Well I'm not in FLA, but plenty of folks here are.

I would ask pls. don't use sand, ever, it can cause lots of problems down the road, so do yourself a favor & forget about sand altogether.

Perhaps if you could suggest which particular succulents you're likely to grow, other folks can give more specific help. Not all succulents take the same treatment.

Yeah, I wish I knew what kind of succulents they were... I got an assortment at a big box store without any specific names. Here is the link to the assortment:

http://floridafriendlyplants.com/ClassicCreations.asp

The top picture shows several of the varieties I'm trying to grow...

I'd recommend that you do a search of this forum for "soil." There's been a ton of discussion about the problems with soils that have a lot of great information. You'll get a huge list, so just scroll down and read what others have to say.

I can see where if you are planting outdoors, you might want to do beds for your plants so you can group them according to what the plants need. Or plant in containers. There are people on this Forum who live in Florida, so hopefully they'll be able to better help you out here.

I lived in South Florida for 2 years, until recently. Mine were all potted up and outside with no issues. I used tapla's concoction - do a search for "a soil discussion" and you'll find his recipe. I buy the turface cheap on Ebay by bonsai enthusiasts. Good luck :) Christy

I am in SWFL and have been having mostly good results with succulents outside, both in ground and in containers.

It was not without some plant-deaths though. I have found that as long as I amend it heavily with perlite, it doesn't matter too much what else is in there. My lot has a ton of quick draining sand, which I know is normally a no-no, but I found that if I mixed in 40-50% perlite, I don't have any problems.

Lately I have been using the cactus mix you find at bbs's amended with plenty of perlite.

One piece of advice I'll give you which may save you some plants: when you buy a new succulent, loosen and remove as much of whatever mix they have it planted in from the roots. I even go so far as to rinse the roots under running water to get all of the peat mix away from the roots.

I have found that if I do not do that, no matter how good the soil I place the plant in, the peat surrounding the roots from its original container can cause rot if it's exposed to the summer rains we get.

As for mealies, at least for me, they have only been a problem when a nearby plant attracts them, such as some salvias I had. I'll find the occasional bug other than that, but a quick spray with soap, water, and alcohol takes care of it. Overall, they have not been a huge problem for me, and in fact, they seemed to have been less annoying during the hot rainy summer. Maybe the downpours continuously wash any away?

Good luck with them.

Thanks so much for the input! Appreciate it :)

I'm gonna take a stab in the dark at IDing some of your plants. Anyone else, please feel free to correct these if I get 'em wrong.

{{gwi:488907}}

ID #1 in the photo I have no clue on.
ID #2 I don't think we can see enough of for anyone to be able to positively ID it.
ID #3 kind of reminds me of a Euphorbia characias wulfenii "Tasmanian Tiger," only much smaller.

Thoughts, anyone?


*CG*

I found this video on YouTube about making a good cactus mix; the guy who made it is somewhere in Florida. Maybe it'll help you.

Cactus Soil Mix - Part I

Cactus Soil Mix - Part II