http://www.miraclegro.com/smg/...
Would this be good for potting my sedum and delosperma?
I lose my delosperma every winter.
Most of my sedum makes it but isn't robust.
And how about sempervivum?

I left out the link when I posted - but it's there now.

Hi there Critter.
I might be wrong, but I never had much luck using a mix that had a lot of peat in it. It's first ingredient is peat moss, then forest compost. Think about where your plants grew in nature.

Maybe @tarev would be helpful in this department.

Hi Critter, personally I do not like miracle gro cactus mix just because they keep adding those fertilizer additives. Plus as mentioned by Lynn their mix seems to have more peat moss. Their mix seems more suitable to other types of container plants/tropical plants, or since they intend it also for citrus, yes the citrus plants will enjoy that.

Besides during winter time, these succulents slow down in growth, so they have no need for fertilizers. However, if you have no other choice but to use their mix, do add some more perlite or pumice to their mix to really make it very well draining.

Sempervivums and some sedums struggle on my side due to our extremely long dry heat months, but they are happiest during our cold season. But I have learned to make their media much grittier, really adding more rocky media to it. They hate soaking wet media, and unfortunately our winter here is at times rainy. I know growers that have snow conditions just leave them outdoors and have better chances surviving being insulated by snow, but you have to make their media very gritty and coarse to allow quick drainage. Sempervivums and sedums are alpine succulents so they can bear the cold.

Critter are you growing your plants in pots or in the garden? I grew my sempervivum in a pot in potting soil one year and it was the first time I lost them growing in pots.

I changed to using 70% aquarium gravel and 30% potting soil. They were great in that mix. I used the aquarium gravel because I had so much around the house from the fish tanks.

Because we have so many days through the winter of rain that turns to freezing rain then snow.....We have a special type of winter that plants are in a frozen block of ice if we have even a little bite of soil to hold any of that frozen precipitation. I had the best survival result at my old house growing sedum and sucs in the Fall pine needles and gravel with no soil at all.

I am going to try the same mix with the ice plant because I have never been able to keep them alive through our winters.

well good golly!
Now I understand why I've lost so many!

What I have available are perlite, vermiculite, orchid bark chips, and aquarium gravel.
Plus the miracle grow regular potting soil and a lot of rather peaty topsoil, which is what I use in my outdoor containers.

It sounds like I should treat sedum and delosperma more like an orchid than a plant that can grow in the ground.
SOME sedum grow well in the ground for me so I never thought to go SO dry with them....

Should I bring the delosperma indoors for the winter?

Crittergarden, I grow semps and sedums in trough-style hanging baskets.

There's obviously very good drainage because of the coco fiber liner, but I also use a well-draining soil mix. I mix my own, using tapla's 5-1-1 mix, which is 5 parts screened pine bark (no pieces bigger than 1/2 inch), 1 part coarse perlite, and 1 part peat moss. There's also a bit of lime to counteract the acidity of the mix and a slow-release fertilizer as needed.

I've never lost a sedum or a semp in these baskets, but none of my delosperma survived the winter, either in the ground or in the basket.

How about indoors?
I'm in zone 5 here - semps are the only thing that survives out of the ground (or basement, in some cases).

Critter, I do not recommend vermiculite for succulents, it retains more moisture. It is suitable for water loving plants, not for succulents that prefers to go dry faster. Perlite,and pumice will be better to add in your soil mix.

Delosperma seems to prefer really less soil as media, make it rocky, sandy and very porous, no fertilizer and full sun. It is not good indoors, it really loves the cool sun, same conditions as semps.

Delosperma may not be winter hardy in your zone 5. Even if you bring them indoors for winter it is important that you give it the right potting mix, as tarev has been suggesting.

I thought it was curious that the soil for cactus, palms and citrus DIDN'T say succulents.
And there is no "succulent" version of bagged soil that I've been able to find......

Can anyone recommend a formula from the things I have?

I don't have time to create a new, drier bed before it gets too cold, but that IS on my list of things to do as I want to grow lots of echies to feed my bunny.

Meanwhile, what should I do with my one delosperma?

Since our areas are different, I would suggest maybe check with clintbrown at the Perennials Forum, I think I remember seeing him post his delosperma plants when it is in bloom. He may have better suggestions for you.

I have used Super Soil palm and cactus mix or Black Gold, their soil mix is much better than miracle gro. But I still add more perlite or pumice in it as well.

I think the miracle gro mix will work for the tropical cacti variety, not the desert types ones. So it is important you identify what type of cacti you will grow in it. It did say in its product description on the link you provided it is for other succulents.

Cinta and ssgardener has provided you with their formula, both looks good. You have aquarium gravel, perlite and miracle gro soil, so less soil and more on the other substrates.

Thanks for clarifying for me!

I'll use the cactus soil with perlite and and gravel.

Just remember Critter lots and lots of gravel. I know people that can grow things in Michigan that we cannot grow. Cold zones that get cold and stay cold with lots of snow is fine for Semps and Sedum. That is the weather we do not get. Zones are average temps for the winter season they do not take into account the swinging temps of up and down that include so much moisture.

It is our crazy weather that is 60 degrees for days with 4" of rain then in 24 hrs we are at 28 degrees with freezing rain then snow. It is that block of ice that kills our plants.

Yeah, I lost a lot of plants in my first & second years.