Blueboy:

Between your trees and mine there are only around twenty miles of separation. More important, is the fact that there are probably around only six feet of elevation change. And more important than that is this. What is in the subsoil? Is there a caliche layer like we have under most of Angleton?

Remember, 80% to 90% of the compost and mulch will be gone before the trees mature. Really, two finished 4x4's = 7 inches. The soil may seem to settle. It is only the bacteria and fungi eating the carbon and releasing it as CO2. Only some ash remains and the trees use a lot of that. That is why I like three or four landscape timbers. And keep the organic very light, especially directly under the the crown of the tree.

People not living along the Gulf Coast have no idea what it is like to grow things in our "gumbo" clay.

I like to break the clay a little so the surface is irregular. Otherwise the roots slide over the clay and never penetrate. They also have difficulty when a high wind hits 'cause they can't get a toe hold on the clay. The sand gives way and the tree goes over quite easy.

I don't have time for detailed help now except to say the Meyer Lemon is happy because it not rain last year! Expect a six or eight rain or even more every three or four years. They don't have that in California.

"My Meyer Lemon I dug a 3ft saucer shaped hole about 1ft deep and filled it with everything except the clay I dug out of it. I filled it with Sand, 2 kinds of compost and pinebark mulch and made a mound of it to act as a raised bed."

This is a good way to kill a citrus tree. You have created a bathtub in the ground to drown it. Best method is raised beds in clay areas. The soil is 100% clay here in Beaumont.

Here is a link that might be useful: mrtexas

Thanks for the replies. I had no idea what I was doing last year when I bought the trees. Ive been too busy tending blueberry bushes to concentrate on my citrus. After reading alot about growing citrus I realized I was going about it all wrong for this part of the world. The good news is Im now correcting my mistakes and hopefully they will pull through with yalls help.

So what kind of soil mix do yall recommend? Should I go to a local nursery and get a couple yards of top soil or is there a custom mix yall have had sucess with?

MrTexas, I read your site and its very informative. You said you plant in pine bark mulch grit. What exactly is the grit you use and what ratio are you mixing the two?

The pine bark grit is pine bark fines mixed with sand and comes from a paper mill.

Soil mix should include 50% sand.

Thanks for the info. Do yall have any experience with the Micro Life brand of fertilizer?

bbboy let me know how that n33 taste? I might head over to Froberg also to pick 1 up.
The lady also recommend the "pineapple" and "tx sweet juice" varieties...

Hey Charles, I dont think you can go wrong with any navel. Paul also said the Washington navel is worth getting but they only offer it once a year. I wont let mine fruit for a couple years so its gona be awhile before I can report on it. When I went there they only had 2 more N-33. You might call them and see if they still have them. Tell me about the pineapple? What did they say about it?

Microlife. It is a main ingredient of my fertilization. It's recipe was originally developed by Lewis Walton and he gave it to San Jacinto Environmental. Lewis lived in Brookside Village (on Clear Creak N. of Pearland) and grew fine citrus. He has retired to Oregon.

It's main drawbacks are cost and low %K. So I mix it with a little Potassium Nitrate and cotton seed meal and Epsom Salt for needed extra Magnesium. I use one 40 lb. bag Microlife 6-2-4 and one 50 lb. bag cotton seed meal. To two gal of this mix I add a quart of KNO3 and a cup of Epsom Salt.

When this is applied it must be watered in well or your risk killing your earthworms. Water also helps start the organic to break down. Otherwise fire ants get fat on it.

I get Microlife at a local hardware store and the Potassium Nitrate from Southwest Fertilizer. Feed stores have cotton seed meal.

Hey Tantanman,

Thanks for fert recipe. I have been adding some epsom salt here an there. How often are you applying this mix and and how much of it?

I add Epsom salt b/c my soil and water are super saturated w/ Calcium as Calcium carbonate from a caliche layer in the subsoil. The sun draws the calcium up through the clay by capillary action and plays hell with the root system of my trees on Trifoliate and its hybrids. The calcium raises the pH. In turn this ties up Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn, and Mo, and maybe Cu to name a few and in that order. Of these, the first four are most critical. If your trees have good color or you have soil and/or water pH equal to 6.5 or below you may not have the same problem.

I apply 60% of my fert in Mar and 40% in May or June at the latest. (Last year was an exception b/c of the record late spring, my second fert was in early July.) Your trees should turn dark green by May. If they still have a problem after the second application, condsider a foliar spray. I've written about this several times. It is a complex problem.
If You have still a problem then, "give me a hollar".

If your trees display extreme Mg deficiency, broadcast a light application of Epsom salt at this time. Or maybe between now and two or three weeks from now. Epsom salt is Magnesium sulfate heptahydrate (7 waters of hydration in the crystals). You may need to do it more than once.

Note: Magnesium is not tied up as much as heavier minor and micro elements by high pH. But it is just not usually as abundant in the soil when Calcium is high. Also many try to use Dolomite limestone as a Mg++ source but it is only sparingly soluble at normal pH. Dolomite will not "Fizz" (release CO2 and go into solution) even, with hydrochloric acid. Good composted mulch will make many of these elements available as well as provide sufficient quantities.

Correction to dolomite "Fizz" statement.

The acid in my previous statement should be acetic acid (or common vinegar), not hydrochloric acid, HCl. Hydrochloric is a very strong acid. Acetic acid is one of the stronger weak acids. It easily gets the pH below lower limits of safe citrus growing ranges.

The N-33 navel is a very rich tasting orange that will blow you away if you use Sunkist Washington navels as a benchmark. There are several navels listed in the Texas A&M "Aggihorticulture website" that are better than Washington for Texas growers.

Our climate may be similar to Florida, but the geologic history for deposition of the soil column are very different. Our soils and climate are likewise opposites with California's.

Thanks again for the info Tanman. Sounds like you know what your talking about! I picked up some cotton seed meal and also some super phosphate 0-18-0. I had a brain fart and thought it was phosphate that I needed. After reading your post again I realized its potassium I need! I do make my own compost from all my vegetable scraps and garden waste. I even throw a few hundred worms in there in the winter to keep it breaking down when its cool out and for the added worm castings they leave behind. Are you saying that good compost is all I need for the citrus or will it provide enough Mg so I dont need the Epsom Salts in my fert mix?

This time of the year and again in late summer citrus leaves may decolorize due to lack of Magnesium. It will start near the tip and work its way toward the stem along each edge forming a chevron pattern. If you don't have that problem, don't worry about Magnesium. But that is a very common thing in this area.

The compost I refered to was native mulch, made from twigs.

According to Bob Randall the foremost expert on organic gardening around here, one should use native mulch compost on trees and save the veggie compost for veggie gardens.

Two more things that have high %K are hay and plant stems. I wind up putting all my seed free grass and weeds under my trees to make mulch also. Worms will eat that and your beds will be super soft.