Because Turface is such a pain to find and even more annoying to sift, I have since stopped using it. I use pumice instead, which I order online. I have tiny plants in tiny pots so this works for me.

Pagan

Why don't you want the NAPA product? I find turface very easily at Advance Auto Parts as oil absorbent, and I bet you could find it at Auto Zone.

palmsandsnow -- I have not had success with the NAPA product. That's what I started with, before Turface MVP -- and I found it broke down in the pot pretty easily and turned dusty or mushy. I do have an Auto Zone nearby -- so I will check into their oil absorbent product. Thank you for the tip.

Amazon!!! They definitely have turface mvp available, and if you're a prime member, they have it prime so free two day shipping :)

I have used turface and now swear by pumice as Pagan has mentioned. I don't know where he gets his pumice but I get it from General Pumice Supply. They include shipping and send out a very clean 15# bag for $25.00 It comes in a few different particle sizes. It used to be $20.00! And now if you purchase 8 bags, you get 10% off. So if you can get in a group situation, it might be workable

Pumice holds about half the moisture of Turface, but that can easily be adjusted for with the mix ratio. =)

Robin, I found the same product, Turface All Sport, at Site One in FM. I have been tempted to contact the baseball fields in Fort Myers to see if they have the MVP on hand. I am assuming they would buy it in bulk. But like you, I cannot find it around here. We're probably looking in the same places!

There's a bonsai shop in FM called Wigerts. They have a very nice mix with scoria, bark fines and calcined clay. But it is too pricey for my needs.

I have not tried Auto Zone's product, but NAPA seems to be failing faster these days. I wonder if they changed their 'recipe.' Our heat and moisture tend to make the product break down in about a year. Here's what was left in a pot, and caked around the roots.

And I have not found any pumice around here, either. So I am making do with the Turface All Sport. (BTW, I paid $24.)

Let us know if you find the MVP locally! Maybe I'll check the Tampa area and get my son to grab a bag for me if it is available.

The pumice place looks most promising. With free shipping, it's quite tempting! I bought a big bag of the Safe T Sorb, but as soon as i'm out, I'll try General Pumice Products! (She grows succulents too - how can I resist?)

Bikerdoc and ewwmayo -- thanks. I already use pumice from General Pumice Products and I like it a lot. Good company, good product. But as you point out, it dries out a little faster than Turface. And in the hot Florida summers -- sometimes a lot faster. I have also had a small problem with it compacting -- not sure why, because I screen carefully, but I lost two plants where it just turned to "cement." Probably my fault. When I first started using Turface MVP, I screened out pieces that I labeled "too large to use," but kept them. Lo and behold -- I ended up using them and grit that was similarly "too large" -- and mixing both with old and dry cactus soil, and I today have an old Sans that was once dying now thriving in that "too large" old, dry mix! You never know.

Crenda -- I'm in Venice, so I use the SiteOne store in Sarasota….same products as FM, I presume, and probably Tampa too. Could you post if you do contact baseball fields and they use MVP? I would drive to FM, about an hour away, to get MVP! For now, it's just cheaper for me to buy a 50 lb bag of All Sport (I think I paid about $19 or $20 last time) and screen the daylights out of it for bigger pieces. BTW -- when I used NAPA, my pots looked very much like yours -- baked, crusty. The breakdown took less than 15 months in all cases.

Thanks to everyone -- sometimes I feel really neurotic getting as wrapped up with mixes and the size of Turface as I do. But -- I'm glad I'm not the only one who does this! Thanks again. I have learned SO much from all of you.

Thanks, Melody! I see that have stores in both Fort Myers and Sarasota. And they DO carry MVP.

Thank you so much, Melody -- I am going to visit the Sarasota store on Friday and get MVP -- maybe 2 bags! Thanks again!