i have only done one repot myself so by no means i feel like i know what i am doing, but i will tell you what i saw.
After i repoted my citrus in gritty mix i did see that it lost lots of leaves, i remember someone saying that this happens because the tree is unable to feed all of the leaves since it lost many fine feeder roots. so i watered the tree often, to help it get enough water and nutrients, just like i would any other new planting.
After the second week of the repot i started to see lots of new growth, new leaves came and even flowers. Now, it has been 4-5 months since the repot and the tree is catching up with my other trees, the leaves are filling in the branches and the tree looks great.
So i am thinking that what you are seeing is what is supposed to happen, but hopefully someone with more experience will chime in.
Cheers

I've bare rooted 14 (I think) citrus this year. Some very small 3 inch pots, most 8 inch pots. I've lost one of the small ones but it might not have made it anyway. I'm not gentle at all, I soak, I spray, I pull at the roots to get the old soil out. Some I've put back into direct sun and some I put back into shade (after I read here that that's what you're supposed to do).

I think the reason I've been so lucky is since I'm currently out of work I've had a lot of time to babysit them and water them everyday. I think keeping leaves and roots moist has been the key to my success.

I've lost a few leaves but for the most part they've stayed full and a few are starting to flower already.

Newgen, when you did yours, did you soak it in a bucket of water? Or were you just asking if that might be a good way to do it. I was thinking about doing the same. Also, is it okay to bare root at this time of year?

Honestly, I think the only time that bare rooting might give you a problem is when the tree/roots are already weak or in decline, roots are dealt a hard blow, or in the heart of winter with such a lack of sunlight without artificial ones.

I have bare rooted at all times of the year and have only had a leaf drop with the conditions I described above. In good health and done properly, the only thing I have noticed with certain trees is the accelerated growth on some and slowed down growth on others, but never do they react poorly.

If a plant is weak to begin with, or in the process of developing root rot before you even begin, I would be extra careful with the repotting process by going easy on the roots. These are a couple of factors that might cause leaf loss.

I would say what you do with your trees before and after the bare rooting process and what condition your tree at the time are two very important factors.

There are many great suggestions on what to do during the process, but I would have to say putting your tree in a fast draining mix that you can water frequently and watching for dehydration which would tell you to keep it out of the sun until it perks up are two very important factors and on your side after a re-pot and or bare rooting process.

Mike

I agree with Mike.

Also, I try to work in the shade or work on cloudy, cool days.
After re-potting, my plants stay in the shade on the northeast side of my house.
I would not choose to re-pot a tree during High Summer, however.

Josh

bob stl: I was just asking if that's the correct way to do it. When I did mine, I just laid it down on the ground, sprayed, and took out the soil (and probably lots of the roots too!!). I did not soak it in a bucket.

Thanks for all the advice from everyone.

Newgen:

I've done dozens of bareroots and had good luck for the most part, with only some losing quite a bit of foliage (none lost *all*). But it seems bad luck has hit me this year as I'm 0 for 3 on gritty mix bareroots (all 3 have lost significant foliage).

It's depressing and frustrating. However, the worst loser of the bunch has already re-grown quite a bit of the foliage, which is an excellent sign if yours is already doing so a few weeks afterward. I was *sure* I had done well with that worst loser and thought it wouldn't even notice I had bare-rooted 'er. I was wrong.

I decided to build some 511 and just refresh the outer few inches of the additional trees targeted for gritty. I'll just wait until Spring to do them -- now THEY didn't miss a beat when I did not bare root and put into 511.

I do the majority of the work underwater and/or late at night and sometimes things still go wrong. After repot I relocate to spots only receiving direct morning light with the container itself always protected from direct light. Here in our climate, even 11am direct sunlight is harsh on a recovering citrus when ambient is already 90F by then.

If I don't do used these methods, my experience has shown the tree struggling immediately afterward. But again, I've never totally lost one on a bare-root for gritty mix. I've only lost one when I tried to do root pruning simultaneously and another that had root loss from winter freezing.

Just a general note to anyone else who may also have struggling citrus after bare-root into gritty: Be sure not to over-fert and especially excess Nitrogen can force the tree to regrow lots of foliage it cannot support -- it will then drop those same leaves and take some of the limbs, too. Just small amounts until a few weeks have passed and you know it's in the clear (no signs of stress). If there is lots of immediate loss, then again stay with a bit lower than normal N until it stops with the loss and settles or even puts out it's first leaf. I'm thinking closer to a 1-1-1 ratio vs. a 3-1-2 or 5-1-3 for normal healthy conditions.

Good luck!
Chris

Newgen,

I put mine in a bucket of water to remove the old soil this past Monday and they are looking well. They weren't bare as a babies bottom, but over 95% of the old soil was removed. One of the trees had just started new growth before I did this and it is still growing out with no leaves discoloring. I don't know how long it takes for a stressed tree to exhibit problems, but I'm pretty confident that they'll be fine.

I have heard of people flushing the potting soil from the roots by laying the tree on its side, and flushing the potting soil out while the tree is still inside the container. I have never done it in this manner, but supposedly there is very little root damage using this method. Seems strange to me, but I hear it works. I know is the the recommended method when the top of the container is smaller than the middle or bottom.