The usual response I get to coconut husk chips is "huh?" No one in my area that I've found so far has even heard of them but for one other fellow Citrus Forum member who lives here. He buys them from a supplier in Orlando and was kind enough to get me a bale last time. I'm using the recipe that Millet gave once and so far it works for me. Here is what I do. After properly pre-soaking and then pre-treating the CHC's with CaNO3 and MgSo4 during the last rinse I then blend my growing medium mixture usually one cubic foot at a time. I start with the basic mix of 4 parts CHC (1/4 or 1/2 inch chips or a mix of the two sizes) to one part peat moss and to this basic mixture I add the following ingredients per 1-cubic foot: .57-lbs. (258-gms) 23-4-8 one year slow release fertilizer. .48-lbs. (218-gms) Dolomite .08-lbs. ( 36-gms) Regular water soluble fertilizer w/o trace minerals. .08-lbs. ( 36-gms) STEM (Soluble Trace Element Mix) Blend entire mixture well. I then begin my regular fertilizer applications one month after transplanting the tree into the above medium. 1 cubic foot = 7.481 liquid gallons or 6.429 dry gallons I have varied from this slightly by using 1.5 parts peat to 4 parts CHCs, but now that I've had a chance to observe my plants for some weeks now the recommended 4:1 is probably sufficient. I could not find any one year slow release fertilizer so I'm using some four month stuff, but given Florida's warm climate it probably releases faster than that. .....Alan.

Lbd, I wonder what could have gone wrong. Was the tree healthy to begin with, or already in decline? CHCs are so neutral in ph that I don't know how they could hurt a plant. I've used them on at least 20 citrus, pome and stone fruits, grapevines, and many tropicals. I'm in South Florida, the sweaty armpit of the world(G). I credit CHCs for the survival of my potted fruit trees on a burning hot concrete patio during our horrible summers. I don't soak the roots before repotting into chcs. After a tree is planted in chcs, it is almost impossible to remove the soil from the roots- they hold it so tightly. I just plunk them in the ground, or in a larger container, as they are, and they do well. So far, I have not had *any* transplant shock with chcs. Not even with Cacao, Tree Tomato or Papayas, all very picky plants. How have your trees responded when planted in other potting mediums? Have you tried an orchid/cactus mix? Those are similar in that they are fast draining, but they lack the moisture holding properties of chcs. You could try fir bark or pine bark to see how your trees respond to each ingredient. Is the Tangelo the only tree you switched? What was it in before? Lisa

The difference between 'small' and 'medium' isn't that much. What it really means is that per square inch, the larger chips have a smaller surface area. I know that might not make sense at first, but if you think about it, a bunch of tiny little marbles in a fishbowl has a much larger surface area than a bowling ball would, even though the volume of the smaller marbles added together is less than the bowling ball. For small CHC, this means there is less air in the soil solution and the roots are more tightly surrounded than in larger CHC. Make of that what you will, because I really can't see the major difference other than aesthetics and root-growth in smaller trees. Long story short, I've got my first cutting, a pre-grafting learning experience, planted in medium CHC. It's doing just fine outside in the wind and weather. I've even tipped it out of the container to see tiny little roots growing into the 'gigantic' CHC. It looks kind of funny in the pot, but other than that it's doing just fine and has a good grip on its 'soil'.

Just remember that CHCs have a natural pH of around 6.4 (I think, it's been a while) which is ideal for citrus. I'd imagine that the CHCs will prevent overwatering (I haven't seen any water related problems outside of forgetting to rewater) even with a little standing water at the bottom. The husks don't wick the water up my pots as quickly as soil would so the roots aren't standing in water. Also to clarify, the standing water is at the bottom amidst rocks and pebbles keeping all but a 1/4" of the pot's base submerged and that usually only lasts 12 hours before the water evaporates on my heat source (cable box). If you're in a suitable climate for citrus, I think the husks in an open bottom barrel might be your best bet. I'm not so sure that it's any guarantee that the plant will survive once the roots penetrate the soil below... you'd want to make sure that the soil is right. Millet, is the reason for not amending the soil due to the inevitable equilibrium reached between your amendments and the surrounding earth? I think the statement might be too vague since we will amend the soil when it isn't just right, no? Acidity, drainage, lacking in nutrients, etc... Eugene