Pushrestart wrote:James,
Thank you so much for sharing, Im still trying to work out my mix situation, and since I like to make my life difficult I ask several different growers how they tend to their plants. And as we know every grower has a completely different approach and potting ingredients (with some common ground).
You are welcome.
I have always used very open and porous media in order to insure superior drainage and root aeration. No matter what the composition of the growing medium, it is important to keep the need for excellent drainage and good aeration constantly in mind.
Over the years I have used countless soil mixes for my container grown cacti. Most have performed very well. The plants that I grew some fifty years ago in Victorville, California (high desert approx. 90 miles north east of Los Angeles) using my mix of the day (actually Tegelberg Nursery mix) ..........
1 part coarse desert wash gravel
1 part desert plant leaf mold
1 part desert top soil
.......... were as as robust and healthy (as were most of the cacti I grew at that time) as any I am growing today.
Of course, your own selection of a soilless mix should be based on the specific requirements of the plants that you cultivate, your growing environment, your climate, where you maintain them and the type of containers you use.
James