I do not always have access to pumice so I mix it up with whatever grit I have hanging around. Expanded shale. , washed 1/4 Decomposed granite , course red lava sand, perlite. I am not anal retentive. I am more of the "what's in the frig" kind of gardener. I do not know if you are in Florida, California or Texas. The quantities will be important to your location and how humid you are. I know Floridians who grow in 100% grit, and inland Californians who use more humous in the mix. Its a mixed bag here in Texas as U sit under the remnant of Hurricane Harvey who might be leaving 20" on me. I have also gone all summer often without summer moisture. Not this year.

I've got a more-than-a-coincidence story about cats! This happened four years ago. I had a pair of elderly cats which I had had since they were kittens. An out of town friend came to visit and brought me, as a house gift, a beautiful stained glass museum-art quality placque of two cats, a standing black cat and an orange tabby squatting at its side. (It is a famous painting; I just can't remember right now who did it). I hung it in the window and it catches light beautifully. Four months later, quite unexpectedly, one of my elderly cats died. I grieved for awhile, but then started looking for two new young kittens/cats (I always like to have at least two). I started searching the websites of several no-kill groups in my area and I found a pair, posted that very day, of orphans who matched the pictures exactly--a lanky black male and his much more roundish orange tabby sister. Needless to say they are the loves of my life. I adore it when they pose under the picture exactly like the "famous" cats!

Due to my frantic busy-ness to finish my final work for my computer graphics course AND then my getting a horrible virus complete with a high fever and very sore throat, I was not able to water my garden as often as I wanted to for the past month. Heck, I barely SAW my garden most days, just coming home and running for the computer to get more work done. And I'm just beginning to recover from that nasty virus. With the high temps we had, the denizens of my coir-lined elevated Garden Kitten wire basket became crispy critters. Bye bye purple petunias and pink calibrachoas, you will be missed. Sunken into my garden is a pot left by the 99 cent store junkie Chinese neighbors (they moved out and a very nice Chinese couple moved in), planted with Ruby Mantle sedum and Angelina, both succulents and therefore drought-resistant. THEY are trying to sneak out of their pot and become ground cover, which I do not want. The elevated spot in the Garden Kitten basket would therefore be ideal. But their pot is too big for the wire basket. Therefore, I was thinking of trying one of those new fabric pots, some of which are in very pretty colors, because hopefully it would be flexible and could be snugged under the wire Kitten face. Does anyone have any experience with these fabric pots? Could I leave the succulents outside for the winter as I did in their ceramic pot? Thanks for any info!

Well, I see them to be more like fabric not mesh, like Smart Pots. They are absolutely wonderful !! Great aerated roots!! Now, they do dry out faster! Plants are almost easier to get out of them since the pot itself is bendable. If roots come through bottom just soak the whole pot for 15 m prior to transplanting as you would a plastic container or/ root ball/ to loosen and moisten them happy roots . And some plants such as cacti and succulents tend to go in the ceramic /hard material containers, but I don't see why you couldn't use a breathable container anyways.