burning perlite. The discoloration you're seeing is salts from the water/soil.