Does all the potting medium look like the stuff in the uncovered pot the aloe is in? Because that looks awfully dark, rich, and moisture retentive.

They'll do okay for a while... The faucaria can take more water than the others but is still a succulent afterall and I've managed to kill my share of them before getting it right... Gonna readvise you as posted in your other thread that you need to repot them in a much better draining mix. Those rocks would be better used mixed into your soil.

A general rule for growing succulents/cacti is that your mix should fall a part like beach sand does if clumped into a ball and allowed to crumble back to the ground. When you hear of "sandy" mixes, this is what that refers to. This is best achieved with rock or pumice but failing that, a lot of perlite can do It as well. You don't need to actually use sand to get a sandy soil other, Its just a vague and misleading descriptive term.

I am watching the CWS. It's raining in Louisville. They just brought in 5 gallon buckets of turface to mix into the pitcher's mound to "improve drainage and absorb some of the water." I was watching to see if they brought in some pumice and fir bark next! OK - I'm easily entertained. But all I could think of was my gritty mix! LOL

I have soil under rocks as my planting medium for my succulents and cacti and water them very little. They are happy and doing awesome. Some have been carted back and forth from my desk at work and they still are doing great. I let the rocks completely dry out and just put a smidgen of water in once every two weeks or so. Sometimes less if it looks like the plants are pulling moisture in from the air.

Crenda~ Too funny! I probably would have too. I use the same gritty mix. lol

Tweathers - your top dressing looks nice. Just remember that it will help prevent evaporation, so you won't have to water as often.

Jojo - I went all-in for gritty mix. My summers are sooo humid that I have moisture running down the windows until about noon. The summer monsoons add to it. Last year all my plants were moved under the lanai roof out of the rain and I didn't water at all from mid-June until late Sept. And I still, somehow, had mushrooms pop up in a couple of them!

Ok guys I just checked my soil and it's still wet from yesterday's watering!! How long at the most can I let them sit and wet soil they sun isn't out today cause of rain and I prolly need to take the rocks off right? My soil is always dried out over nite this really worries me!

I'd take the rocks off & leave them off, & yes, pls. calm down.

If you're gonna check the plants every day like this, you're apt to drive yourself NUTS!!!

Also I can't find a better soil mix than the succulent cactus mix what should I do exactly? I might have to repot very soon this soil does act like sand when dry it crumbles like sand and is usually only wet for a day but with the rocks preventing it to air out its still wet.....the rocks are doing the job of keeping low leaves and pups from sitting on wet soil though I guess I could just put rocks where I need them lol might not look the best but I'm not too worried about the looks just want healthy plants

Itshould be dry set the top by the end of the day you water it and a little moist still at the bottom for another day or 2. If it won't cause the plants much stress repot them with a c+s mix with 50% added perlite for drainage then put the pebbles onto of your soil. That should help with moisture control hunnie. Goodluck

Lol I'm calm just don't wanna lose them from a simple change like this i do check them everyday to check new growth and soil conditions i am a newbie at this only been growing for a few months so still learning but so far so good

So half cactus and succulent soil and other half straight perlite? And whats some ways of knowing if my plants are fine to repot?

As far as I can tell they are very healthy?

"And whats some ways of knowing if my plants are fine to repot?"

I don't understand that question. I have repotted plants because I wanted better soil, or because I found a better pot. Do you mean doing it soon after a recent repot? Well, I had repotted a TC and found out it was in totally wrong soil. And it wasn't doing any better than before. I was advised to repot now in proper medium and give it time to recover. I did, and it has done very well.

Healthy plants will withstand the repot and plants in trouble will need it. I hope that make sense. And yes - give the roots time to heal before watering. Oh - and do remove all the old soil from the roots.

Well I'm just gonna add perlite to my mix so im gonna get the plants out empty some of the soil add perlite and mix it then repot so not much if the soil is gonna stay on the roots

Aloes are more forgiving than some other succulents. I mentioned the soil on the roots because sometimes the stuff plants are potted in when you purchase them turns really hard, sticks to the roots and they can't grow or get water. I left the old stuff around the roots on a couple of plants and used nice a nice mix around it. The roots, still with the old stuff around them, didn't get the benefit of the new mix.

If that's not the case, proceed with mixing and potting. Your plants will be fine. Good luck!

I didn't take the soil my plants came in out either they were do root bound i didn't see how I could do it without doing more harm than good

Punctuation is just common courtesy. I feel like I'm reading verbal dysentary.

Lol wow I just read that I was driving and typing that sorry but I was saying my plants were root bound when I bought them and didn't wanna try to get the soil off the roots of fear to damage them

don't type and drive, jesus.

Umm, are you typing and driving now? Because thatâÂÂs what it reads like. Also, (I canâÂÂt believe I need to say this) donâÂÂt post to a message board and drive. ItâÂÂs dangerous for you and everyone else on the road. A girl I went to high school with was killed when a driver, who was texting, crossed the median at 50 m.p.h and slammed her into the side of an emergency room. Imagine what human body looks like after that. After the crash, it was determined that the driver never slowed down. She was so distracted she didnâÂÂt notice that she was speeding off the road. Now she is in jail and has to live with what she did forever.