There really shouldn't be any initial wetting issues with the gritty mix like there can be when other soils, including the 5:1:1 mix are allowed to dry down too much. Here's how that works: Consider that all ingredients are as dry as they get, especially the bark, as that is the only component that will exhibit any hydrophobia (water repellency). When you wet a completely dry gritty mix, the Turface immediately absorbs water like a sponge and becomes saturated, while the surfaces of the granite also become coated with water. This is always enough water to sustain the plant AND for some of the water to 'break' the hydrophobia of any bark that WAS water-repellent as water vapor diffuses from other colloidal surfaces into the bark within 10-15 minutes, leaving the soil uniformly damp/moist. This occurs much faster when the bark fraction isn't allowed to dry down much below 30% so the bark is never hydrophobic. If you ARE watering in a plant in a completely dry soil, it's probably a good idea to just water again an hour or so after the initial watering to make sure the soil didn't become TOO dry as water diffused from (primarily) the Turface into the dry bark. That said, when I do my repots, I have a tub of water nearby always, that is partially filled with a water/Superthrive solution - like what Al suggested. I set the pot in the shallow water in the tub and gradually fill it up to the soil level & leave it set in the water while I go about doing the next repot - then I remove the soaking pot & put the next pot in its place. Al

Sorry, BP. I get a lot of mail from GW, and the first thing I usually look at is whether or not you have your home page settings configured so I can reply to you. I didn't notice you'd included your email addy in the body of the message so I deleted the message. I just found it after reading your post. Please forgive? The most important advice I can give you is, the concept behind the soils many of us use is more important than the actual recipe. Distilled, the concept is based on the fact that water held inside of soil particles is not something we would consider as having much potential for limiting root function, and by extension, the well-being of your plants. Water held between particles, is a major contributor to root issues, with the severity of the issues usually linked closely to how much water is held between particles and how long it is held. By increasing particle size and promoting uniformity in particle size, we can eliminate almost all inter-particulate water AND control the volume of intra-particulate water by choosing what material the particles are made of. This concept continues to have a major influence on the ability of growers who understand it and use it as a tool, to consistently bring along healthy plant material. If you have questions or want to understand how it all goes together, there is an ongoing discussion here. Easy (inexpensive and sourced near): - sand, garden soil - granite or small river stones/ quartzite - scoria or red lava rock (i can't find pumice) - coconut husks (shell/ coir) - rice husks/ hulls (some nurseries here grow their coleus in pure husks and i must say theirs look better than mine!) More expensive and harder to acquire: - perlite (though i find it pricey here so i only got one bag and i'm not planning to use it for long term) - "orchid bark", pine bark And... i cannot find turface here. This one stumps me. What can i substitute for it? DE is a no go too. Based on the material above, can you recommend and acceptable mix? When you're building a mix with the idea you want water inside of particles instead of between them, obviously, you'll need some ingredients that can absorb and hold water, and the size of the particles as well as the range in size is also in play. You need particles large enough that the spaces between the particles (macropores) will be largely empty of water. It also does you little good if you carefully screen one or more ingredients, then add sand of topsoil to the screened ingredients. You end up pretty much with a soil that has the drainage and aeration characteristics of a soil comprised of only the fine ingredients, unless the volume of fine ingredients is closely controlled. Let me know if you have questions about what I said so far, please; and tell me about dry/wet seasons and what you think would be an acceptable interval between waterings. Sometimes, practices that offer the best opportunities for plants aren't within what the grower seems reasonable, so compromises need to be made. It's better to work within those parameters from the outset. Al

Yes, I do. I have a nice big porch, which will be perfect next spring. I believe I am in zone 6A, it's starting to get quite chilly here in the evenings, and it is hurricane season, so we've had a couple very windy days, since they aren't used to being outside, I think I'd keep them in for this year. I don't want to do more damage at this point! Your succulents are gorgeous! Do you use grow lights through the winter? I've been debating whether my south facing window is enough. When it's sunny, it gets plenty of sun, but the winters here are often grey and over cast. Someone on the succulent Facebook group I'm on recommended sunblaster grow lights, so I've been thinking about possibly giving those a go! I've had at least had some luck propogating! I bought some leaves off Etsy, was given some from friends, and picked some up off the floor while I was buying my succulents at the hardware store. Nearly all are now rooting, and I've got some cute little babies starting! And thank you socks! I'm trying to get this right!!

Hi again @tropicofcancer (6b SW-PA) ! I cut a square of mesh from an onion bag I had, worked great, thanks! You were right, not much root development, so I made sure to trim only a little bit and was able to repot late Friday night. I waited until Saturday morning to flush with water and then set it outside on my fire escape. Unfortunately, the fire escape is the only place I could leave my plants outside. A couple of further questions: When will it be okay for this guy to get direct sun again? I haven't watered it since Saturday. When should I water next? Or better yet, does it need to stay moist while it is getting acclimated? 2/3 stems are slanted. Should I stake them straight up? In one of the pics below, I circled the "wrinkling" that appeared on 2 of the stems while in the previous soil mix. Is this due to salt pulling water from the stems? How could I help the 2 stems recover from the trauma? Does this mean the roots will no longer take up water? Does this mean the roots are vulnerable to sunburn? Hypothetically, if I would have removed the bottom leaves, which were the first to show signs of salt/mineral trauma, would that have slowed down the traveling of the salt/minerals upwards? I am asking this because 1 of the 3 stems does not show any signs of wrinkling on its' stem. This stem also had a combo of more root development and fewer leaves. Not sure if there is a correlation there but I found it interesting and wanted to see if anyone could chime in with the science behind what is going on there. In another picture below I circled I think is called the apical meristem (PLEASE correct me if I am wrong). This stem in particular is in the worst shape of the 3. I noticed the shealth was extremely crunchy and hard - - Is this also a result of the salt/mineral build-up? Or a nutrient deficiency perhaps? Or is it the surrounding environment that causes this in plants? The plant doesn't have any signs of shock from the repot (yet). I am holding my breath but so far, so good. I apologize for all of the questions - - I am just very curious! Thanks for reading all this if you have made it this far lol roots: roots cont'd: my outside oasis aka fire escape: close up after the repot: What does the shriveling circled below mean? too much of a slant here? Should I stake it straight up? Crunchy apical meristem(?) :