your soil mix sounds similar to what my tropical cacti are in now- 511- except I use peat instead of soil and I also use reptibark. can’t find small enough bark around here otherwise. I have a Christmas cactus cutting in 511 that’s doing well; 2 easters & a hatiora - all seem to love it. I had an Easter 2 yrs ago in gritty but it didn’t make it, even in part shade & w/ weekly watering. Ive come to believe that gritty’s just too dry for the tropical cacti. Thanks for the info & link.

Any sort of gritty mix, unless the plant you're potting is being grossly overpotted, is not beneficial to tropical cacti. You're absolutely spot-on about that. The particular 5/1/1 in question would be a much-less useful soil to use for these specific wet cacti.

Cactus, it’s not over potted, about an inch of space around rootball. I’ll have to get a pic. So you think 511 is an equally bad soil choice for these? It’s finally doing good in it, but I did have to still increase my watering frequency for the new growth to start appearing again What soil mix would you recommend? I’m open to suggestions - though I’d be afraid it would rot if I pot it up in actual soil, even with tons of sifted perlite, which is the other most recommended soil on here. From what I’ve read, 511 is closest to their natural habitat soil.

But the thing is, epiphytic cacti don't naturally grow in soil; they usually grow up in the crotches of trees, in leaf debris, & bits of animal waste, whatever catches in the tree branches.

The mix I suggested w/ 1/3 LIGHT soil & the other 2 components comes close to what it needs. Or even 50/50 African Violet soil & Perlite.

I may be out of touch w/ it now, but last I knew, Cactus McH above doesn't grow these plants, while I have for some years, & have grown them in both blends I've mentioned.

If your current soil blend is working well, then I'd leave it be. If it ain't broke ...

Rebecca,

Any sort of porous soil that's high in organics replicates well enough the conditions you're trying to achieve.

Karen,

I've grown tropical cactus for many years. Even if I haven't, I know what soil mix is appropriate for them.

I guess the biggest point I was making is how much more like a tropical these are than a succulent. They get watered now as much as my begonia Rex, are in the same soil as begonias(511). I guess I’m kind of “wow’ed” that they are labeled as a succulent at all, when, from my experience, they don’t really seem to be. Karen, years ago I potted a sans pup in a mix similar to the one you recommended & it LOVES it! It is now 3 ft tall & 1 1/2 ft wide!

Well then it's good that you get that Rebecca, you might pls try to let go of the idea that they're succulents as that is irrelevant to their care.

What IS relevant as you've discovered is that they are Tropical, which makes them humidity loving w/in reason.

Here's the Rhipsalis I grow, called R. elliptica (thank you Denise). I love the leaves' profile, it's such a pretty line.

a better view of its variable leaf shape.

Pls note they are all double potted or have a saucer w/ rocks attached underneath to act as humidity trays. I water them to overflow & let them evaporate up the moisture over subsequent days.

It took me some time to understand this myself: it's an odd mix of super fast draining mix, but frequent, deep watering.

I love it!

karen, here are pics of my sans & rhipsalis:

Good looking plants you've got there. Nice blooming Sans, I've never had one bloom for me. Share any secrets?

Got any tips on keeping that variegated Sans hahnii alive? I've killed it 2 or 3 times at least & have a new one now. Wanting to try it one more time.

Your Rhipsalis looks good too. Great growing!

The sans is about 5 years old, the hahni died 😢. I read your comment wrong at first, thought our soils were the same. My sans is planted in 50% sifted, coarse perlit; 25% miracle grow soil & 25 play sand. Yes you read that right. It was the first succlent, so I naively thought ”deserts have sand!!” But it likes it here, so it’s not been repotted in FIVE YEARS! I keep reading not to repot sans until their roots shatter the pot. Probably nonsense, but it isn’t screaming for a repot yet, so I’ll let it go. It’s in unglazed, 6” terra cotta & I keep it year-round in bright, East facing sun. I’m lucky enough to have an East-facing screened porch, so it sits out there all spring, summer & into late fall. I fert regularly w/ MG in the yellow bottle & water about 1x a wk or every 2, depending on season. That’s pretty much it! BTW, this plant came from a pup that I pulled out of my bf’s mom’s 50+y.o. sans by accident - when I was caring for them while they wintered in FL. I thought I was just pulling out a dead leaf, the pup came with it, so I potted it up. It was originally my bf’s grandmother’s plant but she’s 96 & now in a nursing home.