mrshal07, first, if you can let us know where you live? Zone 8 is marginal for citrus in the ground, but I don't see any mention of putting anything in the ground - just containers - so I am assuming you would be able to bring your citrus inside at least to a garage temporarily, if you have a cold snap? Just need a little clarification regarding your zone and location. That might give us a better idea regarding cultivar recommendations if things are staying outside. If you can bring your container citrus inside during cold snaps, then cultivar selection based on weather restrictions isn't so important. Okay, as far as potting mix, no, I would not suggest a mix of citrus soil and potting soil. Much too water retentive. Putting "something in the bottom" does not improve drainage, this is a misconception. We have a great recipe for either "511" or "Gritty" mix on our forum, so search for that and copy down how to mix your own very well draining and long lasting potting mix. Hopefully MeyerMike will add his perspective on container citrus, as he is one of our most successful forum members with container citrus in a less than ideal USDA zone (Massachusetts). His trees are gorgeous. Fertilizing is usually done with each watering, 1/2 strength during non-growing season (late fall through early spring), then full strength. Most container citrus folks prefer to use DynaGro's Foliage Pro. I also use it, along with a time-release product with an NPK close to 5-1-3 ratio, along with micronutrients, even with my full-time-outside container citrus with very excellent results. As far as cultivars - if you can bring your citrus inside during cold snaps, then I would pick cultivars you like to eat, or provide juice that you would drink or cook with. So, all are good choices. I would make a suggestion for your grapefruit, though, as grapefruits need some significant heat units in order to sweeten up. So, consider a grapefruit hybrid, such as Oroblanco, Melogold, or Cocktail (which isn't really even a grapefruit, but actually a pummelo/mandarin hybrid, but absolutely delicious, and does not need heat to sweeten.) I would consider a Bearrs lime, as it isn't quite as cold-sensitive as the Mexican (Key) lime. And a Meyer lemon would also be a better choice over a regular lemon as it is more cold tolerant that, say, a Eureka or Lisbon lemon. Satsuma mandarins are lovely, but slower to mature, so perhaps consider another mandarin cultivar, there are many excellent choices, such as Seedless Kishu, Gold Nugget, Page or Tango mandarins (or mandarin hybrids). Rootstock are the "roots" that the cultivar scion gets grafted to, which can provide the cultivar with some significant benefits - size control, more resistance to disease, precociousness, sweeter fruit, more tolerance to cold temps, soil issues, etc. So, you'll find most citrus are grafted. For container citrus, you're better off finding citrus grafted to dwarf or semi-dwarfing rootstock. Four Winds Growers grafts most of the their citrus to a very semi-dwarfing rootstock called Cuban Shaddock, which makes them very suitable to container culture. And, they have every cultivar you've listed. They're a great company, grow beautiful citrus, and many of us on the forum have their trees. There are other good growers out there as well, but not many that you can find who graft to true dwarfing rootstock (which would be poncirus trifoliate 'Fly Dragon'), or certainly no one else I am aware of that uses Cuban Shaddock, probably the next most dwarfing rootstock out there. So, I would definitely look for citrus on at least semi-dwarfing rootstock, if you're shopping locally. If your area can support in-ground citrus, I would suggest going to one of your better garden centers, or even better, a citrus grower if you have one, and talk to them about the cultivars that do the best in your area, especially if you plan on leaving them outside. Just remember, if you have temps in the winter that drop below 40 degrees, you need to consider bringing your container citrus inside or at least, into the garage (with sunlight) for short periods, as container citrus don't have the root protects from cold temps as in-ground citrus have. Patty S. Here is a link that might be useful: Four Winds Growers

Well, I can tell what I used on this tree with great results. I water no nutrition at all in the winter, and the only other thing I was using was "Miracid" for azealas and rhododenrens. That's it. I was feeding 1/4 teaspoon once a week. And this tree never had a problem. This is the only one I feed this way. I figure, if it isn't broke, don't fix it. It seems to be quite happy! The other ones I have, they are all fed differently. I would say, the key to sucess with any citrus, above all feed, is the amount of sun you give it. That one gets over 6 hours of sun a day, even in the winter. I could feed all my other citrus the same way, and yet I will not get the same results because I have them in less sun and under grow lights. Here is something strange. The year before, I fed that tree,nothing, I mean nothing, because I was too lazy to bother, and it still produced 8 oranges that were huge and delicious. I really think the amount of sun it got pushed out great fruit, abundant flowers, and heathy growth. So focus on keeping your citrus alive and healthy just for the winter with lack of sun, and then feed it and stick it in the sunniest place outside in spring, and you will be fine. It will explode in growth! Mike

Limeandlemon..Hello..Me too. I have never lost any leaves re potting right after I got mine in delivery..But what I can tell you is that if one does not re pot carefully and does not slowly acclimate them back into the light, they will sulk and may even loose leaves..I guess it's all in the way we treat our trees after they have been punched around a bit in those good ole post offices and ripped from their comfortable environment...

I would not use a "balanced" fertilizer and would use Jack's Professional 25-5-15 or Foliage Pro 9-3-6 because they supply the NPK nutrients in the proper ratio of 5-1-3 required by citrus. (The foliage Pro has a ratio that is close enough. I live in the Northeast and never painted my tree trunks. They have never shown damage. To me, root pruning means removing soil along the side and bottom or cutting wedges out of the root ball. I would not root prune because that might kill the tree. Remove it from its pot and only cut off all circling roots.