It IS possible to overwater in gritty mix........just as it is possible to overwater in any other planting medium. It is not that drainage is an issue, just the frequency of the application. "Soaking" it every couple of days (combined with the excessive fertilization - many succs need little if any) is overkill in the water department :-) I sometimes go weeks without watering mine.

btw, rainfall is not the same as hand watering....it is much lighter and of typically a much lower volume.

Thanks guys, that's good to know. It seems I had the wrong information. Live and learn. At least I was able to salvage a few leaves before it collapsed-fingers crossed that one or two will propagate for me so I can try again, since I haven't been able to find an equally luminous moonglow to replace it. :(

IMO, the bark and turface will hold water longer. So if you watered it that often, it would have been constantly wet. I make gritty mix using only equal parts of grit+perlite and smaller amount of turface (better for over-waterers :), and still water less often. Plants stay outside, during rain, and are OK (obviously, if it was raining non-stop for many days, I would cover them with a plastic sheet).

If you like watering with great frequency as you were, then a gritty mix with no organic material or water holding capabilities would make more sense when dealing with cacti or many succs. Something like straight granite grit, perhaps. It does tend to be more difficult to overwater with a gritty mix but can still happen. Now had you had a water hog of a plant in that mix, then you would have been fine, in all likelihood, with that watering schedule. Btw, other factors also come into play such as how warm or cool your temps were and what kind of air circulation. Had the Echeveria been outside with plenty of sun and wind and low humidity, you might not have had any problem at all. Such conditions would favor using a mix more like yours for a succ.

Also, though it matters not now, your Echeveria was already becoming etiolated.

Many plants would have done well in your mix, so don't feel too bad.

Thanks for your thoughts Paul! You're right, it was a little etiolated when I got it (though I still liked its shape a lot), and unfortunately it stretched even more before I added the grow light and then drowned it. :( Oh well, at least I'm learning. I have no problem backing off the water, I just had the wrong info on what was appropriate!

Unfortunately, when you work that hard at over-watering, even when using the gritty mix you'll be successful. ;-(

Al

Haha, thanks for the laugh Al!! Since you've been kind enough to stop by, I'm tempted to hijack my own thread and ask you what I should do for a pine bark substitute for 16 gallons of gritty mix to grow tomatoes in. Is it acceptable to use screened Turface and gravel only, or do I need a third component? Reptibark is so expensive, and a nightmare to process on top of that. D:

I think the gritty mix is overkill for something like tomato, that colonizes the soil mass very quickly and gets turned into the compost pile at years end. I've always used the 5:1:1 mix for all veggies (even if some of them are fruits [tomato, peppers, cucumber/pickle - all fruits. Zucchini, too).

But ....... KNOWLEDGE is knowing tomatoes/peppers/cucumbers are fruit; WISDOM is not putting them in a fruit salad.

Is there a chance you could either find some pine bark; or, bury your tomato containers a few inches below the soil line and use a commercially produced potting soil? It's up to you, but I wouldn't spend as much as all that gritty mix will cost on tomatoes. Bonsai - yes, tomatoes - no. Partially burying your containers turns them into mini raised beds (from the hydrological perspective). With the earth acting as a giant wick to remove all perched water, you can get away with using soils you couldn't use very effectively in conventional container culture.

Al

You can always give it a try, as is, and see how it goes. You would need to water more frequently as the plants get bigger and the weather hotter. Fertilize weakly with every watering, I imagine.

For bark, you could try ordering from Roberts Flower Supply

Paul, I read reviews that specifically said tomatoes (and peppers) did really well in gritty mix!! D: --I was planning to fertigate at maintenance strength (1/4 tsp/gal) with foliage pro, as I do basically all my plants (hoping this is correct re:my understanding of AL's recommendations). But if the master himself says gritty is overkill, I'll look into whatever might be more suitable! I'm pretty new to all this, just want my plants to have the best stuff and to thrive, even if they're not fancy. I have this vision of a gorgeous tomato plant with piles of pretty orange fruit on it if I do everything right. Unfortunately the only "ground" I have to work with is a screened concrete patio, so it really is containers or nothing. Gritty mix *has* been appallingly expensive, but I also figure it will last a really long time and I can rinse and re-use it for other plantings as long as it's structurally sound? It has certainly saved the life of my peace lilly which was a gift from my husband and means a lot to me, so the money has been worth it for that alone. Can I go with something much cheaper in my tomato container that will still drain resonably well? The selection of bark on Roberts Flower Supply is amazing, but I'm afraid to even look at the shipping costs! : /