In a gritty mix, it's really best to fertilize with every watering because the plants don't get any nutrients from the gritty mix like they would from a regular bagged mix. I also use Foliage Pro and I put 1/4 of a teaspoon per gallon of water, but some people make a stronger mixture like 1/2 a teaspoon per gallon of water, it's really just up to you. Poultry grit is the same thing as chicken grit, so you are good there. :)

Do you have a balcony or porch at your apartment that allows for some space for your plants? Cause you can always buy or make a compact plant stand to hold your plants. Cause as most of us know, having just a couple plants is almost impossible! Haha. It's an addiction!

As Gibbons mentioned above, since there aren't any nutrients from the gritty mix I'd add some every time I water.

This does bring up one question I have though, the wood bits DO break down eventually; do they provide any nutrients?

Oh yes, I do have a balcony. That's the only place I really get any sun so I usually try to keep my plants out there during the day. But I'm worried about what would happen if I accidentally leave them out there when it rains. Will they be okay in the gritty mix if I were at work and they are stuck on the rainy balcony? Not sure it that would really damage them.

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But some of them still seem to get slightly etiolated, regardless. Makes me a little concerned for what'll happen come winter.

And thank you so much for the reply! It definitely helped with any confusion I had regarding fertilizer. I'll follow your 1/4th of a teaspoon for the moment. I figure starting out using a smaller amount might be best for me at the moment.

I also have another question! This time about sifting all the ingredients. Will this work okay, or do I need something with bigger holes to sift out the smaller grains?

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If you could put a quarter or penny on top of the mix it would help us judge the size of the particles better. Plus, even though with the gritty you fertilize JUST ABOUT EVERY WATERING, you do want to flush the mix every so often with just water. if you search Al's gritty mix it should explain everything. Don't quote me but I believe he says that when you flush you should flush with 10% more water than what the pot holds (something like that) that way there's no build up from the fertilizer. Hope this helps ya!! :)

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So I was super lazy and decided to stay in all day instead of get the turface. But at least I sifted and rinsed what I do have! I think I may need to cut the bark into smaller pieces? Let me know what you think.

I think I did read about flushing the mix with just water, but I had been reading so many different threads about gritty mix that I think I stopped retaining any of the information I was reading haha. Thanks for bringing it to attention! I'll definitely make sure to do so. Thank you.

You're welcome! I'd say MAYBE a hair too big on some. But since I've only switched to the gritty mix the beginning of summer I'm gonna let the PROS answer that part. I would think that you might get away with that size but as I mentioned, I would wait for an experts advice. Sorry I couldn't help you on that one!

The bark looks nicely sized but the grit could be screened one more time to get the itty bitty bits out.
Which fir bark is that? Commercial or did you get them from a place that sells in bulk?

I use a small sifter with holes around 1/16 for the turface and grit and found that it has been doing a fairly okay job. Hope that helps! Some of the larger pieces of turface in my mix were around 1/4; your bark will need to be smaller than what your mind think is an 'okay size' (or atleast for me lol).

Keep a ruler nearby! It helps :)

best of luck!

Sugi_C - It's Repti Bark I bought from Petsmart. I think I'm going to have to chop it up a little bit more though.

IMCF - I just found a strainer that seems to have holes about 1/16" so I'll try my hand with that. I didn't realize how much time and work this'll take! My back hurts already haha.

To answer your question about Gritty and rain, that's one of the beauties of it. No waterlogging of the mix no matter how much rain it gets (within reason). Consider it a free flushing. Just remember to get back on the fertilizer fairly soon unless you're withholding water and fert thru dormant periods.

What can be bad though is constant moistness PLUS cold temps. If it's raining everyday for a week and it's 40 degrees out, I'd bring them inside. Give them a chance to warm up and dry out a bit.

Also keep in mind how heavy Gritty pots get if you get ambitious with anything over a gallon or two. You think your back hurts now.

How big is your sifter? Are you sifting through entire bags in one session? maybe you can grab a bin to catch the fall-out so you can sit down in front of the tv while you're sifting...should help with the back pain :s

I seldom fertilize my succulents, other than the Christmas Cactus and the Dragon Fruit, which are watered frequently and copiously. The more consistently one fertilizes, the more consistent one's plants' growth will be.

Josh

panda

I would worry a little about your plants on the outside ledge of the balcony...won't they blow off if windy?
Just double-checking: there are drainage holes in the containers, right?
You could use mix of grit+turface even without bark. I have many in mix of only grit+turface, or grit+turface+perlite.
In your zone you should have still time before bringing them in. And unless there is rain every day, they could stay outside day & night.
I am in zone 5b, and only brought plants in few days ago (temps overnight between 40-50, but it was raining a lot - combination of too wet+cold is the killer).

Rina