I use the term "cult status" advisedly, because that is exactly what has grown up around that particular mix, for reasons I frankly do not fathom. I'm not sure why it bothers you. It may be a bit hyperbolic - but its not an unwarranted observation. The name calling on the Container forum over True Gritty is just ridiculous. The in-fighting even gets mentioned on other forums, not other gardenweb forums, but totally separate gardening forums. People don't post on there about alternative mixes because they don't like getting beat up over the One True Gritty mix. There ARE other alternatives to both that and the 5:1:1. Cornell has its suggestions for container mixes that don't really resemble either one. Somehow I don't think Cornell is being run by a society of idiots. Other mixes DO work - and can work well. Heck, even many bagged mixes can work well for the short to medium term - by the time they're depleted you should be doing a repot anyway. I don't appreciate being told that I'm planting in "pudding", "junk", or "crap", which is what all non-Tapla recipes eventually end up labeled as - especially given that I haven't had problems with sickly plants or problem container mediums, unless I bought them that way. And then fixed them. WITHOUT the use of Turface. You know there is a lot of work being done with sapwood - whole tree - mediums. They're actually getting good results using whole pine tree mulch as a significant component in container mixes. It just requires a slight modification in fertilizing practices. Even hardwood sapwood can be ok as part of a potting medium - as long as it has been sufficiently composted first. There's more than one way to skin a cat - or to make a potting mix. To quote a paper I read recently: "Ultimately, the right potting mix for ... containers ... is one the grower learns how to manage." My unwillingness to "manage" True Gritty mix doesn't make the mix useless or inferior in any substantive way - but it also doesn't make me "ignorant", "lazy", "uninformed", or "too stubborn to change". All of those epithets are routinely applied to folks who can't or won't toe the One True Gritty line. Josh, "the balance of moisture retentive to moisture reducing ingredients" is NOT "off" in my gritty-ish mix. I was SPECIFICALLY aiming for a more water retentive mix. Tapla has specifically and repeatedly stated that True Gritty can and should be modified to be more water retentive in situations that call for it. Being "too moisture retentive" isn't even the issue anyway. The problem is that it is still too heavy and I don't like the way the top dries out - again a common complaint with True Gritty, not just my gritty-ish mix. And this is almost exactly a Tapla-suggested alternative Gritty mix anyway. And - despite having more moisture retentive components - it STILL drains far too freely. For my purposes, anyway. HA! Found the link where Tapla talks about a...

I've added cedar shavings (the kind found in the pet supplies for about $2-3) to many of my plants when I repotted them and never encountered any problems. I never added much, just a generous handful or two, depending on the size of whichever pot I'm using. I'm not saying that it's the best choice, just that I've never had any problems from using it. Back when I still used perlite in my mixes, I only added it to the lower half, to two-thirds of the soil, where it stayed buried and out of sight. I never added it to the top third of the soil because it always floated to the surface whenever I'd go to water my plants. But now I refrain from using perlite at all; the only exception being my orchids. There's nothing wrong with using it. I just got tired of it being in my soil mixes. I would recommend using Miracle Gro Orchid Mix (coarse blend), it's pretty cheap and works great. Ironically, I don't use this for any of my orchids. For them, they get much better quality materials. But for my other plants, it works wonderfully.

Somegu Some cat litter could be used instead of turface. Perlite has different water holding capacity than turface, approximately half. Perlite is not substitute for turface, but one of good ingredients to use for fast draining mix. What plants are you making mix for? What other ingredients are you using? You didn't say where "here" is? :) Read here - click me about different substrates, including cat litter (and also name and availability of it in different countries).

Hey Russ - yes, I like not only the outcome of the turface, but the simplicity! I can order a 50 pound bag and it will be enough for a couple years I think. I do filter using a mesh strainer - I know some folks get really technical and use bonsai sifters, but I haven't felt the need thus far. I separate coarse material for relatively mature plants and the fines are used for cuttings. Some cuttings, I use unsifted turface, such as jades: I figured they need the fines to start rooting, but need more drainage than the average cutting. I haven't lost a single jade cutting using this approach. I have some azalea cuttings, euonymous, and bougainvillea that are all doing well in turface fines, simply sitting on my front porch (no extra cover for humidity, getting dappled morning sun). My Fernwood (or japonica) sans put out a lot of new growth including a flower when I switched to turface from Gritty Mix, but I haven't tried my trifasciata or cylindrical in turface yet. Al (Tapla) talks about gritty mix on other threads; I'm going to try to paraphrase, and hope I don't misinterpret anything. Bark is the organic that holds a lot of water, but is slow to abosrb, which is why we often soak bark before using it: otherwise all the water runs right over it and out the bottom. I believe one of his stated reasons for granite, beyond drainage without holding water for longer periods, is that it does hold drops of water on it's exterior after watering which can be absorbed more slowly by bark. AKA, it helps bark absorb/retain water. However, when I've repotted plants in gritty mix, I've found the top to be dry and sometimes more moisture (not humidity) in the lower parts of the pot, presumably because of water sitting on granite. Conversely with turface, it gets absorbed quickly, it doesn't sit in drops or pools, and it gets released slowly/consistently as humidity, which is what roots want: a combination of H20 and O2. That being said, Al is many fold more knowledgeable than me - these are just my musings as I spend way too much time watching my plants ;) Regarding "improve other aspects of care," I think your right, people have more access to ideas and information, this thread being a great example. I look back on the way I approached my plants a few years ago while I was just starting to absorb information from this site and other sources, and I've made great improvements (with a long way to go still). So while I learned here that no amount of perlite will fix miracle grow (at some point, the plants simply fall out of the pot because the perlite is so light!), I also learned a lot of other things, so it is hard to compare the results I had with soil to the results I'm getting with turface.