Hi! I'm just learning myself, but I think I might be able to point you in the right direction... 1) No major issues with larger than needed pots. Your tree will have room to grow, and in the long term if that's what you're looking for you'll be fine. Just 2 words of caution. First make sure that you are watering evenly. With a small rootball to soil ratio its harder to keep the soil evenly moist. This can be limited by using gritty or even 5-1-1 but you still have to be concerned with the mix going hydrophobic from lack of water. Also, if something is wrong with your trees it may be necessary to see what's happening with the roots. This could be tough to pull off if you're using huge containers. 2) Gritty and 5-1-1 are both great. I use both, and definitly prefer the gritty for citrus here in New England, as during the winter it really prevents over-watering. However, its heavy as sin and can get pricy. If you're using big pots you will need a lot of mix, meaning it'll be difficult to move your pots. The 5-1-1 can be just as effective (I have plants that are very happy in that mix), and in the California sun you'll probably not have to worry about over-watering as much. 3) Most people here recommend exactly what you've proposed for a feeding schedule. Check out MeyerMike's plants in a forum search to see the great results he's getting with the same regimen. 4) I'd kill for your zone for so many reasons. You can keep them outside just as you would your in-ground citrus. Bring it in when the temps get below freezing (does that even happen in sunset 17??) 5) Container plants can be fickle, but most people kill them with kindness. Don't overwater them or move them around from shady to sunny conditions rapidly. Just give them a quick soaking every few days and you'll be fine!

Thank you, Carly and Mike, I'm doing fine, I've just had some disturbing issues coming up with both my job as well as my husband's, which has taken me away from forum activity. My citrus are all doing very well, time for some micronutrients, as for us in this part of S. California, the cold temps in combination with our drenching winter rains just leach out all the micronutrients in our soil, and what's left gets locked out due to our somewhat higher pH. So, I need to apply micronutrients to the soil as well as with a foliar application starting now. Interestingly, some citrus are nearly unaffected, like my Cara Cara, while others, like my blood oranges are really getting chlorotic looking. I think I'll also apply some chicken manure as well, but not so sure extra nitrogen at this point in the season is really helpful. It truly is a micronutrient issue we have here, especially those of us on DG (decomposed granite) soils. So, my line up is pretty much complete, unless I come across a Sumo mandarin in the near future (although I have a little seedling limping along). Picked one Oro Blanco a little early just to test, and it was so sweet, it tasted like it had sugar on it, but it was a wee bit dry. First crop, so not expecting great things. Things are ripening up and just about ready for picking, yummm: Grapefruit Rio Red Cocktail Melogold Oro Blanco Valentine Pummelo Mato Buntan Pummelo Tahitian (Sarawak) Pummelo Tangelolo/Tangors/Orangelos Wekiwa Tangelolo Ortanique Tangor Chironja Orangelo Mandarin Pixie Clementine-Nules Algerian/Clementine Gold Nugget Page Tango Nova California Honey Ponkan Manadrin Lime Bearss Lemon Meyer Improved Eureka "Pink Lemonade Eureka (Variegated)" Palestine Lime Orange Moro Blood Sanguinelli Blood Tarocco Blood Cara Cara Valencia Red Smith Valencia Vaniglia Sanguigno Blood Kumquat Miewa Kumquat Nagami Kumquat Variegated Calamondin Patty S.

I have a Kishu which had a ton of fruit last year. It has also grown like a weed, it was a tiny 18" plant in a 2 gal pot in the fall of 2014, it's now a 5' ball. But it behaved strangely this year. All of my citrus started blossoming and pushing out new growth in late Feb but the Kishu just sat there. The GN put on about 18" of new growth from late Feb to late April but the Kishu just sat there, no flowers, no new leaves, it was completely dormant. Now, almost 3 months later it is just starting to break out in new growth all over, but no flower buds. I'm familiar with some mandarins having an alternating cycle of heavy fruiting one year followed by light fruiting the next but in my experience that just meant the quantity of fruit produced. I've never experienced a year of complete dormancy. It's not a pollinating problem because citrus don't need to be pollinated to produce fruit. I'm in an interior valley of LA County, Sunset zone 19 or 20 I think.

Thanks, everyone! It's nice to have a (thus far, anyway) success! Junk, good to hear. My tree is somewhat late, per what I've seen, because we really have insufficient sun/poor exposure much of the year. But I'll hold off and will taste one after a few more weeks. Now I really want a Golden Nugget and am fighting the desire to head back to San Mateo--but I have so little space. Jenny, good luck with your new tree! Mine flowered the first year I brought it home but it didn't hold fruit. Still, it's a beautiful tree all year round. I love all the healthy foliage and it flowers profusely and they smell heavenly. I have my citrus in containers in 5-1-1 mix, and I do give Foliage Pro regularly and a dash of white vinegar every so often. I'm amazed and very pleased that my citrus have had zero pests or blights; only my poor Meyer doesn't leaf out. However, I'm finally going to prune it back a good deal as Sammers and others suggested awhile ago when I posted about it. Apparently it doesn't have adequate root development to support the canopy. It's hard to hack it back, but I'm finally gonna bite the bullet. Regards to all and your beautiful citrus trees, which I envy! Sheba