Al's Original gritty mix Recipe can be found here. http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/contain/msg0210350817676.html

Ok, So I haven't posted alot of stuff in the past but I'm here to try and help out anyone I can as some of you have helped me.

I woke up this morning on a mission to find the ingredients to make Al's Gritty Mix. I live about 50 miles west of Phx and there isn't alot out here. People have said that it's kind of hard to find some of the ingredients so for the past few months I've blown off even trying to look. But I just got some new plants so I was determined to find this stuff. It didn't take me long at all really.

Here's what I found and where I found it.

The Pine or Fir Bark....

Well I couldn't exactly find anything that said it was straight up Pine or Fir bark but at Home Depot, I found this stuff.

Earthgro Decorative Groundcover Bark

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100355687/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=groundcover&storeId=10051#specifications

On the website it actually says it's made from particle board/composite filler. It looks like some wood chips with some pine bark in it. It looks good, I believe it will workout for this mix. If you can't find the good stuff, it may actually be worth checking out.

Gypsum, I found both at Lowes and Home Depot. Just ask anyone working in the garden center. They'll show you where its at.

Screened Turface (may substitute calcined DE, such as NAPA floor dry)

Well NAPA is far away from me so I decided to try an AutoZone. I'm sure this is exactly the same stuff. This is what I found.

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accessories/Moltan-15-lbs-UltraSorb-water-oil-and-grease-absorbent/_/N-260l?itemIdentifier=36015_0_0_

It MSDS sheet says it's 99% Diatomaceous Earth & And the crushed granite I got from a local rock business called West Valley Rock in Buckeye Az.

These people were awesome and helped me out with picking out what I needed. The actual size of the rock is called "Quarter Minus". I first asked for #2 size and noticed it was WAY to big. After showing me the other size, I realized that "Quarter Minus" was the correct size.

If you're around this area check out there website or give them a visit. http://www.westvalleyrock.com/

Make sure you take your own container to fill up.

Anyways, this is what I found for my mix and this is what I will use starting today. Hopefully this info can help out anyone else looking for stuff they can't find. It took me a total of 2 hrs to find everything, and that's because I really took my time and was shopping around for other things as well.

Have a great day!

Oh and BTW, everything was all reasonably price, ~$5-$6 each bag of stuff (on average).