Seven months late, but thanks, @the_yard_guy! ;-) Gritty mix is wonderful. Thanks to Al and his generous sharing of this mix and 5:1:1, I have become a better gardener overall. It's not just about having things in these particular mixes -- it's that even in the worst of soils, I understand plants a little better. Even when my brain is YELLING that something needs to be watered and that it's drying up --- my experience with these two mixes and how little water plants actually can live off of made me a much better plant mother! This Pachira was one of the pots shown in the original "migration" to gritty mix. It's not enormous but it's never had a single issue or problem since, and it grows ever so steadily and healthily. I could bet that I'd have killed it about ~~~ 10 months ago if I hadn't switched to gritty mix. :) All it gets is some tap water whenever I remember, and a dose of Foliage Pro if and when I feel like it, which is usually no more than once a month. This gorgeous plant really needs for nothing more, apparently. These days, I have quite a few things in 5:1:1 and almost all of my succulents that I still have are in gritty mix. Not having any more pebbles or bark on hand anymore (which must be replenished!), I've also potted in ProMix HP for a lot of my newer plants. But how I treat plant has changed drastically since learning more about roots and what they need, and what they usually go through to survive because of my torture, haha. Especially over the last half year, there were many times I had to leave town for an extended amount of time, and it always intrigued me to see which stayed alive for 10 days without a drop of water -- and which, despite having been soaked before leaving, decided to sulk and/or die. Due to these absences, I gave a bunch of my plants away and kept mostly succulents and a few houseplants only, but it was a learning experience overall. Anyway - -just wanted to give Al yet another kudos, thanks and a big high five for all the information he shares! Grace

I can only recount my own experience. A few years ago I started to get significant pain in one foot whilst walking, which I treated with visits to the physio and gel packs, but which would come back very frequently. The ankle joint had become very susceptible to getting hurt and swelling. On a couple of occasions, I hurt it very badly and could barely walk for a few days or weeks. According to the specialist, my bones are slightly misaligned and cause stress on my ankle joints, which apparently is wearing away the cartilage and causing pain. In mid- to late October last year I started taking glucosamine and MSM on a daily basis (3 glucosamine, 1 MSM). After a short time I noticed a very significant improvement. I should say that, at around the same time, I also bought some trainers with an air pocket along the whole sole, since that kind of "suspension" helps me avoid sharp impacts on the ankle joints. The trainers are marvellous. They have undoubtedly helped. I also lost a little weight (dropping from 76kg to 70kg), but since I wasn't overweight to begin with I don't think it's very significant. The frequent pains have now practically disappeared. I no longer have to use gel packs and antiinflammatory cream on a daily basis (I hardly use them at all). The ankle joints have become much less susceptible to injury. I have only been to the physio once since October. The reason I think that the glucosamine & MSM have helped is that, even when indoors, when I'm not wearing the trainers, I notice a big difference. I can tolerate my feet and ankles being in positions (for example when seated) that previously would have caused pain. I also tried wearing more normal shoes for a while and found I could tolerate them without too much problem. I even tried some boot-like shoes that had previously caused my a lot of pain, and could walk with them for a week or more without any serious effects. It would be nice if the science were clearer on this, and if we knew why it seems to help some people, and not others, but in my case I'm prepared to say that it's helped, a lot. I think it's good to retain a healthy scepticism about all these things, but in my case I had very little to lose by trying it. For now, the results have been very convincing.

Hello Everyone,,, Did I hear...correctly? "ROSA" did she "WIN" Yea....I haven't been over here for a few days...and honsetly i thought another had the name in the "bag" LOL... I am so thrilled that my name as chosen...Thank's to JOJO post i found it out after reading her post up thread...That makes me very happy everyone!!! Ok...now...the winner...2 roundtrip tickets to the "Ponderosa ranch" LOL...oh..really..i know...To the islands to pick out my own "rosa" LOL...You guys and gals are the best!!! This was so much fum!!!...I have never won anything....The only time i do "win"...is when i am working and then it comes down to me or the passenger to turn off their electronic devices....i usually win then...LOL... But this takes the cake!!! I tell them...(Fereral offense...or turn it off!! LOL...) I usually win...or back to the gate!!! Then I still win!!! They are off of the plane!!! LOL>.. sorry didn't want to go there..LOL... I am thrilled...Thanks everyone who voted for "Rosa"... Thanks Mike.... : ) Laura in VB

The Schultz product supplies far more P than plants want or can use, which is reason enough not to use it, but it also lacks many important nutrients (Ca, Mg, and several micronutrients), and it gets it's N from urea, which tends to promote coarse growth and long internodes. It really is a poor choice as your 'go to' fertilizer for houseplants. The Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 is a FAR better choice. Even Miracle-Gro 12-4-8 which lacks the same nutrients missing from the Schultz 10-15-10 is a superior choice because the ratio (3:1:2) much more closely mimics the ratio at which your plants actually utilize nutrients. Also, Superthrive = snake oil. The question regarding the value of Superthrive as a miracle tonic for plants is often bandied about in horticultural circles. Over the years, I had read claims that ranged from, “I put it on my plant, which had never bloomed, and it was in full bloom the next day.” to, “It was dead - I put Superthrive on it and the next day it was alive and beautiful, growing better than it ever had before.” I decided to find out for myself. If you look for information on the net, you will probably only find the manufacturer’s claims and anecdotal observations, both so in want of anything that resembles a control. Though my experiments were far from purely scientific, I tried to keep some loose controls in place so that I could make a fair judgment of its value, based my own observations. Here is what I did, what I found, and the conclusions I made about any value the product Superthrive might hold for me. On four separate occasions, I took multiple cuttings of plants in four different genera. In each case the group of cuttings were taken from the same individual plant to reduce genetic variance. The plant materials I used were: Ficus benjamina, (a tropical weeping fig) Luna apiculata (Peruvian myrtle), Chaenorrhinum minus(a dwarf snapdragon), and an unknown variety of Coleus. In each instance, I prepared cuttings from the same plant and inserted them in a very fast, sterile soil. The containers containing half of the cuttings were immersed/soaked in a Superthrive solution of approximately 1/2 tsp per gallon of water to the upper soil line. The other half of the cuttings were watered in with water only. In subsequent waterings, I would water the “Superthrive batch” of cuttings with a solution of 10 drops per gallon and the others with only water. The same fertilizer regimen was followed on both groups of cuttings. In all four instances, the cuttings that I used Superthrive on rooted and showed new growth first. For this reason, it follows that they would naturally exhibit better development, though I could see no difference in overall vitality, once rooted. I can also say that a slightly higher percentage of cuttings rooted that were treated with the Superthrive treatment at the outset. I suspect that is directly related to the effects of the auxin in Superthrive hastening initiation of root primordia before potential vascular connections were destroyed by rot causing organisms. In particular, something I looked for because of my affinity for a compact form in plants was branch (stem) extension. (The writer is a bonsai practitioner.) Though the cuttings treated with Superthrive rooted sooner, they exhibited the same amount of branch extension. In other words, internode length was approximately equal and no difference in leaf size was noted. As a second part to each of my “experiments”, I divided the group of cuttings that had not been treated with Superthrive into two groups. One of the groups remained on the water/fertilizer only program, while the other group was treated to an additional 10 drops of Superthrive in each gallon of fertilizer solution. Again, the fertilizer regimen was the same for both groups. By summer’s end, I could detect no difference in bio-mass or vitality between the two groups of plants. Since I replicated the above experiment in four different trials, using four different plant materials, I am quite comfortable in drawing some conclusions as they apply to me and my growing habits or abilities. First, and based on my observations, I have concluded that Superthrive does hold value for me as a rooting aid, or stimulant if you prefer. I regularly soak the soil, usually overnight, of my newly root-pruned and often bare-rooted repots in a solution of 1/2 tsp Superthrive per gallon of water. Second, and also based on my observations, I no longer bother with its use at any time other than at repotting. No evidence was accumulated through the 4 trials to convince me that Superthrive was of any value as a “tonic” for plants with roots that were beyond the initiation or recovery stage. Interestingly, the first ingredient listed as being beneficial to plants on the Superthrive label is vitamin B-1 (or thiamine). Growing plants are able to synthesize their own vitamin B-1 as do many of the fungi and bacteria having relationships with plant roots, so it's extremely doubtful that vitamin B-1 could be deficient in soils or that a growing plant could exhibit a vitamin B-1 deficiency. Some will note that I used more of the product than suggested on the container. I wanted to see if any unwanted effects surfaced as well as trying to be sure there was ample opportunity for clear delineation between the groups. I suspect that if a more dilute solution was used, the difference between groups would have been even less clear. It might be worth noting that since the product contains the growth regulator (hormone) auxin, its overuse can cause defoliation, at least in dicots. The broad-leaf weed killer Weed-B-Gone and the infamous “Agent Orange“, a defoliant that saw widespread use in Viet Nam, are little more than synthetic auxin. See what Linda Chalker-Scott PhD says about it. Al