Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I saw this particular soil blend mentioned on a blog about succulent care and best ways to grow them. I'd been having some trouble with new succulents I'd had shipped to the *very cold* Northeastern US and kept losing them to drafts and lack of sunlight (despite using a grow light and keeping them away from drafty windows). So I looked into a better soil and decided that despite the very high price for such a small bag...it was worth a shot. We got about 17 new succulents and a few Cacti to plant all in different styles and sizes of planters....some in groups, some by themselves from a new seller on Amazon and didn't want to risk losing all of our plants again by using the "branded", cheaper succulent soil we'd tried the first time. The only problem was that 2 Quarts of this soil wasn't quite enough, so we used gravel on the bottom of the very large/deep pots....then a tiny bit of the *old* branded soil that we thought had contributed to our troubles with the last succulents (just to fill in) and then used this entire bag of the Bonsai Jack soil as the primary on all of them. The bag was empty after planting 17 succulents and cacti....but we feel it was worth it because our succulents are still thriving a few weeks later. We ARE using 2 grow lights now and are watering more frequently because the Bonsai Jack soil isn't clumpy or dense like branded types are. It doesn't have the dreaded "peat" blends and is basically like a fine, dry mulch. We are finding that this "mulch" style is much better for our succulents, but since it allows much faster and more efficient drainage....we are also finding we need to really keep an eye on the plants for limp pieces because we water in smaller amounts at a time, but more frequently with this soil. We water 2 times per week minimum using this, but we're talking a few squeezes of a water bottle....not "spraying" or saturating them. Overall, I'd say if your plants aren't growing well/are suffering....get this! It really helped us keep all 17 plants (so far) without losing one when we'd previously lost 4 out of 4. But I cannot give 5 stars because the price seems pretty outrageous to me. I understand this is hand-blended and contains no fillers....but it's not like it's treated with some sort of expensive hormone or magic dust. It's still just soil. I'd purchase again, but only in an "emergency" mostly due to the pricing. And would recommend that if you *can* perhaps line the bottoms of larger pots with the cheaper stuff and some gravel and then use this for the main level. Even a coupon on occasion to "stock up" would be great. Overall, this is top notch stuff, though so if you want the "good stuff" you have to open up your wallet!