Easier potting mix for citrus?
keodark
11 years ago
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denninmi
11 years agohoustontexas123
11 years agoRelated Discussions
Good potting mix for Citrus + fertilizer?
Comments (5)A mix that is coarse, porous, durable, well-aerated, free-draining. This means that the particulate needs to be gritty, with most particles in the 1/8 to 1/4 inch range. In zone 9b, you have a bit more leeway in that your warm weather will mitigate some of the issues associated with heavier, more moisture-retentive mixes. Many of us use bark-based mixes that are amended with small fractions of perlite, pumice, turface, potting mix, et cetera. Fafard's "Nursery Mix" is reportedly very good off the shelf. "Orchid Mix" with some tinkering can be decent as well. Most "Citrus mix" is peat-based, however, so you'd want to avoid that...or else heavily amend it with coarse perlite. Josh...See MoreWhich potting soil/mix should i use for citrus in containers?
Comments (4)Aha, finally a question I can answer! (I'm new here but I've read just about every post on potting mix I could find.) Head on over to the "Container" forum and read the series of posts about this very topic from a very knowledgeable poster named Al/Tapla and the many many many other people who have had success with his potting mixes. There are also other folks who use different mixes, but there's definitely concensus about the idea of creating a fast draining but well aerated mix for containers to grow successfully long term. The key thing I've learned about potted citrus is they don't like soggy roots. Basic potting mixes have too much organic material and that not only stays wet too long, but it breaks down and collapses quickly, accelerating root rot and the poor nutrient uptake. When I got here a couple weeks ago, the idea of "home brewing" my own potting mix sounded so revolutionary and a bit crazy, and now, I'm a convert. I do a slight variation of the mix Al recommends, because I want to grow using a bit more organic material than he uses. You might also want to read his fertilizer posts... all very helpful. Good luck with your citrus! Here is a link that might be useful: Al's Container Potting Mix Post...See MoreEasy potting mix for citrus
Comments (24)Hey John my plumeria are just waking up from winter. I aquired about 20 more varieties by cuttings this springs so ill be busy with those also. good to see you tolerate at least a couple other plants. LOL. How many trees are you up to now? I had about 2 dozen fruit set on my largest meyer and about a dozen on a smaller one. Best crop for me so far. Illi good looking tree. Where did you get it. Also I forgot to ask, what type of lime is it. The benefit of using a very well draining soil is that you can go with a bit bigger pot than what would otherwise be considered too big because of the perched water. If that was my tree I would go with at least something in between a 1 and 5 gallon pot. I use all nursery pots because they are cheap so my stock is 1 and 5 gallon pots. I have a few much bigger too. You could probably get by with a 5 gallon if you have a good draining soil and watch your watering. In july/august in oklahoma its very hard to overwater container plants even using straight miracle grow. Its this winter that you have to be careful. mike...See MoreContainer Citrus potting mix?
Comments (14)I like Just Fruit's citrus trees and have bought a bunch of them, but I don't agree with their "Most commercially available potting soils are fine for citrus, or you can mix 1 part clean sand, 1 part peat and 1 part pinebark" at all. That is going to lay too wet for good citrus growth in my opinion. I haven't tried Turface or crushed granite as I haven't been able to find a local source for either of them. I'd really like to try them though and will if ever I get the chance. In the past I've used pine bark nuggets in the half-inch range mixed four parts bark to one part spagnum peat. This works very well for for both aerosity and water retention. My only complaint with it is that it needs replacing after about a year more or less. Once it breaks down past a certain point it starts holding too much water. My present perennial media mix is half-inch treated coconut husk chips and ground coconut coir about 3.5 parts chips to one part coir. This has given me really good aerosity while still maintaining good water retention. In the terra cotta colored plastic pots I find I need to water about twice a week in the hot parts of the year (full sun), less if it has rained a lot. My oldest tree has been in the same media for nearly three years now and come spring will have to have it replaced. I'd really like to find a largely inorganic media that would last even longer which is why I want to experiment with the Turface and maybe horticultural charcoal. The tree still has to have pot maintenance periodically though to either be moved into a larger container or have some root pruning done so the permanent media only gets you so much. I haven't used much slow-release fertilizer as the Osmocote and store brands that I've found so far all tend to release too fast in the hot part of the year. Some of y'all have mentioned a Dynomite brand that I'm going to look for to give it a try. Mostly I use Scotts soluble 20-20-20 with minors with some added magnesium sulfate (Epsom salts) once a month. Occasionally I'll add a liquid metals product to the mix if the leaves start looking a little pale. Even with forgetting to fertilize over the summer we've still got more Key and Tahiti (Persian) limes than we can use and the Eureka lemons are starting to color up now as well. If I could find some way to fend off the leaf miners and grasshoppers without going to systemics the trees would even look pretty by the time fall rolls around. It's frustrating to get to this time of year and have them look like they do because of the bug damage. .....Alan....See Morerhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
11 years agokeodark
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11 years agomeyermike_1micha
11 years agomksmth zone 7a Tulsa Oklahoma
11 years agohagar3
11 years agohoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
11 years agojerry_d
11 years agohoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
11 years agomeyermike_1micha
11 years agojerry_d
11 years agohoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
11 years agohoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
11 years agoHortusinGA
11 years agoJoppaRich
11 years ago
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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7