There is an alternative/substitute for turface which is available most places: That is Calcinated DE sold as Oil-Dri at auto parts store. I have bought a bag from O'Reilly's called "ULTRASORB". I am not doing any Gritty stuff though, just mixing it in some of potting mixes. I have done some testing on UltraSorb. One pound of it will absorb one pound of water. It will not fall apart, even after freezing and thawing. After it is saturated, it will provide a good drainage for the excess water.

Thanks, Jeni - I really appreciate that. It's kind of funny. I think all of us are influenced by the feeling that because "good, rich, black loamy soil is a blessing in gardens & farm fields alike, it should follow that something similar should be coveted for our containers; so it's no wonder that people tend to gravitate toward soils that look like compost - and the darker the better. Enter the gritty mix, the very antithesis of the aspirations harbored for our garden soils, but something that makes far better sense from a scientific perspective, if we have the inclination to think about it for a moment. I've been growing in the gritty mix for more than 20 years, and experimenting with soils a few years longer. If it was required, I'd travel a great distance to obtain the ingredients for the best soil I know how to make; this, evidenced by the fact that I live in the crotch of MI's mitten and travel around the big lake to MW of Chicago to get my bark. Fortunately, everything I would need to make the gritty mix is readily available here, so travel isn't required, though I still do buy enough fir bark in CHI to keep me going. Where I was heading with all this is, at first glance, the gritty mix doesn't LOOK like anything you could grow anything other than fringe plants that subsist on the most meager of soils. With it's 2/3 inorgainc fraction, it doesn't LOOK like our preformed vision of what a good houseplant soil should look like. Surprisingly though, it's the most productive soil I've used for houseplants (succulents love it) and all my other woody plants; AND, it has the added advantage of being the easiest soil I've found to grow in, while at the same time being most forgiving of any errors I might make - especially where over-watering and fertilizing are concerned, two areas where the less experienced often end up in the ditch. It's always good to learn or see that someone has put science to work FOR them, instead of shoveling against the tide, and it's good to see you're getting comfortable enough with the mix to want to make it a regular part of the program. As you become more familiar with it, you'll almost certainly be able to grow in your ability to fully utilize the soil so as to get all the benefits it has to offer, and if necessary, adapt it to your specific and variable needs. Best luck - take good care. If you ever think I can help with anything ....... Al

Ok great :) Had 2 other questions pop into my mind. Just to get to the smaller details. 1. Say we have 15 seeds in a cell. 2 of 15 pop on the first day. Are we leaving the bag sealed, for say a week? To see who else comes up. Or do we open at the start and the rest will follow? 2. Concerning the fertilizer. What type of delivery system do you recommend? Spray bottle - or drip in to not get it on the seedlings. Not sure if the seedlings can handle foliage type feedings. And thanks a lot for the input. I sowed 20 Porodia Haselbergii about a hour ago on the GM. I got about 1000 seeds from mine this year, so using them for experiments to weed out some potential future problems. Thanks again Doug

Murphy9999, grafting takes a lot of practice to master. If I was you I would not attempt to graft a rainbow tree now. I would practice with NOIDs to master grafting first. Two things to keep in mind when you graft. Make sure to sterilize your knife, the scion, and the rootstock with alcohol. Do not use alcohol on the cut, it penetrates and kills the plumeria flesh. The best cut to use is the slanted cut. You must cut at about 30 degrees for best results. You get 30 degrees when the cut height is twice the diameter of the rootstock (so the thicker the stock the longer the cut). If you cut at 30 degrees the scion and rootstock support each other and you do not need any other kind of support even for very large scions. For best results not only you must establish good contact between the scion and the rootstock but you must maintain it over the first three weeks. Use a couple of nylon cable ties over the graft to maintain contact. Once you made the graft put a newspaper bag or other plastic bag over it to keep in humidity and keep the graft from drying out. You can Google grafting plumerias and get all kind of information how to do it. Good luck. George