1) Every ingredient that you listed for the Fox Farm soil is extremely fine. Since water retention is dependant primarily on particle size, you should expect a medium made of all fine particulates to be extremely water retentive, something I try very hard to avoid in containers. 2) You can read about soils and how durable soils that remain well-aerated long after peat/compost-based soils have collapsed can offer a greater margin for grower error and make things much simpler for the grower if you follow this link. 3) Not necessarily, but if you think about it, what will you do if your pH falls outside the favorable range? Start adding acids and bases to change it? In commercial situations, pH is usually tested frequently and adjusted by injecting a wide variety of chemicals that have elements plants need into the irrigation water. Since pH is affected by temperature, fertility, plant material, moisture level, even time of day (Plants help to control the pH in the rhizosphere to make it easier for them to uptake nutrients. This effect is reduced when plants are undergoing periods of reduced transpiration, which in turn has an effect on pH.) I'm not saying that because I ignore trying to control pH that you should, but I've never found it necessary to fret about it in any container planting. I might consider the plant prefers acidic conditions and forgo the use of lime and maybe use a urea-based fertilizer to take advantage of the acid reaction, but other than that, I don't worry. Remember that Media pH is far less important in container media than in mineral soils, and if you're supplying nutrients in soluble form, unless the pH is WAY outside favorable limits, your plant will be able to assimilate the nutrients. You can find considerable discussion about this in Dr C Whitcomb's work, "Plant Production in Containers II". 4) On average, plants use about 6-10x more N than P. Since the P in NPK is not a true measure of P supplied (P is reportted as the % of P2O5 [phosphorous pentaoxide]) you need to use a multiplier of .43 to tell the actual amount of P. In 3:1:2 ratio fertilizers, there is 7x as much N as P, so you actually have a considerable cush in 3:1:2 ratio fertilizers. Plants use roughly the same amount of nutrients throughout the growth cycle in relation to N, so I'm not sure where the idea they need larger doses of P during flowering/fruiting comes from. Tissue analysis of fruits and blooms show roughly the same levels of P as other plant organs, which meshes nicely with the idea that consistent P levels at approximately 1/6 that of N are entirely adequate throughout the growth cycle. I actually don't boost K by adding the ProTeKt, I reduce the amount of N, which also must reduce the levels of P and K. Since I can see by my plants that what I said above about P is true (also confirmed in the text cited above, which is essentially the Bible on container production) and P levels remain adequate at reduced application rates of 3:1:2 ratio fertilizers, I only need to be sure plants are getting adequate K. I can do this by incorporating some potash in the soil when I make it in anticipation of the reduced N applications for tomatoes, or simply forgo the increase in TDC by supplying it later as needed by using the ProTeKt. Al

It looks like it needs some pruning. Also, expand the mulch area you have around the tree. You also seem to have too much mulch against the trunk of the tree from what I can tell from the picture.

Yes it could, but the terracotta pot would also get very hot. It could also be that it has become waterlogged somehow. Or it could be curl grubs in the potting mix eating the roots. If it were my tree I would remove it from the pot and completely wash all soil from the roots. Then if you find it is any of the above repot into new soil and keep barely moist in a shaded spot to see if it recovers. It sounds as if it is nearly dead so you cant do much more harm by repotting it and you just might save it. Good luck. Robyn

if you think of media as a water management system ... then any media differences can be offset with proper watering.. the usual being.. a sip of water.. full drainage .. and near drying before watering again Water-retentive media proffers to the grower a dilemma. Do I water appropriately and risk over-watering, or water in sips and ensure that dissolved solids from tapwater and fertilizer solutions build-up in the medium? That type of watering also ensures a skewed ratio of nutrients in the soil solution after only a few waterings, and the more disparate the fertilizers ratio is in relation to the ratio at which the plant actually uses nutrients, the faster that issue manifests to problem levels. Also, watering in sips to avoid over-watering means the soil is water-retentive, which means aeration isn't all that great. Watering in sips doesn't fix that or the lack of gas exchange found in compacted/water-retentive media. In essence, you're trading one problem for others, which makes no sense (from the plant's perspective) when all can easily be fixed by way of a change in soil structure. the problems usually start.. when the media wears out and breaks down .. so its not manipulating the water management anymore ... either by lack of drainage.. or by reduced flow of the water.. thru the pot ... Here again, aeration/ compaction/ gas exchange are left out of the equation. Problems with water-retentive media are more often a problem immediately after the planting is established or repotted/potted up into an inappropriate medium. After the roots have fully colonized the medium, the roots actually become a part of the soil structure, holding media in place. This allows macro pores to form that wouldn't be in a collapsing medium were it not for root structures. Al