I've tried gritty mixes with my Spathiphyllum, and it was a disaster. Had to water it every day, or it would wilt. I don't think it would work with Pothos either

potting media is a water management system ... the proper media for the plant given.. holds the needed amount of water .. and sheds excess ...

e.g. a succulent likes a sip of water.. the the rest flowing straight out the bottom... as compared to plants that like to sit in a sodden sponge of moisture .. and thrive on it ...

as manny above notes ... the wrong media.. makes watering harder ..

anything can be grown in anything ... if you can perfect watering to its benefit ... but why make life harder for yourself.. and the plant ... who wants to water every day ... and then one day.. forget ...

for me.. having two different bags of media would not be a big deal .. but i have a giant polebarn to store it in.. if space was at a premium ... i might take your stuff.. and add some peat to it.. to make it hold a bit more moisture .. and make it easier to use with other plants ... but then.. you will have a bag of peat to store ... plus the cost ... and peat would otherwise be useless alone ...

my best idea... get a bag of general good potting media ... and mix both .. or just save the gritty for your succulents ...

never forget.. money saved.. is more plants.. lol ...

ken

The gritty mix, made correctly, is widely adjustable for water retention. In most cases, where people are having issues with insufficient water retention, it's because the particles that make up the medium are too coarse. Ideally, the gritty mix would be made from particles only slightly larger than .100". This ensures as much water retention as is reasonable, yet eliminates the perched water table which is central to grow media which hold excessive amounts of water.

Bonsai Jack's 'gritty mix' isn't screened, like a well made gritty mix would be. If your aim is just to use it up, you can mix it into whatever medium you've chosen at whatever ratio you choose. If you're going to use it for succulents or cacti, I'd screen it over insect screen (discard the fines or toss them in the garden/beds) before I potted cacti or succulents in it.

I have a large number of plants. Most are in abnormally small pots (bonsai) and though I need to water the smaller pots (1/4 cup - 2 cups of soil) every day in summer, they are able to go 4-6 days between waterings in the winter under lights. Many of the woody plants I'm growing on in pots as bonsai of the future, don't require watering (summer/outdoors) much more frequently than plants in the 5:1:1 mix.

Most growers would do better to be less enamored of extended watering intervals. Cacti, some succulents, and plants that need a dry rest period set aside, if you're watering intervals are longer than a week, and especially if they're measured in weeks instead of days, a lot of your plants' potential in terms of growth. appearance, o/a vitality, is left lying on the table. Growers do pay a tax for those extended watering intervals. Personally, I prefer a medium that necessitates 2-3 day intervals between waterings (in conventional containers other than bonsai pots) in the summer.

Al