Viewing post #677599 by ofm

gg5 said:OFM it does look like you are underwatering, based on your soils composition!! The top dressing of "grit" really works! The plants once they are happy bounce back pretty quickly, the color changes and they'll look brighter!
Thanks for showing what you have and what you are changing...it helps for anyone new to these plants! The first couple of years I moved my plants at least 4 times, I kept needing to amend the soil more...until I realized that for my area, I needed about a 60/40 mix (60 regular soil and 40 chicken grit) plus the top dressing of grit! I probably have 1-2 inches of grit as the top dressing! I have bought 100 lbs of chicken grit in the past 2 years haha!! But these plants really do seem to respond to it!!! That's my 2 cents - hope this helps! (I can be long winded for sure!)

oh and in terms of how long to water, I only water for a couple of minutes but I water every day when its this dry and hot!!!

I think I'll keep working in more grit over time, I hope I don't have to move them, but then again, I really wasn't expecting the amount of heat this spot would get, so I'll try what I need to try! It definitely helps to hear from people who know what they are doing (especially in/near my zone), thanks again everyone! And hopefully others can learn from my mistakes. :)

webesemps said:Ofm, Ok you've got two people's worth of two cents from similar zone conditions. Their advice should be hitting home for you. I am in zone 9b, do more container gardening and have been fussing more over my tender succulents. I believe in Tuff Love and that's the approach I take with my semps in their raised bed. Suffice to say that a lot of my semps fell by the wayside over the years...

Yes! I feel like on the right track now. I haven't started containers yet, but it's on my list... maybe after I finish cleaning up the yard...