@dleverette When making 5:1:1 mix, I break-up the compressed chunks of peat so they pass through a 1/2" screen. I toss any sticks and such on top of the raised beds where they break down with time. Here's a tip you'll find very helpful. For large batches of 5:1:1, pour the bark onto a tarp laid on a flat surface, then wet the bark a bit. Then, add the screened peat and spread it over the bark. Add your lime on top of the peat, then put down the perlite and wet that. The trick is to use just enough water to make the mix damp when it's thoroughly mixed. Both peat and pine bark are hydrophobic (water repellent) when allowed to dry below about 20% of their water holding ability. This makes a dry 5:1:1 mix extremely difficult to rewet if you don't moisten it when you make it. The moisture in the mix diffuses, moistening the bark/ peat and "breaking" its tendency to repel water. Within 15-30 minutes of making the mix you can pot plants and water them in thoroughly w/o the frustration associated with trying to rehydrate a dry soil. FWIW, I don't use coir. As many times as I've tried it and cone comparative experiments, I've always had problems or been dissatisfied with the results. You might be interested in a comparison between peat and coir I wrote several years back: Peat vs. Coir Sphagnum peat and coir have nearly identical water retention curves. They both retain about 90-95% of their volume in water at saturation and release it over approximately the same curve until they both lock water up so tightly it's unavailable for plant uptake at about 30-33% saturation. Coir actually has less loft than sphagnum peat, and therefore, less aeration. Because of this propensity, coir should be used in mixes at lower %s than peat. Because of the tendency to compact, in the greenhouse industry coir is primarily used in containers in sub-irrigation (bottom-watering) situations. Many sources produce coir that is high in soluble salts, so this can also be an issue. Using coir as the primary component of container media virtually eliminates lime or dolomitic lime as a possible Ca source because of coir's high pH (6+). Gypsum should be used as a Ca source, which eliminates coir's low S content. All coir products are very high in K, very low in Ca, and have a potentially high Mn content, which can interfere with the uptake of Fe. Several studies have also shown that the significant presence of phenolic allelochemicals in fresh coir can be very problematic for a high % of plants, causing poor growth and reduced yields. I haven't tested coir thoroughly, but I have done some testing of CHCs (coconut husk chips) with some loose controls in place. After very thoroughly leaching and rinsing the chips, I made a 5:1:1 soil of pine bark:peat:perlite (which I know to be very productive) and a 5:1:1 mix of CHCs:peat:perlite. I planted 6 cuttings of snapdragon and 6 cuttings of Coleus (each from the same plant to help reduce genetic influences) in containers (same size/shape) of the different soils. I added dolomitic lime to the bark soil and gypsum to the CHC soil. After the cuttings struck, I eliminated all but the three strongest in each of the 4 containers. I watered each container with a weak solution of MG 12-4-8 with STEM added at each watering, and watered on an 'as needed basis', not on a schedule. The only difference in the fertilizer regimen was the fact that I included a small amount of MgSO4 (Epsom salts) to provide MG (the dolomitic lime in the bark soil contained the MG, while the gypsum (CaSO4) in the CHC soil did not. This difference was necessary because or the high pH of CHCs and coir.) for the CHC soil. The results were startling. In both cases, the cuttings grown in the CHC's exhibited < 1/2 the biomass at summers end as the plants in the bark mix. I just find it very difficult for a solid case to be made (besides "It works for me") for the use of coir or CHC's. They're more expensive and more difficult to use effectively. The fact that some believe peat is in short supply (no where near true, btw) is easily offset by the effect of the carbon footprint of coir in its trek to the US from Sri Lanka or other exotic locales. That's the view from here. YMMV Coir Study: https://sites.google.com/site/plantandsoildigest/usu-crop-physiology-laboratory/coconut-coir-studies Al

Terpguy: I don't know. I can tell you how it's growing though. It is on the top usable shelf of my plant shelf, which is in front of an unobstructed south facing window on the third floor. It is fairly close to the window, maybe about 4-5 inches away. The window is covered with a sheer mesh curtain, the cheap kind you get at Ikea. It is growing in a mix of coco fiber, tree fern fiber, and a bit of bark and lava rock (I think that's what it was). The bottom of the board above is lined with aluminum foil to attempt to reflect light downward. It's in a clear orchid pot with side slats, so when it looks dry, I water it. I try not to let it get totally dry, as I read somewhere that it likes to stay moist. It tends to bloom at least a couple times a year for me. I was surprised that it decided to bloom now, as it has been putting on a lot of new growth and I thought it would concentrate on maturing those. Hey, I won't say no to blooms. So, I don't feel like I do anything special. Paph delenatiis don't bloom for me for anything though. At least one tried last year. This year, they didn't even try. I'm clearly doing something wrong. The one has been steadily shrinking too. I did it, I got Pleuro alata and that Lepanthopsis. And of course, I forgot another bloomer, a Phal hybrid with a name I can't remember right now. It's a harlequin with yellow-green petals and burgundy spots, blooming since Januaryish. I'm keeping my eye on my Cattleya luteola, which has two buds getting steadily bigger and fatter. Exciting! Calvin, I can't really help with any tips on C. luteola. Like I said, I thought it hated me. It's about 5 inches away from an 85W CFL, and it kept growing too close to the light and burning off its leaves. So I'd get new growth, then lose it. Although I guess the pbulbs stuck around. That is what is spiking now, a leafless pbulb.

Heavens, You didn't mention how many hours of direct sunlight your citrus are getting (8 hrs is best). If you're getting much less than this, you could be deficient. Also, keep in mind that there are a variety of windows with various degrees of tinting to block out UV and other rays that are otherwise present outdoors. You mention that your trees are indoors all year. This is a divergence from the experience of most on this forum in Northern climes. Do you have the option at all of putting your trees outdoors during the warmer months? If not, you may want to invest in grow lights again with the appropriate wavelengths of lght for good growth. Your pH is best if kept in the low 5-high 6 range. You may want to add 1/2-1 capful of vinegar to each watering/fertilizing. My final thought is in regard to your pruning. I understand you doing so to keep the trees smaller; however, know that by doing so, you may be jeapardizing the tree's ability to make new leaves to photosynthesize/rejuvenate itself to be able to eventually produce fruit. Tim

There's also individual variation between plants of the same variety. Genetics are not identical--just stable for the traits of the variety. The way 2 German shepherds will meet the breed standard but not be clones of one another at all. For example, I have 2 Earl of Edgecombe plants in similar sized containers right next to one another, getting fed and watered the same. One is very branchy/bushy and has twice the fruit set of the other. But it had early BER, has smaller fruits, and is slower to produce ripe fruit. The other is more tree-like in habit with a clear main stem, has fewer fruit, but average fruit size is larger, and it's ripening earlier. Both have the same foliage, though, and fruit characteristics are very similar. It's hard to draw solid conclusions from small sample sizes. You'd have to grow out a bunch of plants in identical conditions except for the variable you're testing. Or, if you wanted to do a very small sample size, you could probably take suckers of the same plant and root those and grow those to compare. But you'd have to account for the time difference/maturity difference of the suckers.