If you run the rootball under tepid water and gently remove the old soil before re-potting, you'll have no problems, at all. Keep one layer of soil in the pot, top to bottom. As long as the pot has drainage holes, no drainage layer of material is necessary or wanted. If you're worried about soil coming out of the drainage holes, slip a coffee filter or piece of screen in before adding any soil. Before I located all the ingredients to make my own version of Al's gritty mix I, too, used a locally available bonsai mix that was gritty. It was finer than Al's Mix, but adequate. It was rather expensive, however. I finally located what I needed to make a decent mix... I use Reptibark 100% fir bark reptile bedding, available at PetSmart... Manna Pro Poultry Grit granite chips, available at Rural King farm stores... and perlite, available pretty much anywhere. It took me a long time to locate the right ingredients... but I'm glad I kept looking! I adjust the ingredients according to what I'm planting and where it will be kept, indoors or out. And I use a weak solution of MiracleGro liquid plant food just about every time I water. I still check moisture levels very carefully... some rootballs hold a good amount of moisture for a good amount of time, depending on plant type, etc... I hope this helps... Hippeastrum and Amaryllid bulbs are my main indoor plants, but I also grow orchids and other plant types in Al's Mix... everything loves it! :-)

Sec - I'll go look. BTW - I'm glad you found the old thread. I didn't want you to think I was ignoring you on the other thread ..... It's just that it was already soo far off topic I hated to start any cross chatter. The cherrystone is called just that, and that's what it says on the bag. It's actually quartzite, and a little bit of Fe in the stone is what makes it pink/red. I like it better because of it's appearance. It's mined in MN by New Ulm Quartzite Quarries. http://www.cherrystonegrit.com/index.html Remember it's a concept you're trying to implement. If you can find 2 ingredients, one that holds a lot of water (Turface/calcined DE) and one that holds almost no water (like the grit) in the right size, and you combine them with fir bark, you've got it made. The ingredients I use are just the best I've found so far. If you get rid of the perched water in your soil, I promise your plants will be MUCH happier. I'm serious when I say I water my succulents every 3 days, right along with my other plants, and they do exceptionally well. They may not be as exotic as what you guys grow, I have bonsai to fill that niche, but they ARE healthy. You'll have the whole C&C forum on the stuff within a year. Best ..... Al

Awesome! Having a specific list of plants is so helpful. Completely agree with ez for the Echeveria and Crassula - you have a lot more to gain from a better soil like gritty mix than a bit of additional stress on the plants. For the Sedums, just be careful when you repot. S. morganianum can be pretty fragile but will grow back. Any leaves that fall off your S. rubrotinctum can be easily propagated by laying them on top of gritty mix. I'm going to assume that Senecio radicans is similar - people have mentioned using a bent paper clip to hold similar plants down, if they don't stay put in the gritty mix before the roots get re-established. Schlumbergera bridgesii will not do well in gritty mix, it's an epiphyte / tropical cactus. Normally grows on other trees in the jungle. Some people are growing them very well in just fir bark fines (same stuff as for gritty mix). Bark is very expensive in Canada, so I'm growing my Schlumbergera truncata and buckleyi using a mix of large perlite and granite grit. Rina suggested this mix to me and it's working quite well!

Hi Al, I’ve finally had the opportunity to reply with an update and wanted to thank you again for taking the time to share your knowledge and help explain the process and reasoning behind choosing a particular growing medium. I am always fascinated by the science of things and am looking forward to my ficus lyrata breathing easier. July 31 was repot day. I gathered all of my 1.1.1 gritty mix supplies, screened & rinsed the turface mvp & manna-pro poultry grit, & proceeded to make a huge mess trying to coax the zoo med repti-bark into smaller pieces using a 3-cup ninja food processor - - neither a quick nor easy endeavor. Some pieces did get smaller but not enough to justify the amount of dust that landed all over my kitchen, so the size of my bark is what it is. I want to stress that a dust mask is imperative for anyone attempting this, especially indoors, and also to note that I did not see any discernible difference in bark size between the larger (24 qt) & smaller (4 qt) bags (see picts below) Next I bare rooted what I thought was 1 plant and discovered that I have 2 separate plants - - and I did wind up doing some minimal root pruning after rinsing off all the existing soil. After drilling additional drainage holes all the way through the bottom of the attached saucer, I repotted both plants back into the same original glazed pot as I did not have the opportunity to get an all clay pot, nor did I have a 2nd pot available to repot separately so they will continue to be bosom buddies, at least until next year. In the hopes of lessening the weight of the pot and more importantly, the perched water table, I placed 4 small empty plastic water bottles at the bottom of the pot and added a cotton string wick through the main center drainage hole to help keep a check on moisture levels. One other thing to note is when I originally posted on July 25, there was no visible growth activity - the brown pod (for lack of a better word) felt dry, crispy & empty, but to my surprise, right after the repot, I noticed that there was in deed some growth activity taking place. I only hope I did not jeopardize the emergence of new baby leaves with this root running & repot! As luck would have it, I have to go out of town for 2 weeks and need to leave explicit instructions for my boyfriend who will be caring for my plants while I am away so I do have a few questions: ~ How long should I keep the plant in the shade or is it ok to keep it in bright light but with NO direct sun? Right now it is behind a UV solar blind and sheer linen curtain which creates a shady environment. ~ When can I introduce it back into some direct sunlight? ~ Should I water everyday until the roots acclimate & re-establish themselves in the gritty mix? What is the best watering schedule for now? ~ When would I start adding foliage pro 9-3-6 to the mix & should it be the production or maintenance amount? Many thanks to Al and all the other forum members for all the advice. I will update once I am back from my trip with any changes - - hopefully they are all positive ones. **having trouble positing picts so will try to add in separate post