And I know that a well-made gritty mix can basically be watered as often as one wants...but does that still hold true for succulents? True for some succulents during parts of the growth cycle, but definitely not for all succulents at all times. Even though a well-made gritty mix (used appropriate sized particles and screened out fines and dust) will be as forgiving of anything you'd be likely to use, it's still not a good idea to tempt fate. The only thing likely to be more forgiving would be a medium comprised entirely of materials >.100" which aren't internally porous, but then you'd be dealing with a water retention curve sure to keep you hopping.

Al

Oh of course!

I probably should have specified in my post that I'm concerned I might be actually be too sparing with the water, rather than the reverse.

I'm watering my non-succulents in gritty mixes about every 4-8 days, depending on pot size/plant size/weather/orientation.

But for the succulents and ZZ plant, I'm watering much less frequently, about every 10-15 days. The mix is obviously quite dry at this point. Given that these types of plants (especially a ZZ plant) are less likely to show drought stress early on, I'm having trouble telling whether I'm watering too infrequently.

If you screened all the ingredients and the planting is mature enough that roots have colonized the entire soil mass, anything over 6-8 days is probably pushing it unless you get regular help from the rain gods. When I over-winter under lights in the basement I water on a 3 day rotation for all the very small plants in small pots, and the rest of the pots are watered every 6 days. In summer, when everything is outside on grow benches, I make daily watering rounds because the very small pots require daily watering. Most plants need water every other day; but remember I'm likely growing in smaller pots than the average grower as bonsai is my focus. In summer, I often give the succulents a splash of water as I pass by for 2 days, then water deeply on the third day. I try to group my plants by watering intervals for when I'm away and someone else has to water, but I don't have a problem remembering who needs water when - plus I have the forgiving nature of the medium to keep me out of trouble.

Al

I have echeveria & weeping jade in ”a” gritty mix, not Al’s gritty mix exactly . Its sifted coarse-grade perlite, sifted turface & chicken grit in a 1:1:1 ratio (no bark). Most all my succulents are in this. in the summer (it gets about 85-90F here) I water about twice a week (if no rain) for c&s that like it drier, about every other day (depending on temps) for ones that like more frequent watering like weeping jade & rhipsalis. The ones that are in bigger pots, I check first w/ a bamboo skewer to make sure theyre dry & only water when dry. Most of those are in Al’s true gritty mix, like my yucca elephantipes, ponytail palm & dracaena marginata.