Tom wrote:
Hi, I ran out of cactus compost a while ago. Someone at the local
garden centre advised me to use a 50/50 compost and sand mix instead
(they had no cactus compost in stock).

I did that but I notice that I watered all my cactii today and the
50/50 mix is already dry(ish) while the pure cactus compost I've
watered is still very very wet.

Is there a difference between the two? Any pros and cons of either?

Cheers,

Tom

Depends which sand you used. You need some grit in with the sand ("sharp"
sand), or mix the sand with fine gravel (3 - 5 mm) in a 2:1 ratio.

I don't know what is in cactus compost, but if it is "very very wet" it
sound too water retentive to me. Then again, in the wild some cacti remain
under water for days on end after flash floods, and it does them no harm.

--
Jeff
(cut "thetape" to reply)