Most people swear by it, but I grow my plants just fine without it. It's great stuff, but I hate having it "float" to the top of the soil whenever I water my plants. When I pot my plants, I don't pack the soil down; I just tap the sides of the pot and let the soil settle down on its own. It'll settle down some more when I water them, too. I've never encountered any problems from this and my plants are all happy and healthy.

I love in a small town in the UK and the only mix I found in a physical shop did have peat in it, so I didn't buy it. I am debating getting some online, I found this one that sounds good, it says they add a blend of "horticultural grit, coco husk chips and perlite" but I am guessing it had some plain soil in it too? If I manage to get a hold of perlite should I mix it in too even if it already has some?

The mix you found probably doesn't have any 'plain soil' in it, it should/would be listed. Do you have photo of the label? I wonder how big coco husk chips are. It sounds similar to gritty mix/511 mix, and may have good drainage - but it would be necessary to see it to be sure. There are some concerns about coco product salt content, but many are washed/rinsed well. That is often advertised too. Other concern some may have is about coco products having to be shipped from far-away countries, and peat being more locally available.

Coco peat and coco husk are used quite a bit; coco peat instead of peat. If you were to add perlite, adding a lot would be better than just a handful IMO. Bagged mixes do not have much of it added, but it would vary from product to product. More of it doesn't hurt, creates better drainage.

I am sure some ppl grow their plants in plain potting soil and have good results. I guess it depends on what amount of time do you want to spend tending your plants; how knowledgeable are you about plants you grow; do you tend to have 'heavy hand' (tendency to overwater); what kind of climate do you grow plants in; what kind of growth and health do you expect from your plants and perhaps some more...There are many ways of growing plants, some easier and some bit more involved.

Yes, I would do a mix of half and half. Even if there's already perlite in it. I'm assuming it is humid where you live. So it would be good to get some grit in your mix. If you don't mind what kind of cactus to you have?

Thank you everyone for the help, here is the link to the mix that I found, they say that the coco peat is washed to reduce salt levels. what do you think? It seems like the better option from all the other ones I found.

To be honest I'm not sure what kind of cactus and succulents they are, but here's a picture I took the other day, not the best picture but it's the only one I have.

From left to right:)

1. Aeonium

2. Looks like a Sempervivum

3. Cactus to far to tell

4. Looks like an Echeveria

5. Looks like a Cereus monstrose 'Ming Thing'. Not 100% sure because it's so far.

You can't get perlite from eBay where you're at?

Wilko and B & Q sell perlite in bags costing £2-3, also any of the garden centres will also supply it in similar sized bags. It has a lot of dust and small particles so it needs to be sifted, but don't breath in the dust.

Gill

Thank you! Yes I found it on ebay now :) Will look in Wilko too, thank you!

As far as growing in just commercial C/S mix, it seems to me that people who pot in clay and live in an arid, not humid, zone would be able to grow more easily in straight commercial mix. I'm wondering about this....

The substitutes for perlite would be:

pumice

chicken grit

aquarium sand

Right? Anything else?

Photo of the mix looks very similar to Cactus&Succulent soil here, I believe that you should add more perlite. Gill suggested where you can get perlite, and sift it - or at least rinse well - using kitchen sieve. If rinsing, let the water run thru, mix with your hands & water will carry dust away. Can't tell if good value or not...maybe Gill can help.

I also have a pothos plant, would I be able to use this mix for it too?

Have been wondering about these soil mix discussions since I started following the forum. I have been using commercial C&S as is until now. It contains 30-40% pumice plus sand and bark products. Mixing 50/50 could bring the pumice to 70%!! Seems high to me and hesitant to make the jump yet.

Socks: yes, in the desert, where temps get up to 125 in the summer, you could totally plant in straight potting mix with no problem. In fact, you could pot in moisture retaining mix with no problem!

it isn't even summer yet, and my succulents and cacti in the southern and western windows need copious watering already. The few that I have in only potting mix or cocopeat dry out within days.

I went to a conference for four days, closed all the shutters, dropped the air temp down to 73. When I came back nearly all of the succulents needed watering.

Crazy.

I too, as someone said above, "...I hate having it "float" to the top of the soil whenever I water my plants.''

[As best I could I did some c̴o̴u̴n̴t̴i̴n̴g̴ ̴ , rather guesstimating, of Google capturing of posts on forums. It appears that "perlite" plunged from favor in 2014 and returned to favor on cacti and succulent forums in 2016 and to other forums in 2017. ]

Hm. It's probably the wave of new growers, too, Albert. I can't imagine anyone growing succulents in gritty mix with pumice and/or turface going back to using perlite unless they have no choice. Even as an amendment to potting soil, perlite is usually something I'd tolerate but not prefer.

When newbies come by asking about plants, for example, we generally just say mix perlite with potting soil because it's the easiest thing to get and to do especially if they only have one pot of random echeveria.

Although, I'd say that for moisture control, I'd rather use a dried-up, hydrophobic block of solidified peat than potting soil with tons of perlite. Once peat has become hydrophobic, it will not suck up water unless soaked for hours. So, just don't soak it. I've kept a pot of mammillaria alive this way for over a year (looking, buying and moving house at the time). But, kids, this is risky and repotting is tricky so don't do it at home!