I hope you didn't fall Helen. I came close to falling this week at Dollar General in the same situation. The water was dripping off the roof but frozen on the sidewalk below where it was shaded. The parking lot was wet so I didn't expect the sidewalk to have ice when I stepped up. It just looked wet. My feet slid out two different directions and I don't know how I didn't end up on my backside.

I DID fall on a grocery store parking lot once but there wasn't ice, just a little puddle of oil where a car had been parked that was leaking. The lot was slopped there and I went down with my arms full of groceries. It didn't hurt me. Thank goodness there was no Youtube back then. lol I learned to watch for oil. It's as slick as ice.

Recommended on the Container Forum here, in 2009 I bought some Oil Dry at Sam's Club to use in a special potting mix, as a replacement for Turface, which is hard to find. Oil Dry is used in garages to soak up oil spills and does a good job. Looks just like kitty litter and has no odor properties, as it's pure clay. It was ridiculously inexpensive for such a large bag --much less than litter. We had been using the ice melt product for years and it had affected the mortar on the steps and concrete on the driveway to the extent I had to have all the bricks and mortar redone last summer.

I throw it down on the steps before and after snow/ice and it gives me good traction. You could use kitty litter, but this big bag will last you for years and years.
Sunny

Thanks Sunny I'll look for that. I have looked for Turface before. Ridiculously inexpensive sounds good. How did it work out in your potting soil. I am afraid I would use it up for that. Christie I'm glad you weren't hurt.

Well, I never used it in a potting mix -- you also had to have odd things for it, plus thoroughly soaked "pine fines" and I sort of dropped the ball. Someone thought Oil Dry wouldn't hold up over time like Turface does, but who knows?? It sure holds up over snow/ice--

Helen, let us know when/if you make "Al's Mix" -- people swear by it.
Sunny

I made a mix with pine bark fines, peat, perlite but the micronutrients part confused me and I don't think I added much lime. I don't know if that is the Al's mix but it was Al's recipe. The lime I had was pelleted. For fertilizer I used Tone's and some osmocote. It looked good but it is hard to compare pots. I do such a variety of things and have no memory. One time in winter I was out of potting mix and Wal - Mart and Lowe's had theirs shrink wrapped or frozen solid. I used some coarse sand from the creek and a mixture of odds and ends. My coleus cutting grew like mad. coleus like moisture but it doesn't want soggy. I will never repeat that because I don't remember exactly what I did.

i use a somewhat modified 5 1 1 mix by al for container plants. we don't have pine bark fines readily available but sta green at lowe's has a tree/ bush mix that is 60- 65 % fines plus a little peat mixed in. i doubled the perlite amount in al's recipe. i had more pepper plants/ fruits then i could give away. bet the gritty mix is even better.

william

Thanks william. I couldn't find the pine bark fines again. I got a bunch at Wal-Mart on sale and it was so old the plastic on the bags was rotten. It was heavy full of water and hard for the boy to load. I never did find that brand again. I will look for the sta green. I am not happy with the Expert mix I used to get at Wal-Mart. It is now in 1.5 cubic foot bags instead of 2 for the same price. Also sometimes there are big splinters of wood products in some potting mix. What did you use for fertilizer; did you find the micronutrients Al uses?

sorry to get off topic with sunny's original post but it is slow and winter is here.

helen- sta green has different mixes. get the tree and shrub mix. comes in a green bag and i think the bag is about 7 bucks and it is 2.2 cubic feet. good pricing and a good amount. i used a 3 1 2 fertilizer and i think mg is just that. lowes also carries the micronutients. they come in different names and packages. just read the label. they are in the same section as the displayed fertilizer areas.
this mix really drains.
hope this helps.

be aware that the seed racks went up in walmart here yesterday. let the fun begin.

william

William do you have an Atwood's there? I have already hit the seed racks and the catalogs. I don't have room for all the tomatoes. It is not that I don't have room so much as water and a good place to plant them. You are so polite. I hope I don't offend people because I don't even try to stay on topic. It has been a little slow here and I think activity is good. Maybe I have driven everyone away. I have had soil conditioners on my list for some time. I will look for the product you use.

Helen, I can't think anyone would be such a stickler for topic etiquette that we can't free range off-topic, as we seem to do. I think it's interesting and besides that's how my bunny mind works anyway.
Sunny

Bump for William's recipe for Al's mix.