Connecticut Cactus & Succulent Society
CULTURE & RESOURCES

The Bookshelf

The CCSS maintains a library of new and gently used books for sale to members, which can be accessed at this link. You can navigate between different categories by clicking on the tabs at the bottom left of the sheet. Orders must be picked up in-person.

The CCSS Seed bank

Free cactus and succulent seeds for members! See this link for details. Seed donations always welcome.

Informative Guides

Cactus and Succulent Lighting Needs

Cactus and Succulent Plant and Seed Sources

Growing Cacti and Succulents

Growing Christmas Cactus

Growing Epiphyllums

Growing from Seed

Soils for Succulents

Watering Efficient Succulent Mix

All Guides

CCSS's favorite potting mix

By David Schultz

A frequent question that is asked by members, new and more practiced, and visitors to our show and sale is “What soil do I use?” There is no ONE answer; Every member has a slightly different mix and sometimes slightly different mixes for different plants. The MOST IMPORTANT factor is DRAINAGE and above all, the various choices of grit, pumice and expanded shale work toward that goal. If you have a soil mix already and are concerned if it will work, you can test it by taking a handful of the mix, wetting it thoroughly holding it in your hand and forming a “mudball”. Opening your hand, the ball should fall completely apart. If it does not fully collapse, it probably needs more drainage material added.

The recipe for the soil mix that the CCSS has used and offered in the past is, on the whole, rather simple, consisting of 3 different materials. The term “parts” below refers to any container or scoop you choose to add the components. I usually use a 5-gal bucket to mix it up in and the “part” container is a sour cream container.

- 15 parts organic potting material. The CCSS has been using coir (dried coconut fiber) as the base since it is fairly neutral and does not degrade quickly. See the following notes for other suggestions.
- 7 parts Espoma Soil Perfector (ESP in the following notes)
- 4 parts #2 or #3 sharp sand. Again, see the notes for more description and options.
- Optional: (1) part Osmocote or superphosphate pellet fertilizer

Stir, shake and mix all of the components thoroughly. A container with a lid that is secure is most helpful for the mixing. For much larger quantities, a clean concrete mixer is also very handy, although out of the scale for most of us. The 5-gal bucket is often available with the lid and cleaning a sheetrock joint compound bucket works well.

Notes:

Organic matter: The coir will need to be soaked for a number of hours before use to thoroughly wet the material and break it up completely. Overnight works best. Commercial cactus mixes are generally not ideal as they do not have enough drainage material. These can be used as the organic base in place of coir. Also, Metro-Mix, Pro-Mix or any other peat-based soil mix would be a good starter. One caution: peat-based soil mixes may be difficult to re-wet if they have become very dry, so adding a squirt of dish detergent to your water before that first watering after a dormancy period will be a good idea.
We are using Espoma Soil Perfector (ESP) as one of the components. It is available as a soil additive from some nursery centers (not Lowe's or Home Depot). ESP, norlite, solite and haydite are some examples of expanded shale. These are lightweight expanded shale aggregates whereby mined shale is heated to very high temperatures and “blown up”, resulting in a rather porous and relatively lightweight ceramic aggregate that is a very good replacement for pumice. It is generally a darker color (dark gray or brown) than pumice (dirty white to light gray). The expanded shale products are being used in hydroponics, as soil additives, and as a replacement for sand in concrete and concrete blocks to make them lighter. Natural pumice, sold as Dry Stall (NOT Stall Dry) through Agway for horse stalls, was our first choice but is no longer available, except as an horticultural additive at a much higher price. Other alternatives are vermiculite or perlite, both of which have long-term issues that are somewhat negative: Vermiculite breaks down to mush over a period of time and perlite is very light (and bright white), floating to the top of pots. Another alternative that has been used is kitty litter. Be certain that it is a baked variety and does not contain any chemical deodorants. The stability can be checked by soaking a handful in water overnight; It should NOT turn to a mushy mess! Turface can also be used and is available as a soil additive.
The grit that the CCSS has been using is #2 sharp sand from CT Sand & Gravel in South Windsor, CT. You can use builder’s or tube sand available from Lowe's and Home Depot, among other builder’s supply locations. Do NOT use play sand or beach sand, as the sand grains have been rounded over and will compact (allowing you to build sand castles with wet sand). You can also use chicken grit which in our area is crushed granite. It is available at some feed stores (e.g., Blue Seal, Agway) as either crushed granite grit or chicken grit. The "grower" or "layer" size grit would be ideal.