I finally stopped hating on cactus soil mixes after a chat with an old gardener

I always thought those specialty cactus soils were a waste of money, but I overheard a guy at the nursery in Denver say 'your succulents rot because the dirt holds water too long'. I grabbed a bag of the gritty mix and repotted my jade plant last weekend. Anyone else have a soil switch that saved a plant from dying?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_ruby16d ago

@stellaperry nailed it, same thing happened to my jade. Gritty mix fixed the droopy leaves in about two weeks, just make sure the pot has drainage holes too.

stellaperry16d ago

My jade plant was dropping leaves left and right until I swapped it into a gritty mix, now it finally looks happy about a month later.

lewis.terry16d ago

Gritty mix is the way to go for sure, but something nobody seems to mention is that jade plants actually like being a bit root bound too. Like, they thrive when their roots are snug in the pot, not swimming in extra soil. A gritty mix helps with drainage so you avoid root rot, but keeping them in a pot that's just barely bigger than the root ball makes a difference too. Took me a few sad plants to figure that one out (and a lot of reading late at night).