I am chuckling right now Anna. You don't know how many times I get that response.
CRF: Control Release Fertilizer. As in those little round things you see in some of the Potting Mixes that already have fertilizer (Miracle Grow, etc.). You can buy it in packages to use in your garden or pots. Great stuff.
Sorry it is taking me so much time to answer your question, I am away from home until May 2. I will try to check in more often while away. I have found with my semps it is working better for pots if I use Potting Mix (MG, or comparable brand) with equal parts Turface and fir bark and chicken grit. After planting I top dress with the chicken grit. With semps you don't want to use much fertilizer as this can cause them to grow to fast and not do as well over all. They come from alpine areas, growing in gritty soil with little dirt, and usually pretty arid in summers. In Texas you might want to plant in a spot with morning sun, or filtered sun. All day sun might be to harsh with your Texas sun.
Are you planning on pots or in the ground?

Thanks for answering. I eventually will put some of them in the ground...thinking of an informal rock pile. But I like pots as well. Would semps or heuffs do better in pots?
I scouted around on my lunch and after work and found chick grit at the feed store, fir bark at the pet store(hope it's not too big) and what I think is turface, called cil-dri at Wallyworld. Have to go to their website to make sure.
I got my shipment today, so I will get busy!

No, don't think this oil dri is the right stuff...has crystalline silica init...Will try an auto supply store...any other suggestions?

Both heuffs and semps do equally well in pots or ground. I've never heard of cil-dri. Oops, just read your last post. That definitely will not work. John Deere Landscaping carries Turface.

I do both pots and inground.

I am finding that the Turface holds to much water for our PNW wet season. I will have to rethink how much Turface I use. (Rethinking this again, seems the Turface allows air circulation and does not compact, so should still work here in PNW)

Would love to have you add pictures of your plants to our databases. We are adding dates pictures where taken so we can track each Cultivar as to changes in the seasons. Some go through really big changes in size, shape and color from one season to the next. Let me know if I can help with anything else.

Thanks! I have made my markers so hopefully I can keep track through the seasons.

Can't wait to see your plants Anna. And I won't get to see mine until sometime next week. I do have all the plants bought in the co-op already entered in the database, so all you need to do is add pictures. Did you see the pots Imapigeon has been making? I bought some of them for my new succulents. They are beautiful and very reasonably priced.

Yes, they are very nice. I had already bought some at Tuesday Morning...will post soon.
Turns out there is a John Deere Landscaping store less than 5 min from my house...I never noticed it!

I am looking forward to your photos.
I just added some more cultivars to the database. Would love to have you add yours if you have time.

So Lynn. Do you have any results to share with us yet? I'd love to know how Al's verses MG worked.

Al's recipe wins hands down. The only thing I do different is add some MG to the mix, but not very much. I just un-potted some from the ones I potted up March 1st. The root systems are awesome. The ones in MG, not so good. Plus they dry out really fast.
I do believe Al's recipe mimics their natural growing conditions much closer than MG does.
Try doing your own experiment for your growing conditions Debbie and see how it works for you. I bet you would just about never have to water yours. We don't get rain in the summer, so it is very dry here (low humidity), plus our temps get into the 90's and even into 100's in July and Aug.
I could just smack myself for not taking picture yesterday of the root systems. I'll look to see if I have anymore to do.

Good morning Debbie. It beats MG hands down. I just transplanted the experiment March 1st potted plants into the new raised bed yesterday. The ones from Al's recipe had big beautiful root systems, the MG ones not so good.
I wish I would have taken pictures. : ( I'll see if I have anymore out there, if I do I'll take pictures.
I do add a small amount of MG to the recipe, about 1 to 3 ratio.
Give it a try, do your own experiment and see how it does in you part of the country. Would love to see your results. I will try to do some pictures today.

Did you keep the same ratio of turface? I also used the potting mix, but have nothing to compare to except to say most of my plants lived (as opposed to other years when they didn't) I reduced the amount of turface, but wonder if I had to.

Did you both sift the turface? And what was the actual recipe that you used?

What I mixed up:
1 part MG Potting Mix, not the Potting Soil.
1 part Turface
1 part chicken grit
1 part fir bark (smaller particles)
I do not sift the Turface.

Well, I really goofed up. Used the MG "Cactus Mix". Every single succulent I planted has died. This is my favorite plant genre and I kill every single one. bwhaaaa.

Do you have them in full sun Christi?
Al's Mix Recipe should do well for you with some Miracle Grow mixed in. Also in your harsh summer sun they should maybe get morning sun only, or filtered sun.
Try getting another plant from your local Home Depot or Lowes, they have had some really nice ones this year at very reasonable prices.
Mix up Al's recipe with maybe 1/3 MG added to the mix. Give the plant some protection from harsh sun and heat. Only water if the top inch or so of mix is dry.
Just do the one plant until you figure out what will work in your area of the country.
Let me know how it goes. Once you figure out soil, light and water you will never have problems growing them again.

Oh Christi, I'm so sorry you lost yours. I, too, had bought a bag of the MG cactus mix. I've never opened it. Back it goes.

I grow mine in pots with the shade plants...
I think I misunderstood the ratio when I planted...I used 3 parts MG potting soil to the 1: 1:1. I am glad they are still alive!

If they are healthy and happy, that works for you Anna. If not then try changing the ratio.
Twits recipe is very good also. If they are getting to much shade they will not do well either.

Could be that I bought plants that were already too stressed. They were on the mark-down table at Lowe's. I will try, try again. Eventually I will be successful. Thank you so much for the encouragement.